Mike Konopacki (born c. 1951) is an American

political cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curre ...

from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, specializing in labor issues.

Background and early career

A 1974 graduate of the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

(

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

), Konopacki began cartooning for the '' Madison Press Connection'' in 1977, as the successor to

Pete Wagner Pete Wagner (born January 26, 1955) is an American political cartoonist, activist, author, scholar and caricature artist whose work has been published in over 300 newspapers and other periodicals. His cartoons and activist theatrics have been the ...

. Konopacki's Press Connection cartoon originals are archived at the Wisconsin State Historical Society.

Syndication

After the ''Connection'' went bankrupt in 1980, Konopacki began syndicating his work through the labor news service Press Associates, Inc. In 1983 he and Gary Huck (a cartoonist for the

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), is an independent democratic rank-and-file labor union representing workers in both the private and public sectors across the United States. UE was one of the first unions to be c ...

) created their own syndication service, Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons. Huck and Konopacki have published six collections of cartoons: ''Bye! American'', ''THEM'', ''MAD in USA'', ''Working Class Hero'', ''Two Headed Space Alien Shrinks Labor Movement'' and ''American Dread''.

Archives of the syndicate

The business records of the early years of the partnership are archived in the

Elmer Holmes Bobst Library The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library ( ), often referred to simply as Bobst Library or just Bobst, is the main library at New York University (NYU) in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The library is located at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuard ...

's Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.

Other work

Konopacki has created comics on a number of topics, including union organizing, welfare reform, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

, often in collaboration with writer Alec Dubro. He

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

the 1998 video ''Global Village or Global Pillage'', narrated by

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...

. In 2005, Konopacki illustrated the section, "

Wobblies The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

in the '60s" in ''Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World''. In collaboration with

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a politica ...

and historian

Paul Buhle Paul Merlyn Buhle (born September 27, 1944) is a (retired) Senior Lecturer at Brown University, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series ...

, he co-wrote and illustrated ''

A People's History of American Empire ''A People's History of American Empire'' is a 2008 Graphic novel, graphic history by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle. The book combines material from Zinn's history book ''A People's History of the United States'' and his autobiography ...

'', a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

adaptation of Zinn's '' A People's History of the United States''

Personal life

Konopacki lives in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. He has earned his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(2009) and M.F.A. (2010) degrees from UW-Madison's School of Art. His MFA exhibit was titled, ''One Nation Under God''.Master of Fine Arts Exhibition by Mike Konopacki: One Nation Under God
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References

External links

Huck/Konopacki Labor CartoonsO'Driscoll, Bill. "Cartoonist Mike Konopacki discusses adapting Howard Zinn's ''A People's History''
''

Pittsburgh City Paper The ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment. It bought out ''In Pittsburgh Weekly'' in 2001. As of April 2015, ''City Paper'' is the 14th la ...

'' Oct. 2, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Konopacki, Mike 1950s births American editorial cartoonists Artists from Madison, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Living people