John Slade was born in 1957 and like all children he loved animated cartoons. John enjoyed them so much he could identify which actual studio produced them. He fell into the Super 8 form of filmmaking as a teenager, producing animated and live action movies. After graduating from University Of New Orleans In 1981, he went into journalism and became an award winning political cartoonist as well as a published author. In the past decade John created the Afro Brother Spacemen comic book, and has with the aid of a crack film crew created and produced a cartoon short about the adventurous characters.
With a career spanning over thirty-five years, John Slade has created political cartoons for the old Spectator News Journal, the Louisiana Weekly, the New Orleans Tribune, and has been featured in USA Today. Right now he can be seen on Cox Cable Orleans Wednesdays at 6:30am/pm on Ch76 as the host of Political Cartoons by John Slade.
In the past decade Slade has moved into making his own comic book series entitled Afro Brother Spacemen, which has recently been turned into a giant omnibus. The Afro Brother Spacemen characters are currently animated as well. He was also on Showtime In The Afternoon, with his co-host the late Paul Beaulieu on WBOK1230am for over a decade. John Slade’s political cartoons can be found today on the Think504.com website. His animated film, “Afro Brother Spacemen In The Day The Earth Stood Stupid,” won best animated picture at the Hollywood Florida Film Festival.
Artist’s Statement
“Say, this is great for you since Trump’s going to give you a lot of material.” This was what people told me over and over again when Donald Trump won the presidency. I replied that no, I didn’t feel great at all and that I had plenty of Hillary Clinton pantsuit jokes already stashed.
I have been making political cartoons since the Ford administration and while there was always fun and games within the medium; today feels different as my work has taken on more of the ordinary work of journalism. Now when I mock things, the things I mock seem to mock me back as if I were a beat reporter. My work has become much more urgent than ever before and I wonder if I’m drawing the beginning of the apocalypse, without the ever popular zombies.
Pen and ink have been my medium of choice since my Kennedy Courier high school newspaper days; and I was to be the last of my kind as everyone else has gone on to color. Yet color has overtaken me. But still being the old fashioned artist I believe in actual original handmade art pieces. When I fully finish a cartoon; then the computer can have them. Meanwhile I’ll continue this way while the republic still stands. It’s not just you, the republic is a little wobbly.
Panhandler Magazine 