Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year #1989

The 1989 edition of this long-running annual anthology, edited by Charles Brooks, gathers the sharpest political cartooning talent from newspapers across the country into one satisfying volume. Vic Harville's cover sets the tone perfectly — a rotund figure in blue, head buried ostrich-like in the ground, a bold emblem visible on the back of its head, the whole image radiating that dry, knowing wit that defines great editorial art. It's a fine snapshot of how American cartoonists were skewering the headlines at the close of the 1980s.