Cartoon idol: Help i find its future cartoonists

It’s day two of i’s Cartoonist Idol shortlists. Here are our landscape and pocket cartoon favourites from more than 250 entries.

By The Surreal McCoy

When i put out a request for new cartoonist talent, we had no idea what to expect. What we could never imagine was that we would be deluged with more than 250 entrants, each sending in multiple illustrations as requested. In fact we were so overwhelmed that it has taken us until now to assess the entries with due fairness.

Today we show you our favourites of the landscapes and pocket cartoons that were entered; yesterday it was pockets and strips.

We said we would only know what we really wanted when it jumped up and hit us in the face. Do we go for the wry smiles of The Independent and i’s previous cartoonist, Sally Ann Lasson’s “As If” strip? Do we choose something with a little more drama? Do we go esoteric? Or laugh-out-loud funny? Perhaps we could try someonewho actually intrudes into our comfort zone, and shocks a little .

We invite your feedback on our shortlists and we will be announcing the cartoonists who will lead us into i’s second year by the end of the week. And to everybody else who entered, thank you. Which are your favourites? Do you see a new Doonesbury or Steve Bell, Posy Simmonds or Matt? Or maybe you see something entirely new? (We can’t guarantee that everything you see is 100 per cent new – some people have been published elsewhere. We were simply looking for new talent for i.) Let us know by emailing i@independent.co.uk.

Pockets (from top): Mark Thatcher, Steve Bright, John Kennedy

By Rob Murray

By Bill Stott

Landscapes (from top) Ben Jennings, Chris Shipton

By James Whitworth

By Peter Allwright

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