Cartoon by Mick Stevens. For more from this issue: http://nyr.kr/Z7x5WK

Cartoon by David Sipress: http://nyr.kr/10hclP0

Cartoon by Danny Shanahan. For more from this week’s issue: http://nyr.kr/VctcSd

Cartoon by Michael Maslin. For more: http://nyr.kr/WoUW32

Cartoon of the night. For more: http://nyr.kr/MnpoGD

Hand vs. Head: The Cartoon Genius of Ronald Searle

The individual elements in this cover, from the slyly contented cat to the splendidly rococo desserts, are all graphic comic charmers in and of themselves. It all works even before we “get” the idea, which, in this case, I don’t completely. For myself, as a “head” cartoonist, the idea on this cover is actually somewhat confusing. Thought balloons in cartoons like this usually represent desire. Fair enough, the cat wants a fish. But does he desire a fish instead of these lovingly drawn desserts? Hmm. Then why does the cat have that slight smile running across his face? If this were just a simply drawn “head” cartoon, by someone like me, it wouldn’t merit much attention, but because it came from the outrageously talented hand of Ronald Searle, we remain transfixed and as contented as that cat.

Cover Story: The Very Patient Subway Angel

Carter Goodrich first sent us a version of this week’s cover more than a dozen years ago. (The subway angel was reading a newspaper.) Goodrich also draws children’s books; the second volume in the “Zorro” series will be published in May, and he’s at work on a third. He also does character design for animated films, including “Shrek,” “Finding Nemo,” and “Brave,” which Pixar is set to release in June. Designing animated characters is a lot like drawing a New Yorker cover, he says, in that “a single image must convey several layers of information, or storytelling, in order to be successful.”

Click through for more of Goodrich’s character designs: http://nyr.kr/uwEMfs