Sean Leahy (born 1958) is an Australian cartoonist working for the '' Courier Mail'' in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. He draws

political cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine ...

s for the paper, and also his own

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

, ''Beyond the Black Stump'', which is distributed in Australia.

Background

In 1974, Sean Leahy began his cartooning career on the suburban weekly ''The Darling Advertiser'' while still in high school. One year later, his cartoons became a twice weekly feature of ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', making him, at 17, the youngest political cartoonist in Australia at a metropolitan daily. Leahy was awarded a QE II Jubilee Trust Award to study animation in the United States in 1982. When he was there, he spent time at Mike Jones Film Corporation in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

before returning to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. In 1983, he left ''The West Australian'' and joined ''The Daily Sun'', then in 1985 ''The Courier-Mail'' in

''Beyond The Black Stump''

Beginning in 1988, Leahy started the nationally syndicated comic strip ''Beyond The Black Stump'', which he writes and draws. In 2003, ''Beyond the Black Stump'' won both the

Stanley Award The Stanley Awards, also known as The Stanleys, are an annual comics award issued by the Australian Cartoonists' Association which recognize the best of Australian cartoonists and cartooning. They are named after Stan Cross and were first orga ...

for Australia's Comic Strip Cartoonist of the Year and the Australia's Comic Strip of the Year at the Rotary National Cartoon Awards.

Achievements

From 1993 to 1994, he was a regular cartoonist for the Australian edition of ''Time'' magazine. His work has also been featured in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' and '' The Bulletin'' magazine. Leahy's cartoons continue to appear in more than 150 publications throughout the world via Cartoon Arts International in New York. Major papers such as ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and '' The International Herald-Tribune'' have printed his work. Leahy traveled to the US and UK in 2004 for further study in animation as a recipient of a

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

. Originals of his cartoons are included in private collections ranging from

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

to the Vatican.

References

External links

* (archived website)
''Beyond the Black Stumps official website
(archived website)
''Leahy's Cartoons'' Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Sean 1958 births Australian editorial cartoonists Living people People from Brisbane