2018-06-28 Thu

Various countries have issued postage stamps featuring interesting cartoon characters in the recent past. Spain issued a souvenir sheet on 27th April celebrating the 25th annual International Comic Art Exhibition organized by the Quevedo Institute of Comic Arts. The sheet belongs to a special series dedicated to comics and cartoons. The sheet consists of a 3.30 stamp featuring a caricature of Spanish poet, writer and satirist Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas (1580-1645).

The caricature was featured on the cover of the graphic humour magazine Quevedos that was released in March 1997 and was created by Ricardo Martinez. The border around the stamp depicts artwork by other artists. One of them is a caricature of President Donald Trump by David Garcia Vivancos. A list of all of the artwork featured on the sheet along with their creators is mentioned in the philately section of Correos’ website.

A pane of six 2.50-shekel stamps with three different designs was issued on 27th May by Israel post to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence. The pane contains two se-tenant strips of three stamps and a large selvage area that depicts a man taking a selfie with characters from various Israeli caricatures, comics, and animated films. Different eras in the history of Israel from the establishment of the state are represented through the stamps. The first stamp shows a tractor as agriculture was the prime source of income in Israel in those days. The next stamp shows military jeeps to represent defense and security which was strengthened in the country during the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. The third stamp features a man pushing a supermarket cart to represent progress made during the 1990s. The labels feature more elements related to each era. An Israeli cartoonist named Michel Kichka illustrated the stamps.

Image Courtesy: Spanish Post and Israel Post