THIS NEWSPAPER’S most notable cartoonists are a determined and fearless lot, uniquely skilled at mercilessly ambushing those holding the helm of the state. Shaming democracy, they have no regard for social justice.

Patronising working people, they are the epitome of moral and intellectual decay and in exposing them Star contributors follow in the best tradition of the irrepressible genius that was Mary Duval, the Hogarthian Adelaide Claxton, the  astonishing Fay King and Ethel Hays, along with male cartoonists such as James Gillray, George Cruikshank or John Tenniel of Alice in Wonderland fame.

But they’re not mere imitators — each Star cartoonist has a highly individual and instantly recognisable style, employed in no-holds-barred satire and ridicule with dexterity and gusto.

In 2021, we look forward to the hubris-deflating thrusts of their sharp wits and pens.

MICHAL BONCZA