Covid cartoon – the ‘Rule of Six’ social distancing

by

covid-19 social distancing cartoon

The UK government has stated that people must not congregate in groups larger than six – the ‘rule of six’.

In an attempt to stop the cover-19 virus spreading more due to lax adherence to social distancing rules the UK government has introduced a new rule to prevent large groups of people meeting up.

The cartoon depicts the characters from the famous Hollywood Western film the Magnificent Seven adhering to the new rule.
Drawn: 10th September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a844

Covid-19 cartoon – pandemic conspiracy theories

by

covid-19 pandemic conspiracy theory cartoon

Cartoon about the pandemic of conspiracy theories about the covid-19 pandemic.

The conspiracy theories about the origin of the covid-19 coronavirus include it being created in a Chinese lab, being released by Bill Gates so that he can control the world, and that it is caused by G5 signals from phone masts.

A cartoon about conspiracy theories, gullibility, psychological delusion, going viral.
Drawn: 11th July 2020
Cartoon reference number: a818
How to search for cartoons by subject

Coronavirus rules on the number of people attending different events

by

coronavirus covid-19 lockdown rules for funerals and demonstrations cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown rules cartoon regarding funerals and political demonstrations.

A cartoon pointing out the problem that thousands of people were allowed to gather for political protests over the weekend with only mild criticism over the fact that it broke the coronavirus lockdown rules (justifiably or not, depending on your viewpoint), while the rules state that, for instance, only ten people can gather for a funeral.
I’m sure that in the near future funeral-goers will ignore the lockdown rules and will attend in larger numbers on the grounds that their reason for attending is justifiable.

Drawn: June 2020
Cartoon reference number: a803
How to search for cartoons by subject

Coronavirus cartoon – lockdown breaking political demonstrations and Dominic Cummings

by

coronavirus covid-19 lockdown breaking demonstration Dominic Cummings cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown breaking cartoon.

Last week Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s adviser, was in hot water because he chose to defy the lockdown rules relating to covid-19.
This week thousands of demonstrators chose to defy the lockdown too.
Does that take the pressure off Cummings, as the demonstrators are potentially much more likely to spread the coronavirus, yet they haven’t come in for the same criticism (justifiably or not, depending on your point of view).

Drawn: June 2020
Cartoon reference number: a802
How to search for cartoons by subject

Covid-19 coronavirus cartoon – lockdown enforcement

by

coronavirus covid-19 lockdown enforcement cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus cartoon – enforcing the lockdown.

As part of the coronavirus lockdown people are allowed outside only for limited reasons, one being taking exercise.
In city parks the police have been moving people on who they see sitting on park benches, as this is not exercise.

A cartoon about policing the lockdown, social isolating.
Drawn: April 2020
Cartoon reference number: a772
How to search for cartoons by subject

Coronavirus cartoon – conspiracy theories and myths about how covid-19 started

by

coronavirus myth cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus cartoon – a myth about how it started.

A cartoon about the myth that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic started because the virus was released from a lab in China.

The person in the cartoon is saying “Here’s a REALLY worrying virus-myth statistic – an incredible 75% of the population don’t believe it started in a lab!”
The point of the cartoon is that people who believe that the virus started in a lab are just as certain that they are right as the people who believe that it wasn’t. The believers in the theory think that they are clear-sighted enough to see round the official obfuscation about the matter.
A cartoon about conspiracy theories, gullibility, psychological delusion.
Drawn: April 2020
Cartoon reference number: a773

How to search for cartoons by subject

Covid-19 coronavirus cartoon – pandemic face mask

by

coronavirus cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus cartoon.

The cartoon showing a person wearing a face mask because of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic.

The face mask displays the slogan “Keep Calm and Carry on”.
The cartoon is intended to be a positive cartoon about how to deal with the psychological consequences of the pandemic.
Drawn: 6 March 2020
Cartoon reference number: a771

How to search for cartoons by subject

Notre-Dame Fire Restoration Fund/Sackler boycott cartoon

by

Notre Dame fire restoration fund cartoon

Notre-Dame fire restoration fund/Sackler boycott cartoon.
(Drawn on the night of the fire, before the actual donations controversy that followed.)

15 April 2019.
This is a cartoon that deliberately links two current news stories: the restoration of Notre-Dame cathedral following the devastating fire and the boycotting of funding from the Sackler family charitable trusts.
The cartoon was drawn on the evening of the fire, and predates the controversy about the donations from large businesses that developed in the following days.
The cartoon is primarily about the current controversy in some western societies concerning the assumed ethical standards of the donors who contribute funds to institutions such as art galleries and religious buildings.

The Sackler family are major benefactors to many institutions. Only a week ago I was in Westminster Abbey in London where I noticed their name on a recently restored stained glass window to which I assume they had contributed funding.
However, the Sackler family own Purdue Pharma, a company that produces the prescription painkiller OxyContin that is said to be addictive. Thus there are calls to boycott any charitable funding offered by the Sackler family.
Of course the Sackler family are far from being the only donors to charitable causes who may be involved in supposedly tainted money. It could possibly be argued that any organisation that had enough money to distribute in such lavish ways must have come about it by somewhat dubious means, depending on one’s standards.
Cartoon reference number: a769

How to search for cartoons by subject

Praying mantis transgender cartoon

by

transgender praying mantis

Transgender cartoon – a praying mantis seeking a sex change operation

In the world of the paying mantis, the female mantis eats the male mantis following mating.
The theory is that this means that the female gets a good protein meal that will help the development of the resulting next generation. It all seems unnecessarily excessive to me though.

In the cartoon a male praying mantis is seeking gender realignment surgery or sex change surgery so that he becomes a female and thus avoids death at the hands of his/her mate.
The cartoon is inspired by the high profile of transgender and sexual realignment issues in the current personal identity and lifestyle culture.
Ref a731
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Cartoon – the medicalisation of personality disorders (and of normal personality traits)

by

medicalisation of deviant behaviour cartoon

Medicalisation of deviant behaviour cartoon
The nature v nurture debate on human personality
Neurological origins of behavioural traits

A cartoon about the tendency to invoke medical reasons for deviant personality traits, for abnormal personality traits or even for normal aspects of personality.
It shows one aspect of the nature v nurture debate

An illustration about the medicalization of behaviour. This may include behavioural syndromes ranging from psychopathic tendencies and deviance to conditions such as hyperactivity, ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder), rebelliousness or non-conformity.
In this cartoon I’ve invented a medical condition that is being used by a parent to justify her child’s aberrant or antisocial behavior

The cartoon reflects the tendency to claim, for instance, that particular parts of dna are responsible for criminal behaviour – thus removing responsibility from the person and placing it on the dna
The image is not meant to imply that there is no neurological basis for behaviour, just that it can sometimes be used as an excuse for bad behaviour
The subject of neurological origins for criminal behaviour is dealt with in the book The Anatomy of Violence by Adrian Raine

The cartoon was first published in Prospect magazine in May 2013

Ref a591
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Neurological or genetic causes of criminality – cartoon

by

neurological or genetic causes of criminality - cartoon

Medicalisation of deviant behaviour cartoon
Neurological origins of behavioural traits
Neurocriminology and its implications

A cartoon about the possibility that criminal behaviour or deviant behaviour may sometimes (or often) have its roots in a person’s biology.
The idea that personality may be determined by biology is one aspect of the nature v nurture debate, and has implications for the concept of free will

An illustration about the medicalization of behaviour. This may include behavioural syndromes ranging from psychopathic tendencies and deviance to conditions such as hyperactivity, ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder), rebelliousness or non-conformity.

The cartoon illustrates the tendency of criminal lawyers to sometimes claim, for instance, that particular parts of dna or neurological makeup are responsible for criminal behaviour – thus removing responsibility from the person and placing it on the person’s dna or neurology.

The subject of neurological origins for criminal behaviour is dealt with in the book The Anatomy of Violence by Adrian Raine

The cartoon was first published in Philosophy Now magazine

Ref a607
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Cartoon – homeopathy for animals

by

homeopathy cartoon

Homeopathy cartoon.
Using homeopathy on animals.

The cartoon shows a giraffe being treated with a homeopathic medicine for a bad neck

A cartoon about alternative medicine.
Practitioners of homeopathy and believers in homeopathic remedies often cite the fact that homeopathy seems to work on animals as proof that it works, as animals can’t be influenced by the placebo effect. It’s my opinion that homeopathy seems to work on animals due to a statistical phenomenon known as ‘regression to the mean’, or in other words, they were quite ill and were probably about to get better anyway (or die).
Cartoon reference number: a546
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

A neurology cartoon about apophenia – seeing faces where they don’t exist

by

apohenia cartoon

Apophenia cartoon – seeing faces where they don’t exist
A cartoon from my selection of science cartoons

A cartoon showing scientists in a neurology department canteen. One of the scientists is about to eat a pizza and is saying “Amazing – this pizza looks exactly like the brain scan of someone who’s experiencing apophenia.”

The cartoon is about visual interpretation of images, false positives, the evolution of vision, neuroimaging, brain function, functional magnetic resonance imaging, computed axial tomography
Cartoon reference number: a539
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Science cartoons

by

science cartoon - scientific establishment resistance to change

A cartoon from my selection of science cartoons
Scientific research cartoon

Cartoon about resistance to change in sectors of the scientific establishment
The cartoon is focused on conservatism in the scientific establishment.
The caption says “Our research proves that the scientific establishment has developed immunity to radical new ideas.’

The cartoon illustrates the fact that all organisations and disciplines can be conservative to some extent
Cartoon reference number: a531
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Anti-vax cartoon

by

vaccination cartoon anti-vax

Anti-vax cartoon

A cartoon about anti-vaxxers and anti-vax conspiracy theories.
Anti-vax conspiracy theories are common at the time of writing (2020).
This cartoon however was drawn in 2007 (I think) for a BBC science magazine for an article about vaccine scare hysteria created by media driven hysteria over health issues. I think that was traditional media in those days, not social media as it would be now.
The cartoon shows a doctor looking at a hyperdermic syringe and thinking “One of the side effects of this vaccine will be a hysterical reaction in the media.”

A joke about medicine, doctors, hypodermic syringes, vaccinations, anti-vax, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theories.

Cartoon drawn: 2007

Cartoon reference number: a530
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Safeguarding against litigation in the health service

by

health service litigation cartoon

Safeguarding against litigation in the health service – cartoon

An illustration depicting excessive health tests being done on a patient in order to guard against the possibility of later litigation against negligent health care

A cartoon about litigation culture, lawsuits against health services, doctors, hospitals.
This cartoon was originally drawn to illustrate an article in the BBC magazine Knowledge
Cartoon reference number: a527
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Health statistics cartoon

by

dentist drilling down to statistics cartoon

Health statistics cartoon
A cartoon showing a dentist ‘drilling down’ to find health statistics

The cartoon shows a man in a dentist’s surgery

The joke is in the pun on the term ‘drilling down’
Cartoon reference number: a525
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Government health advice – cartoon

by

government health advice cartoon

Government health advice cartoon
A cartoon about official health advice

A cartoon showing a man standing on weighing scales, with the scales breaking due to the great weight of the book of health guidelines that the man is holding.

A cartoon about excessive health guidelines, the nanny state, health and safety guidelines
Cartoon reference number: a524
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Norovirus cartoon – winter vomiting virus cartoon

by

norovirus cartoon

Norovirus cartoon
Winter vomiting virus cartoon

A cartoon about the annual recurrence of epidemics of the winter vomiting virus or norovirus

The cartoon is about the way that the press or media report the spread of the illness. The press has a tendency to distort statistics and to inflate risks for the sake of a good story, so it’s sometimes hard to know what the real risks from epidemics such as the norovirus (or bird flu, etc) really are.
Cartoon reference number: a503

Save the smallpox virus – cartoon

by

Save the smallpox virus - cartoon

Save the smallpox virus – cartoon

A parody on “Save the Whale” T-shirts and other T-shirts with slogans or messages on them
It’s also a cartoon about our attitudes to different species of animal, and which ones we feel moved to want to save (usually cute, cuddly, furry ones).

It’s also about animal rights, and where they should stop.

First version drawn: 1991

Cartoon reference number: a446

Medical budget increases – cost of medicine cartoon

by

health spending increasing graph cartoon

Health spending increasing – cartoon.
Increases in health spending caused by increased use of prescription drugs

Cartoon showing doctors and medical staff rolling a pill or tablet up a graph

A cartoon about the cost of medicine, the burden on the health services of the cost of medical treatment
Ref a331b
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Health budget – health spending increases cartoon

by

health spending rolling pill up graph cartoon

Health spending increasing – cartoon.
Increases in health spending caused by increased use of prescription drugs

Cartoon showing doctors and medical staff rolling a pill up a graph

A cartoon about the cost of medicine, the burden on the health services of the cost of medical treatment
Cartoon reference number: a331
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

How to deal with the impact of an aging population

by

aging population encourage smoking - cartoon

Aging population cartoon.

How to deal with the problem of an aging population

The comic suggests that a way to reduce the impact of an aging population is to encourage people to smoke more cigarettes, thus reducing the number of people who live to an old age.

The joke is that while these campaigns are normally about trying to improve people’s health, such as by campaigning to stop them smoking, the one depicted here is to encourage a method of shortening people’s lives by taking up smoking.
A cartoon about increasing numbers of pensioners, demographics, health policy, health education, anti-smoking campaigns.

Cartoon reference number: a317
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Gene doping cartoon or illustration. Will gene doping occur in the 2012 Olympics?

by

dna gene doping syringe illustration

Gene doping cartoon or illustration

A cartoon about gene doping in sport, Olympics gene doping. Genetic manipulation in competitive sport.

The illustration shows a hypodermic syringe with a double helix strand of dna inside it

Gene doping is defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as the non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, or genetic elements to improve athletic performance.
Gene manipulation for muscle enhancement in athletics and other sport has bioethical implications similar to those involved in chemical doping and other methods of gaining an unfair advantage over sporting competitors.
Genetic manipulation in athletics and other sport may include ways of increasing muscle growth, altering blood characteristics, increasing endurance, enhancing oxygen dispersal and reducing pain perception.
A cartoon or illustration about gene therapy, genetic manipulation, ethics of gene doping.

Cartoon reference number: a232
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Hospital garden cartoon – a sickly plant put on a drip

by

hospital garden cartoon

Hospital garden cartoon – plant on a drip

Hospital garden cartoon – showing a sickly plant that has been put on a drip

A cartoon showing a doctor in the garden of a hospital. He has noticed that one plant looks sickly, so he’s put it on a drip.
A cartoon about ways of supplying nutrients to garden plants. Drip mechanisms are a common method of irrigating crops or of watering garden plants, so the drip joke isn’t actually very far fetched.
Drawn: Oct 2007

Cartoon reference number: a171
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Illustration. A walking brain

by

walking brain illustration

Cartoon/illustration. A walking brian with legs and a head

Cartoon/illustration. A walking brian with legs and a head

I’m not sure what this drawing means. I suppose it’s something to do with the importance of the human brain’s contribution to what it means to be human. I don’t really know – it just popped into my head.
It’s probably a cartoon about psychiatry, neuroscience, neurology, how the mind works, how the brain works, cognition, the self.
Cartoon reference number: a071
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Smoking related health statistics cartoon

by

Smoking health cartoon. Misleading statistics for smoking-related illness

Smoking health cartoon
Cigarette cartoon

Cartoon caption: “If you smoke you’re less likely to die of an age-related illness”.
A cartoon about the misleading use of statistics.

A cartoon showing a research laboratory doing medical research into the medical and health related effects of smoking cigarettes. The rerearch laboratory belongs to an organisation called “The Tobacco Industry Research Centre”, indicating that it’s sponsored by the tobacco industry.
The results of the research are given a positive spin by announcing that they show that statistically cigarette smokers are less likely to die of age-related illnesses.
This is of course because smokers are statistically more likely to die before they get old enough to suffer from the diseases of old age.

A cartoon about vested interests, research bias, statistical misrepresentation, medical research, misleading health statistics.
Original cartoon drawn: 2010

Cartoon reference number: tob25

Dyslexia cartoon

by

dyslexia cartoon

A cartoon about dyslexia

Dyslexia Cartoon. This cartoon shows a dyslexic person arriving at an airport and not being able to read the notice that’s held by the man who’s there to meet him.
Dyslexia is the inability to recognise written words (word blindness), and is a condition that’s unrelated to intelligence or other cognitive functions

Cartoon reference number: dys881b

Food intolerance cartoon

by

Diet cartoon. A cartoon showing a person who is gluten intolerant, a person who is lactose intolerant and a person who is food fad intolerant.

Food fad cartoon
Diet cartoon
A cartoon about gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance and food fad intolerance

A cartoon about food intolerance, showing a person who is gluten intolerant (and who is rejecting some bread), a person who is lactose intolerant (and who is rejecting some milk) and a person who is food fad intolerant (and who eating a plate full of food that is normally labelled as unhealthy)

A cartoon about food fads, health, dietary fads, ibs, irritable bowel syndrome, nutrition, allergies, allergy, allergic reactions, food scares

Ref fod910
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters