I was saddened to learn that Mike Lane, the brilliant cartoonist who drew for The Baltimore Sun, has passed away. See our archive of Mike’s cartoons on Cagle.com.

Nearly twenty years ago I started my CagleCartoons.com syndicate; Mike was one of the first cartoonists to join our group and Mike’s brilliant work was a very important boost for us as we were starting up. Mike had a unique, expressive style and I really appreciated his support in our early days. Mike drew for The Baltimore Sun from 1972 to 2004. He joined CagleCartoons in 2002, drawing for syndication for seven years after he left The Baltimore Sun.

Mike pulled no punches in syndication, blasting George W. Bush from the left. Mike drew with a profound sense of morality. His art is bold and funny. Mike was a liberal champion of the downtrodden. He was an all-around great cartoonist!

Mike retired from editorial cartooning in 2009 and we’ve kept his cartoons in our PoliticalCartoons.com store, where reprints from his seven years with us continue to sell.

Here’s a quote from Mike, from an obit in the Baltimore Sun, “It’s not enough to simply depict opposing factions. It’s good to pick a fight. But it’s not noble or courageous; it’s just my job. Any less is pandering to popular opinion. Too many cartoonists value popularity over doing their jobs. I have a long history of angry letters to the editor. One of my proudest is from the general counsel to the National Rifle Association.”

Here is another nice obituary from The Baltimore Sun.

I’m proud to have called Mike my friend. Here are some of Mike’s outstanding cartoons from the archive of Mike’s years with us –the first batch is about newspapers …

This second batch is about Thanksgiving, just because Thanksgiving is coming up this week and there are so many, great Mike Lane cartoons to choose from on all topics …