A gag cartoon is a single-panel cartoon, usually including a written caption that appears beneath the drawing, most often published in magazines. As the name implies—"gag" being a show business term for a comedic idea—these cartoons are most often intended to provoke laughter.
Their basis in "gags" and their publication in magazines rather than newspapers separates them from political cartoons. Popular magazines that have featured gag cartoons include Punch, The New Yorker, and Playboy.
In continental Europe, gags are usually a series of panels telling a short story on one page. The most popular have included Pif, Gaston Lagaffe and Boule et Bill.
Notable Gag Cartoonists
See also
- Yonkoma, a four panel style of gag comic found mostly in Japan
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