The members of the Comic Art Professional Society are horrified at the tragic events that happened this week in Paris. We are appalled at the loss of the lives of the “Charlie Hebdo” staff, and those of the policemen who sought to protect “Charlie Hebdo’s” ability to continue to express itself. Most of all, we are shaken by the murder of the cartoonists, not because their lives are of more importance than the others, but because in some cases they were literally friends of ours, and in all cases they were our brothers. Our hearts go out to their families, their co-workers, and a nation that is trying to figure out how to deal with this tragedy. Over the decades of the Societys existence, we have had hundreds of members from across the broad range of the cartoon arts, working in forms from gag cartoons to lengthy sophisticated graphic novels, including magazine gag cartoons, newspaper strips, and editorial cartoons spanning the political spectrum. Yet despite our differences in medium, genre, style, and perspective, we have been unified in our belief in the power of the image to communicate, and that communication is inherently worthwhile. These are values that we share with cartoonists across the globe, and any time that disagreement with a message goes beyond mere expression of disapproval to an action of physical revenge, it is an attack on us all. Sadly, this is far from the first time that disagreement with cartoons has been expressed through violence, and surely, it will not be the last. In the face of dark events such as these, we urge our fellow cartoonists to remember: They do not attack us because we are weak. They attack because they fear our power. Nous sommes Charlie.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 23:03:59 +0000