“Gadflies.” That’s how the great political ink-slinger Bill Mauldin once referred to the bothersome gnats within his profession. But cartoonist Ed Hall prefers to think of himself as an insect with a little more sting. He’s spent the last fifteen years needling government with insightful images and fearless opinions. Indeed, few issues are too diverse or extreme for this freelance cartooning maverick.
Hall has won 7 Florida Press Awards, 3 Newsmaker Awards, and numerous fine art awards in national and international competitions. In 2003, he was presented the 53rd Annual Green Eyeshade Award for weekly cartoons by The Society of Professional Journalists. Also in 2003 he won the prestigious Excellence in Journalism Award from The Florida Press Club, competing with cartoonists from papers up to 75,000 in circulation.
Covering events from 2003 through 2006, Diversions focuses on exposing the foibles of the Bush Administration, both at home and abroad. From Bush’s first attempts to “fix” Social Security, to the extension of the Patriot Act, the cartoons contained in this volume show what happens when too much governmental influence is placed upon the infrastructure of our country. Other targets have included Bush’s obvious attempts to create a conservative supreme court, the mixing of government and religion, and the bungled procedures in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. And, of course, there was the revelation that there were in fact no WMD in Iraq, and questions about how we are going to fund (and finish) a war that probably never should have been started in the first place. The cartoons contained herein mark the second comprehensive collection of Ed Hall’s cartoons. His first compilation, Code Red, published in 2003, was received with rave reviews.
Through his weekly syndication with DBR Media, and Artizans Syndicate, Ed's work is featured in some of the largest newspapers across North America and Canada, including The Washington Post National Weekly Edition, and on CNN Headline News. Halltoons have also consistently been featured in Charles Brook's "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year (2001, 2002, and 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006)."
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Praise for Diversions:
"Ed Hall is a great talent. Unfortunately for his subjects, he is a little too good!" John A. Delaney, Former Mayor, City of Jacksonville, FL
"Ed Hall is one of the few American editorial cartoonists who still does his job. Rather than react to headlines, he sets an agenda. Rather than recycle tired old gags, he presents new ways of looking at the world. And, in a time when reasons to chuckle are few and far between, he delivers that guilty pleasure: laughing at our own misery." Ted Rall, Editorial Cartoonist, Tedrall.com
"Ed is a great combination of satire and skill. There is never any question about who he is drawing. He does a great job of capturing the features of his targets, a real sign of an artist. You don't see any simple line drawings here, Ed puts real effort into his art. Add to this a sense of humor that is sharp and in tune with the pulse of the nation and you have the formula for cartoons that make you think and make you laugh." Jason Evans, Sr. Executive Producer, CNN Headline News
"If you're a politician be careful, you will eventually find yourself in the cross-hairs of Ed Hall's kick-ass and humorous commentary. If you're a reader you'll eventually find yourself wallowing in this artist's political passion. If you're a cartoonist you'll just want to shake his hand real, real hard." Milt Priggee, Editorial Cartoonist, Miltpriggee.com
"Whether you're one of Ed Hall's unfortunate targets or one of his very fortunate readers, I highly recommend that you refrain from reading his book while drinking a glass of milk." Jeff Parker, Editorial Cartoonist, Florida Today
"DBR Media is grateful for the talents of Ed Hall. His work constitutes a significant contribution to our weekly features package. He is the consummate professional, always on time, with material that is fresh and well-received. Readers love his work." Diane Eckert, Executive Editor, DBR Media
"In the more than a dozen years since Ed Hall began drawing for the newspaper, he has steadily honed and sharpened an artistic talent and keen insight into issues both local and national. The reality remains: a well drawn and aimed political cartoon has a more immediate effect than the written word. No feature on our editorial page draws out emotions (laughter, anger, hurrahs) better and faster than Ed Hall's cartoons. What an asset he has been!" Jim McGauley, Publisher, The Baker County Press
"Right wing, left wing, or anywhere in-between, Ed Hall does not hesitate to expose the fallacies of our world. Ed uses a pen and brush, guided by his keen insight, to depict the short comings of the world's shakers and movers; every now and then extending a pat on the back when it's deserved. Ed's artistic skills serve to make his cartoons all the more poignant. Ed Hall is a political cartoonist to be reckoned with, and will be for a long time." Don Perlin, Florida Chapter Chairman, National Cartoonists' Society
"There's
some good drawing here. A lot of the cartoons are about the
president. He's shown as a flimflam man, a dinosaur, a confidence
man, and a medicine show barker. He's drawn as a bull in a china
shop, turned into a smokestack, commanding a pirate ship, and my
favorite, a little nut having fallen from a Reagan tree. It's all
done in good spirit, without the type of screechy polemics you find
in a lot of cartoons critical of the president. In fact, it seems
most of the time no matter what point he is making, Hall draws the
president smiling.
It would be easy to characterize the cartoons as "Bush-bashing", but
Hall stresses some important conservative issues. In one cartoon,
Bush stands in front of a huge giant labeled "GOVT." while saying
"We want to eliminate steroid abuse, except for this guy". In
another, a naked Uncle Sam tries to borrow a trillion dollars to get
himself out of debt. I think it's quite legitimate as a conservative
to take the administration to task on these issues. It's only been
in the years of the Bush administration that conservatives have been
cheering on both an increased debt and a bigger, more bloated
government.
In one particularly touching cartoon, Hall draws a wounded American
soldier giving the light of independence to an Iraqi man. That
cartoon alone is worth the price of the book."
Elena Steier, Editorial Cartoonist
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