BRATTLEBORO — The public is invited to attend an online panel discussion, “The Power of Cartoons,” sponsored by Vermont Independent Media's Media Mentoring Project (MMP) on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
Cartoons are a unique form of journalism that have been entertaining, educating, and influencing public opinion in the United States since the 19th century. Sequential art - and the cartoonists who create it - has played a powerful role in shaping the way we view ourselves and the world around us.
Join MMP for a lively discussion with several well-known comics artists as we explore the impact this medium has on politics and pop culture. Panelists include:
• Daniel Barlow, a writer, photographer, cemetery nut, and Archie fanatic living in Barre. He is the co-founder of the Trees & Hills comics collective, which published more than a dozen anthologies between 2006–2012. He is the executive director of a free health care clinic in Central Vermont.
• Jeff Danziger of Dummerston, a nationally-syndicated political cartoonist whose work appears locally in the Rutland Herald and VTDigger.org. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast Prize, now known as the OPC Best Cartoon Award. He served in the Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published 11 books of cartoons and one novel. He began his career as an illustrator for a local Vermont newspaper in 1971, earning a dollar per drawing.
• Rick Veitch of West Townshend, a lifelong cartoonist who illustrated Swamp Thing while at DC Comics. He is the author of innumerable alternative comic books, including Can't Get No and the Eisner Award–nominated Brat Pack, The Maximortal, Rare Bit Fiends, and The Spotted Stone. In 2020, Rick was named Vermont's cartoonist laureate.
The program will be moderated by Joyce Marcel, writer of award-winning cover stories for Vermont Business Magazine.
“The Power of Cartoons” is free. To receive a Zoom link to the program, email geoffburgess2@gmail.com. The program will also be livestreamed on the Brattleboro Community Television's (BCTV) Facebook page at facebook.com/brattleborotv.
The Media Mentoring Project is part of Vermont Independent Media, publisher of The Commons newspaper, headquartered in Brattleboro. Through public programs, school-based initiatives, and collaborations with community groups, MMP seeks to support a regional culture of media literacy and civic engagement.