Pat Oliphant, Pulitzer-winning cartoonist, dies at 90
Rest in Peace Pat Oliphant. You will always be a God among political cartoonists.
Tim Williams Art26Oh, no! One of my heroes. Pat Oliphant is on the Mount Rushmore of editorial/political cartoonists. Thank you for a lifetime of stellar work.
Moderntrumpet20Oh no Political cartoons are the last of honest journalism!
Steve Krizman14I’m convinced Pat Oliphant drew my car in a cartoon in January 1974. In a dig at the mayor’s slow snowstorm cleanup, he drew “Mount McNichols,” a pile of snow with a car teetering on top. Earlier that week, I had high-centered my car on an iceberg on Speer Boulevard, left stranded in rush hour.
LightmanGibson 🦅❄️🇺🇦14The best. Rest in Peace, Pat Oliphant.
mgd2025.bsky.social13This is sad news indeed. He was an incredible talent and a very nice man. I had the opportunity to see him work over the course of a week when he was vacationing at a friend’s beach house in South Georgia many years ago. Such an understated wit. RIP to Patrick and Susan. Thank you for posting.
hypertazdad.bsky.social11A genius….and a national treasure.
Another giant of comics has left us. From 1965 to 1990, Oliphant was THE dominant political cartoonist in the US (even though he was an Aussie). A generational talent. A complicated guy. Often problematic, often brilliant, always scathing and funny.
Derf Backderf114His work meant a lot to me when I was a young cartoonist scratching out bad political cartoons for the Ohio State Lantern.
Derf Backderf36A master caricaturist. All the presidents he skewered in his 50-year career. The only one that doesn't hit is Trump. Oliphant was retired and pushing 80 when Piggy first took power.
Jason Bergman16It pains me that there isn't a single cartoon in that obituary. I get there are rights issues, but come on.
Derf Backderf15Overly critical for an obit post? I don't mean it to be. He was a generational talent. A complicated guy. Often problematic, often brilliant, always scathing & funny. Besides, Pat was always brutally blunt... even about his fellow cartoonists! Seems fair. He'd probably chuckle and flip me off.
Mike Flugennock15Oh, damn. He was one of my cartoon heroes as a teenager, when he came from the Denver Post to draw for the old Washington Evening Star. Along with Herblock, Oliphant made DC hog heaven for a kid cartoonist in the early/mid 1970s.
Paul Hostetler9I watched the documentary about him on Kanopy a few weeks ago. The way they filmed it, I thought he'd already died.
Peter Sagal197A tribute to a giant, by one of his peers. RIP.
Dunkin’ Idaho30Good obit, good thread by Derf.
Ford Gilmore16I know I reposted this earlier, but read the whole thread. Backderf is posting a lot of Oliphant's work over the years and providing commentary. Not enough folks take cartooning seriously enough or provide a lens of context for past work, and it's invaluable.
Sandy Jarrell12When my aunt was an editor at the Washington Star, she had me bring some drawings in to show Oliphant. He was more charitable in his review than most folks would have been, kind and patient. A good memory.
Pat Oliphant, the dean of political cartoonists, who drew and sometimes eviscerated a rogues’ gallery of presidents, pedophile priests, warmongers and other editorial-page villains for American newspaper and online readers for half a century, died on Monday. He was 90.
Just heard that Pat Oliphant died. I didn’t know him well but his cartoon artistry and ballsyness was wonderful. RIP
Bill Amend147A pic of Pat and the amazing Richard Thompson I took in 2009
Jon With Tattoos5I’ll always remember this piece of his. Absolutely brilliant.
GET OUT OF MY WAY!5His documentary just dropped last year. He was brutal to power, no matter who held the reins. And he was a craftsman in every sense. I was always a fan.
Dan Mishkin4As far as I can tell, this was his last cartoon, at least the last that appeared on GoComics. It's from the start of the first Trump administration, and he didn't hold back. RIP
GET OUT OF MY WAY!3His penguin was my spirit animal.
Artesian Mystic2Loved Oliphant’s cartoons. Thanks for letting us know. #RIP
