Recent editorial cartoons by Graeme MacKay are available for viewing at the online site of the Hamilton Spectator.
Graeme has drawn thousands of cartoons over his lifetime, most of which have been digitized and available for viewing right here! for free! through mackaycartoons.net. Whether you’re a teacher, a student, or an admirer of satire please feel free to share Graeme’s cartoons, but just be aware of his DOs & DON’Ts.
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The Hamilton Spectator
2025 Editorial Cartoons
Special Galleries
Hamilton’s stadium timeline
Kathleen Wynne’s minority government
Ontario Legislature Queen’s Park gallery
Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau
McGuinty/Wynne cabinet minister Ted McMeekin
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger
Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina
Hamilton Mayor Bob Morrow
Stephen Harper’s Majority years 2011-2015
Hamilton Marijuana Candidate Michael Baldasaro 1945-2016
Harper Finance Minister, and Ontario politician Jim Flaherty
Harper Foreign Minister, and Ontario politician John Baird
Harper Defence Minister Peter MacKay
Harper cabinet minister Jason Kenney
Harper cabinet minister, and Ontario politician Tony Clement
Conservative Senator Mike Duffy
Leader of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe
Politician, 2006-2015, Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister Trudeau Majority Years
Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer
Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown
Trudeau Finance Minister Bill Morneau
Gallery of Conrad Black cartoons
Graeme Gallery 2019: International
Graeme Gallery 2019: Canada
Graeme Gallery 2019: Doug Ford
Year in Review 2018: Donald Trump
Graeme Gallery 2017: Donald Trump
Young Doug Ford
MacKay’s Sci-Fi Gallery
As a big fan of cartography, maps have been featured prominently throughout Graeme’s career. Here is a gallery of map cartoons from his portfolio:
Marvellous Maps
There are often summaries written by Graeme after major events, including this one written on the day Barack Obama became the first black President of the United States, and when Donald Trump was inaugurated President in 2017, and how Donald Trump figured in Graeme’s mind on the eve of the 2020 Presidential election; and when Doug Ford became Premier of Ontario in 2018. There’s the 2020 Republican Convention, and the 2020 DNC, there’s the 2024 Democratic Convention. There’s also my little encounter with Jimmy Carter.
He is a strong advocate of freedom of expression and opined on the vital role it plays in this 2024 piece. Editorial Cartoons are not memes, an there’s an important message he makes about that here.
He is a keen student of the history of satire and editorial cartooning, particularly of one of his predecessors at the Hamilton Spectator, Ivan Glassco (1902-1941.)
In 2016, he released a series depicting all the Presidents of the USA, which followed a series in 2015 capturing each of the 23 Canadian Prime Ministers. Not long after, the Kings and Queens of Great Britain. Expect more galleries to come in the near future.
2017 marked the 20th anniversary of Graeme’s position as staff editorial cartoonist at the Hamilton Spectator and an estimated 4500 illustrations have been created in that time. There is an extensive body of work that has been digitized prior to being hired in 1997. In the mid 1990s he made many contributions to the Opinion pages of the Chicago Tribune and the Toronto Star. To find older cartoons from Graeme’s archives use the Archives drop down on the right column or enter keywords in the search box. Alternatively, visit an extensive archives of his work at Artizans.com using keywords. Feel free to contact Graeme if you can’t find what you’re looking for.
Graeme MacKay has had an online presence of his cartoons on the Internet since November 1996. The dust from his very first website can be seen in the deep recesses of the Internet Archives.
It wasn’t until 10 years later, in 2006, that the Hamilton Spectator, the newspaper where he has worked as editorial cartoonist since 1997, began posting his cartoons on its website thespec.com.
The domain name of this website was created in 2001, and regular daily updates have happened ever since. Of the several overhauls mackaycartoons.net has undergone this century, the most notable change happened when files were transferred from the previous host, Yahoo.com, to Bluehost.com, in 2013. It was in that same year WordPress became the site’s new platform for editing. When the website became mired in viral attacks in early 2017, it was determined that Bluehost’s security agent, Sitelock, where data from this website was channelled through for malware attack prevention, was doing quite the opposite. Sitelock’s remedy required a one time fee of $300 or so to fix, or a more affordable, yet still outrageous $74.99/month added security service (read Sitelock’s reviews here). A far better, less costly anti-malware service, may be found in Wordfence which is highly recommended. In August 2018, Bluehost ceased being this site’s host and SiteGround became the new replacement host service and has provided a worry-free first rate experience for Graeme ever since.
Graeme has done a few podcasts and interviews over the years. Here’s a list:
Graham Crawford Show – May 15, 2017
Doug Ford Reacts – March 12, 2018
Shannon Mackinnon’s Artist Toolbox – December 14, 2018
Toonsmag – 2019
Scott Radley Show CHML – June 13, 2019
The Hamilton Spectator – September 27, 2019
Speech Bubble – May 18, 2020
Scott Radley Show CHML – October 3, 2020
The Caglecast: Global Warming Burns – November 24, 2023
Scott Radley Show CHML – April 5, 2024*
Angelo Lopez Art – December 8, 2024
An ancient index of Graeme’s work from the olde site may be found here.