The National Cartoonist Society has named Edward Sorel as the 2021 Cartoonist of the Year, presenting him with their annual Reuben Award.
The Reuben, along with the annual NCS Divisional Awards, were announced over the weekend during the Reuben Awards gala dinner.
Sorel’s work has appeared in The Nation, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Village Voice, National Lampoon, Fortune, Forbes, Time, Esquire and countless other publications. The 92-year-old artist’s memoir, Profusely Illustrated, was published last year.
“New York City magazines, books and restaurant walls would have had the same visual panache as a suburban mall if it had not been for Edward Sorel and his miraculous pen,” said editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson, who presented the award. “The kid from Brooklyn, raised on the movies and disappointed by an artless art school, forged his own style that looked like the fluid first sketch of an old master’s portrait –a portrait that illuminated… and then eviscerated the character of his hapless subject. Frank Sinatra never looked more like Frank Sinatra than in Sorel’s blistering 1966 Esquire magazine cover. He drew movie stars, presidents and politicians as well as delightful children’s books filled with beautifully drawn characters in beautifully drawn scenes. It’s a crime the NCS took this long to give him its highest honor but join me in applauding one of cartooning’s great… old… masters, Ed Sorel.”
Sorel was not able to attend the awards event and submitted his acceptance speech via video, which you can watch below:
Other awards were given out for comic books, gag cartoons, graphic novels, editorial cartoons and more. Here’s a list of all the winners relevant to the world of comics; you can find the complete list at the Daily Cartoonist website:
Comic Books
- Trish Forstner
- Gideon Kendall
- David Petersen
Gag Cartoons
- Emily Flake
- Amy Hwang
- Christopher Weyant
Graphic Novels
- Juan Cavia
- Ted Naifeh
- Eric Powell
Editorial Cartoons
- Ruben Bolling
- Marco DeAngelis
- Michael Ramirez
Newspaper Comic Strips
- Hector Cantu
- John Hambrock
- Mark Tatulli
Newspaper Panels
- David Blazek
- Dave Coverly
- Hilary Price
Online Comics: Long Form
- Emily Flake
- Meredith Moriarty
- Dan Piraro
Online Comics: Short Form
- Jonathan Lemon
- Scott Nickel
- Rich Powell