Dark and Twisted Political Cartoons

The BBC is carrying the story of a Syrian cartoonist, whose work, while not explicitly mentioning any individuals or countries, wickedly lampoons authoritarian regimes. My favorite example is the one I've posted on the right. The artist, Ali Farzat, used to publish a satirical magazine, but that was ultimately banned, and it's an uphill struggle for him to get his cartoons published anywhere.

The BBC story is really about restrictions on the media in Syria and contains some interesting points about the roles that the internet and international satellite TV are playing in getting information through to the populace, despite the restrictions.

However, I mostly just enjoyed the cartoons, which are a lot of (dark) fun. There are a couple of other examples in the story, and you can find a few more in this slide show from the Guardian.