Sunday morning toons: Special this week on ultra-absorbent pelicans

Hidden among the many, many toons about BP and the never ending Gulf spill this week are a couple about Father's Day, North Korea, and those horn thingies at the World Cup, plus one or two about the longest war in American history. See if you can spot them, beginning with Daryl Cagle's toon round-up for the week.

Ready? Begin!

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Lester, Mike Keefe, Bob Englehart, John Darkow, Jimmy Margulies, John Cole, Steve Breen, Bill Day, Cal Grondahl, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best in Show: Brian Fairrington.

p3 Legion of Honor: Jerry Holbert.

p3 Gold Star: Jeff Parker.

p3 Order of the Painful Truth: Larry Wright.

p3 Marksmanship Award: Ed Stein.


p3 World Toon Review: Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Stephane Peray (Thailand), Christo Komarnitski (Bulgaria), and Cam Cardow (Canada).


Ann Telnaes salutes BP's newest plan for plugging the Gulf leak. (You knew that's where this one was headed, didn't you?)


Mark Fiore points to one Obama Administration success on the job front. (It's not one of his more subtle efforts.)


You can't spell "Beep!" without "BP!" At Comic Riffs, they're counting down the Top 10 BP-related toons.


Protecting the future of political toons, Part 1: Cast your vote now in the Washington Post's Next Great Political Cartoonist contest. (Is it just me, or are the days of pathetic-chic cartooning, where the visual style deliberately imitates a panda on acid with a crayon in his left foot, finally -- blessedly -- coming to an end?)


Protecting the future of political toons, Part 2: Five words: Current event-themed video games. Genius.


The Comics Curmudgeon finds visual flair where you least expect it. (Alternate title for this item: "Perspective -- use it or lose it.")


Here's Barry Blitt's illustration for today's Frank Rich column in the NYTimes on Obama, BP, and the Gulf.


If you believed in a giant invisible foot that ruled everything for the best, you'd be a crackpot. But if you believe in an invisible hand, well, Tom Tomorrow takes it from there.


A refreshing change from BP snuff porn: Courtesy of The K Chronicles, and not a moment too soon, comes jazz porn


Tom the Dancing Bug confirms what you always suspected about that guy at Starbucks.


You can't have the full experience without it! Are you ready to spring for your Doonesbury upgrade?


Portland homeboy Jack Ohman reminds you that not all British invasions get their start on The Ed Sullivan Show.


Before Oil Can Harry was a car maintenance franchise, a rock band, or a dance club in Austin, he was Mighty Mouse's nemesis (and his rival for the affections of the fair Nell). So if all that happens in seal hunting is you toss the seal a herring and it sings a song and happily steps out of its fur like a snowmobile suit, why are all the enviros so upset? This and other questions are raised by this 1949 short from TerryToons. Mighty Mouse cartoons are strange enough, with their inexplicable outbursts of light opera -- which could be why they drew Andy Kaufman's attention -- but this one is pretty far out there even by those standards.

p3 Bonus Toon: What's the only thing worse than Oregon's economy cycling through ups and downs? Jesse Springer knows. (Click to enlarge)

Remember to bookmark the daily political toon features at Slate's Slate, Time, and About.com.

Test your toon-captioning chops at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)