Themes
“A cartoon does not tell everything about a subject. It’s not supposed to. No written piece tells everything either. As far as words are concerned, there is no safety in numbers. The test of a written or drawn commentary is whether it gets at an essential truth.”
—Herblock (1909–2001)
Herblock Looks at Communism
In his very first publication, Herblock Looks at Communism, political cartoonist Herbert L. Block (1909–2001) warned the world of the dangers of government tyranny and limited free speech. This selection of cartoons from 1951 shows how Herblock continued to focus on countries ruled by the Communist Party, including North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union. He used a range of visual metaphors including the Asian tiger and the dragon as well as dismal swamps and an abyss to drive home his concerns.
Herblock Looks at 1961: Fifty Years Ago in Editorial Cartoons
For many Americans, the tensions of 1961—conflicts between East and West, the use of nuclear weapons and traditional warfare, political battles between conservatives and liberals, and issues concerning civil rights and segregation—played out forcibly throughout the rest of the decade. This selection of political cartoons by Herblock shows how his fear of nuclear annihilation led to the creation of some of his best work that year. He also addressed economic stagnation, suffrage for residents of Washington, D.C., civil rights, and the space race.
Herblock developed his character “Mr. Atom” in 1946 to visualize the threat of nuclear annihilation omnipresent during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States from 1945 to 1990. He used Mr. Atom repeatedly in 1961, when Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) challenged American president John F. Kennedy (1917–1963). Khrushchev began to build the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and detonated large nuclear weapons during tests as further evidence of Soviet strength. Herblock drew a series of bone-chilling and nuanced cartoons that depicted his Cold War fears, for which he laid blame on the Soviets.
Herblock Looks at 1962: Fifty Years Ago Today in Editorial Cartoons
During the second year of his presidency in 1962, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) pushed his national and international agenda. At home, he attempted to implement new policies that met with partisan opposition: assisting the unemployed, passing a jobs bill, and creating Medicare. Abroad, he increased military presence in Vietnam and he faced the Soviet Union’s premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) in a nuclear showdown known as the “Cuban Missile Crisis” in October 1962. The disarmament talks in Geneva did not go well and the doomsday clock ticked closer to midnight, signaling the increased likelihood of nuclear war.
Herblock developed his character “Mr. Atom” in 1946 to visualize the threat of nuclear annihilation omnipresent during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States from 1945 to 1990. He used Mr. Atom repeatedly in 1962 when Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev challenged American president John F. Kennedy. The Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States played out over nuclear missile placement in Cuba and Turkey at the same time diplomats in Geneva, Switzerland struggled with disarmament.