Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, 1985 Edition

Published annually since 1973, Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year zeroes in on the past year's headline-making events. From the presidential election at home to the tragedy of hunger in Africa, 1984 is captured in more than 300 cartoons from 131 leading editorial cartoonists.

Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives and a fan of political cartoons, has written the foreword to the 1985 edition of Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year. O'Neill writes, "The walls of my Capitol office are testament to the fact that I have appreciated the humor even when I have not appreciated the point."

Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year is widely recognized as the definitive compendium of leading cartoonists' views of national and international issues. Acclaimed as a concise yet far-ranging pictorial history, Publishers Weekly calls it "a great way to get the gut feeling of a year's history."

The 1985 edition continues the standard of excellence established in previous editions. Cartoonists have set their sights on struggles with the economy, the world banking crisis, and foreign policy. The scandal of a dethroned Miss America is illustrated in several pages of cartoons. And the Republicans and the Democrats are at it again as Democrat Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice presidential candidate of a major political party, faces off against her opponent in front of American television audiences.

ABOUT THE EDITOR
Editor Charles Brooks is past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and for thirty-eight years was a cartoonist for the Birmingham News. He has been the recipient of thirteen Freedom Foundation Awards, a national VFW Award, two Vigilante Patriot Awards, and a Sigma Delta Chi Award for editorial cartooning.

CHARLES BROOKS, a former president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, has edited this series since its inception in 1972. Brooks served for 38 years as editorial cartoonist for the Birmingham News, where his work won numerous national awards.