Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 2003 Edition

In addition to his lifetime of work as an editorial cartoonist, Charles Brooks has had another rewarding long-time career: that of editor of Pelican's Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year Series. This landmark series, begun in 1972, showcases the work of editorial cartoonists from the United States and Canada.  Throughout his life, Brooks has not only seen history unfold before his eyes, but he also has recorded it for posterity in his cartoons. So, too, do the editorial cartoonists that he chooses to appear in each edition of Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year. The cartoons, inevitably more famous than the cartoonists themselves, become a part of the history that they capture.  Charles Brooks is past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and was a cartoonist for the Birmingham (Ala.) News for thirty-eight years. 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.  Brooks' cartoons appear in more than eighty books, including textbooks on political science, economics, and history, as well as encyclopedias and yearbooks. His original cartoons are on display in the archives of many libraries.