The Hubenthal Galleries

Hubenthal Biography

Hubenthal: An Analysis

Hubenthal: In His Own Words

The textual contents of this site remain © 2013 by Bob Staake. The art is © 2013 by Karl and Elsie Hubenthal - All Rights Reserved. No portion of this web site may be used without the consent of the copyright owners.

Please visit bobstaake.com
 
 
A Tribute to One of the All-Time Great Cartoonists and Illustrators
 

 

THE HUBENTHAL GALLERIES: Editorial Cartoons

Sports
Illustration Art
Caricature
Paintings
 

 
 
Hubenthal's conservative politics were always apparent in his work, as were his labels, an oft-used editorial cartooning gimmick. (Collection of Bob Staake)  

 
  Regardless of the cartoonist's political conservatism, President Johnson was one of Hubenthal's most avid fans, requesting from Hubie the original art of at least 16 cartoons.

 

Staddling both realism and cartoon exaggeration, Hubenthal's caricatures were usually "kind" --especially was the case with Richard Nixon, whom Hubenthal defended vigorously, even to the final days of his Presidency.


 
Almost invariably, Hubenthal's editorial cartoons included a "tagline" of sorts (here "Blabbermouth"), even when not entirely necessary. Hubenthal was particularly adept at using iconic graphic elements, such as the U.S. Capitol dome, and then visually tweaking it so that it metamorphoses into something entirely different, in this case, a blabbering legislator.  

 
  Documenting the splashdown of Apollo 14, the space mission in which Alan Shepard chipped golf balls on the lunar surface. Hubenthal's editorial cartoon was simply a lighthearted "gag" cartoon on the news of the day. However, such non-commentative frivolity on the editorial page was uncommon in 1974, even viewed as "lightweight" -- ironic that as we approach the millennium, the gag approach to editorial cartooning is almost an industry-wide standard among syndicated newspapers cartoonists.

 

 
Working on coquille board for the majority of his newspaper career, few ever used the medium in more expert fashion than Hubenthal.


 

 

In the late 1970s, Hubenthal began creating his editorial cartoons on "Grafix" board, a chemically-trated paper in which gray tones are mechanically imbedded. Though Hubenthal originally had misgivings about the "mechanical" nature of Grafix, he did indeed use it (almost exclusively) until his retirement in 1982. (Collection of Elsie Hubenthal)


 See More Karl! The Hubenthal Galleries