Cartoon Collections is the online source for licensing iconic cartoons and offers a searchable online archive with instant licensing and downloads. Launched by long-time New Yorker Cartoon Editor and Cartoonbank.com creator Bob Mankoff, the website houses renowned cartoons covering thousands of subjects with collections from The New Yorker, Esquire, Playboy, National Lampoon, Barron’s and The American Bystander, as well as Matt Diffee’s three Rejection Collections books. Co-founded and backed by cartoon lover and philanthropist Lawrence Benenson, a principal of Benenson Capital Partners, Cartoon Collections is the U.S. companion to CartoonStock, one of the largest digital collections of cartoons in the world.
“As the platinum level in the cartoon universe, Cartoon Collections will showcase distinguished cartoonists alongside upcoming talent with content that is hilarious, insightful and relevant,” said Mankoff, who last year was named the Cartoon and Humor Editor for Esquire, following a 20-year tenure as Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker. “Cartoons are the artwork of the people. We not only want to preserve the art form, we want to champion cartoonists by supporting them directly and creating new opportunities to ensure cartoons live on.”
Our Mission
To make high-quality cartoon artwork available worldwide and in doing so, provide financial support to the cartoonists creating the work we all love. Our goal is to not only preserve the art form, but to champion cartoonists by supporting them directly and create new opportunities to ensure cartoons live on. We continue to build our archives by adding previously unavailable cartoon collections to attract new buyers for licensing, prints and original art.
The Cartoon Collections blog brings together a community of cartoon lovers by offering cartoon-related posts, commentary and artist interviews, a weekly Cartoon Caption Contest, free e-cards and games.
Our Team
Bob Mankoff, Co-Founder and President: Bob Mankoff is the founder of Cartoon Collections, Cartoon and Humor Editor of Esquire and former Cartoon Editor of The New Yorker. In 1974, Bob Mankoff began creating original cartoons and submitting them to magazines around New York City. In 1977, he sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker. He started The Cartoon Bank in 1991–originally a repository for rejected New Yorker cartoons–devoted to licensing for use in newsletters, textbooks, magazines and other media. In 1997, Mankoff was named Cartoon Editor of The New Yorker at which time The New Yorker purchased The Cartoon Bank, giving the site access to all cartoons published in the magazine over the past eight decades. Bob has edited dozens of cartoon books, including The New Yorker 75th Anniversary Collection, The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker and 2018’s The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons, and published four collections of his own.
Lawrence Benensen, Co-Founder: Cartoon lover and philanthropist extraordinaire, Lawrence is a principle at Benensen Capital Partners. He serves on the board of several arts institutions and foundations in New York including the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. We are incredibly fortunate to have him invest in our vision and provide the resources to build this business right.
Trevor Hoey, Operations Director: Trevor was previously the key employee at the Conde Nast iteration of the Cartoon Bank. A New Yorker cartoonist himself, the knowledge he brings from his ten years overseeing various licensing models at Condé Nast is invaluable. He has secured rights and negotiated contracts from artists and photographers representing brands such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, WIRED, The New Yorker and Golf Digest.
Eric Rayman, Board of Directors: Eric is an attorney in New York who specializes in media and entertainment matters and represents many writers, artists, agents, publishers and, of course, cartoonists. Earlier in his career he was the in-house counsel for The New Yorker magazine where he worked closely with Bob during the heyday of The Cartoon Bank. Prior to joining TNY, Eric was Deputy General Counsel for book publisher Simon & Schuster. Going back many years, Eric was the President of The Harvard Lampoon when he was at college, edited some of its most successful national parodies, which were published in conjunction with the National Lampoon, and has served on The Harvard Lampoon‘s board of Trustees for more than 30 years.
Jessica Ziegler, Marketing Director: Jessica has spent the past eighteen years as an internet professional; she was the Creative Manager at Vegas.com, the largest destination travel website, and has been the Director of Social Design for Vestor Logic, designing and developing websites and managing marketing and social media for a myriad of clients since 2004. She built her father cartoonist Jack Ziegler’s site in 2017 and manages his estate.
Samantha Vuignier, Sales Director: Samantha Vuignier comes to us from The Conde Nast Archive, where she was Associate Director, responsible for all file production for The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons, as well as production on all cartoons going up on The New Yorker Store and The Cartoon Bank. With 20 years of experience in all facets of the image licensing business, Sam is eager to leverage her knowledge of the image market to find new avenues of sales to increase revenue for artists.
In the UK:
Joel Mishon, Co-founder of Cartoon Stock: Joel is a former freelance cartoonists whose work has appeared in many of the UK’s leading publications including Punch, Private Eye, The Times, The Spectator and the New Statesman. He’s taught cartooning at the National Cartoon Museum, and has written a well received book on creating cartoon ideas for Harper Collins. Along Ed Beardwell, Joel has taken Cartoon Stock from the germ of an idea, seen the business grow for 20 years, then positioned it to achieve even more for cartooning and cartoonists by partnering with Bob Mankoff and his team at Cartoon Collections.
Ed Beardwell, Co-founder of Cartoon Stock: Ed had both the business and technological experience to make Cartoon Stock possible when he and Joel co-founded the company 20 years ago. Holding a degree in Engineering and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Ed had worked both for Rolls Royce Cars and one of the “Big Five” accounting firms before starting his own New Media business in the 1990’s as Web 1.0 was evolving. It was Ed’s technical know-how that built the first version of Cartoon Stock in 1997, and his financial know-how that ensured a secure footing for the 20 years of growth that followed.
Chris Elkins: Chris Elkins joined Cartoon Stock 10 years ago, and has grown with the business as it has grown with him. He leads the tech team that builds and maintains Cartoon Stock and Cartoon Collections so they run smoothly, and manages the constant improvement required for the sites to stay ahead of technological developments.
John Simmons: As Customer Service Manager John manages client relationships and fulfills licensing orders. In addition, John manages in-house marketing and design, organizing email marketing and overseeing the overall site design.
