'Governor Le Rampage', comic strip by Ed King, targeting Paul LePage, governor of Maine (2011-2019).
Ed King is a Maine-based American cartoonist, who works for magazines, newspapers and advertising agencies, as well as business and private clients. Also a journalist, he was the founding editor and publisher of the local community newspaper West End News from Portland, Maine.
Cartoonist
Born in 1950, King began drawing cartoons in third grade, and between 1965 and 1968 attended the School of Art and Design in New York City, where he studied Cartooning & Advertising Art. As a freelance cartoonist, King has made gag cartoons, story illustrations and poster art for a variety of clients. These include the kids magazines Highlights for Children and Spider Magazine, the publishing house Checkerboard Press, the L.L. Bean retail company and local news outlets like Portland Monthly, MaineBiz, West End News and The Wayne Independent. Working with pen, ink and watercolors, King specialized in making whimsical gag cartoons on a variety of subjects, focusing on humor instead of a political message or opinion. He has also made cartoon maps by commission of small towns.
During the 1980s, King worked briefly in the comic book industry, doing lettering for DC Comics, Marvel and a number of independent publishers. He most notably worked for Al Williamson and other artists on the 'Star Wars' comic strip and movie adaptations of 'The Return of the Jedi' and 'Blade Runner'.
Cartoon by Ed King.
West End News
After 22 years living in Pennsylvania, King eventually moved to Maine, where he settled in Portland in the late 1990s. By then, freelance cartooning work dried up, and King turned to the newspaper business, working for local news outlets like Maine Biz. In 2001, he founded the West End News, a community newspaper for his historic Portland neighborhood. First released on 17 March 2001, the paper appeared monthly and then twice a month, containing opinion pieces, political commentary, local events calendars and a gossip column called 'The Dumpster'.
In September 2012, Ed King retired from his newspaper. Since then, he has continued to make cartoons. His work also appears regularly in regional art galleries.
2003 cartoon for Portland Magazine.