Boris Johnson Puppet – by Roger Todd
Elections of any kind inevitably result in some great cartoons, from all sides of the political spectrum. We’ve seen a lot of them in the run-up to tomorrow’s general election in the UK, so it’s no surprise, then, that cartoonist Roger Todd is currently back in the limelight with his portrayal of Boris Johnson in bed with US President Donald Trump in a photograph at his side, all over social media.

When he was knee-high to a very short thing, Roger Todd was captivated by a magazine cover of grotesque sculptures depicting politicians of the day. Who those figures were, and who created them, were mysteries at the time, but the wild facial distortions made a deep impression. Years later, startlingly similar monsters came to life in Spitting Image and Roger at last learned who their creators were: Fluck & Law. But then the boring world of college, work and university intervened. Many years passed before he began to sculpt his own grotesqueries: busts, puppets and novelty figurines resulted.
Along the way he met his heroes Luck & Flaw, upset Michael Gove’s wife Sarah Vine, and saw his puppets appear on television, in Channel 4’s The Last Leg.
Roger Todd and Puppets
His work has been exhibited regularly and, life coming full circle, Spitting Image creator Roger Law opened an exhibition of political rubber puppets by Roger at the Political Cartoon Gallery back in June. On display were wonderful reincarnations of Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon, David Cameron, Michael Gove, Ed Miliband and many others.
A revival of Spitting image, the classic ITV satirical puppet show is currently in the works from its original creators. BBC News reported new episodes of the comedy, described as “public service satire” by co-creator Roger Law, will take on Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, among others.
“It’s pretty chaotic out there. As far as I’m concerned, it’s better than shouting at the television set,” he told the Guardian, revealing a pilot had already been filmed.
• Roger Todd has a blog at mctoddcaricatures.blogspot.com
With thanks to Anthony Smith
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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