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The Evolution of Punk
Punk, the small penguin in Oliphant's daily cartoons, has been beloved by readers from his earliest appearance in the Adelaide Advertiser in the 1950s. Some readers feel as strongly about Punk as they do about the real-life subject of a daily drawing. Many first hunt for Punk, then read the cartoon, and finally return to see how Oliphant has used the penguin to add a final layer of commentary to that day's editorial.
Punk's charm belies the added depth and rhetorical complexity he brings to every cartoon in which he appears (his rare absence is worth noting). He can be quizzical, clueless, bemused, cynical. He is often an innocent bystander, at other times very much the weary journalist, and sometimes even a sly co-conspirator. He is often in conversation with another tiny figure. Like the cartoon's text, Punk does not generally appear in the sketchbook stage of Oliphant's daily drawings. |