Go to: Medium, by Tom Tomorrow
A small sampling of online reactions from: Heidi MacDonald, miscellaneous cartoonists, Brigid Alverson, Jacob Canfield, Andrew O'Hehir, Ruben Bolling, Tim Kreider, John Stewart, Laura Miller, David Palumbo-Liu, Tim Holder, The Simpsons, Robert and Aline Kominsky-Crumb et al, Brittney Cooper, Zunar, Asghar Bukhari, Noah Berlatsky, Janell Hobson,
Marguerite Dabaie on the challenges faced by Middle Eastern Cartoonists.
Michael Dean and R.C. Harvey reprint an old essay about the controversial Danish cartoons of Muhammad from several years ago.
Jeet Heer on the history of French satire.
Michael Kupperman on his time working as a cartoonist for the New York Times.
Jeff Trexler on defunct satirical magazine The Mascot.
Mona Chalabi on the history of religious intolerance in France.
I myself was initially distressed, angry, and sorrowful over the Charlie Hebdo murders, though I've grown to question the overall merits of efforts to rally around the "Je Suis Charlie" hashtag. This is par for the course in this Social Media age. And it's hard to ignore the cathartic effect is has on a considerable number of people, particularly those in the comics and cartooning community. But such attempts to engender unity almost always seem to end up fanning broader societal tensions, leading to expressions of tribalism accompanied by reactions steeped in apologia. I also suspect that said sloganeering might have the ironic effect of quashing debate and suppressing a more nuanced take of the events. Playing into the hands of those fanning hate.
