View source for Mark Fiore (cartoonist)

{{short description|American political cartoonist}}
{{for|the English footballer|Mark Fiore (footballer)}}
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| area          = Editorial
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'''Mark Fiore''' is an American [[Editorial cartoonist|political cartoonist]] specializing in [[Adobe Flash|Flash]]-animated editorial cartoons. He won a [[Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary|Pulitzer Prize]] in 2010, the first ever for  cartoon that did not appear in print.

== Career ==
''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' called Fiore "the undisputed guru" of his editorial cartoon niche.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/07/01/these-are-uncertain-times-for-cartoonists/ | title=These Are Uncertain Times for Cartoonists | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | date=July 1, 2007 | accessdate=September 3, 2015 | author=Moroney, Robin}}</ref> 

Fiore lives in [[San Francisco, California]], and his cartoons have appeared in numerous American papers and a number of web sites. He studied [[political science]] at [[Colorado College]] and was a staff cartoonist for the ''[[San Jose Mercury News]]''. He left newspapers for animated online comics in 2001,<ref name="newsweek">Summers, Nick (December 18, 2006). "Satire: Singing a Different 'Toon{{'"}}. ''[[Newsweek]]'', p. 14.</ref> and he currently makes animated editorial cartoons for his web site markfiore.com,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061129001318/http://www.markfiore.com/animation.html markfiore.com]</ref> from which he also sells DVDs of his cartoons. He is a member of the [[Association of American Editorial Cartoonists]].

Fiore's comics were included in [[Ted Rall]]'s ''[[Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists|Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists]],'' along with other web-comics such as ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'', ''[[Diesel Sweeties]]'', ''[[Fetus-X]]'', and ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]''.<ref name="attitude">Rall, Ted (2006). ''[[Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists|Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists]]'', New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine. {{ISBN|1-56163-465-4}}.</ref>  In their review of ''Attitude 3'', the [[American Library Association]]'s ''[[Booklist]]'' called Fiore's cartoons a standout for their "unique and personal" vision.<ref name="booklist">Flagg, Gordon (August 2006). "Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists". ''[[Booklist]]'', p. 23.</ref>

==Recurring characters==
In some of his Flash cartoons, Fiore makes use of several characters more than once. Some of those characters include:

* Suzie Newsykins
* Dogboy & Mr. Dan—an anthropomorphic dog chats who with his friend Mr. Dan, who is rabidly conservative
* Buster Bunker The Friendly Nuke—a [[Nuclear weapon|nuke]]
* Knuckles—a slow man in an executioner's mask who loves torturing Guantanamo prisoners
* Flamey McGassy
* Ouchie—a talking [[Band-aid|bandaid]]
* Captain Killmore
* Snuggly the Security Bear—a rather sadistic teddy bear who puts a positive spin on domestic [[spying]] and [[wiretap]]s
* Right-wing Ralphie—a squat lawyer with pixie wings who fights for homosexuals to gain restitution for being "forced" into marriage; after the passage of California's [[California Proposition 8 (2008)|Proposition 8]], Ralphie celebrates the "protection of heterosexual marriage"; he is a caricature of [[Ralph Reed]], the former Religious Right leader
* Buzzie the Fly—a [[Cajun]] fly who updates the nation on the [[New Orleans]] reconstruction, especially the living conditions of [[Hurricane Katrina]] refugees

== Awards ==

Fiore was awarded an [[Online Journalism Award]] by the [[Online News Association]] and the [[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism]]. He was nominated for the [[National Cartoonist Society]] New Media Award in 2000 and he won it for 2001 and 2002. He also won the 2005 [[Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award]] in the category of cartoons.

===Pulitzer Prize===
Fiore won the 2010 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for Editorial Cartooning.<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2010-Editorial-Cartooning The 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Editorial Cartooning]. [[Pulitzer Prize|The Pulitzer Prizes]].</ref> He is the first cartoonist to win an editorial cartooning Pulitzer for an entry of entirely online animations,<ref>Cavna, Michael. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111130010049/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2010/04/2010_pulitzers_sfgates_mark_fi.html "2010 PULITZERS: SFGate's Mark Fiore wins cartooning's award"]. ''[[The Washington Post]]'', April 12, 2010. Accessed April 29, 2010.</ref> and his winning work appears on SFGate.com, the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' web site. The Pulitzer Prize committee, in a statement, said that "his biting wit, extensive research and ability to distill complex issues [on the web site] set a high standard for an emerging form of commentary."<ref>"[http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=108258; Animated cartoons win Pulitzer for Mark Fiore]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}". ''forum.bcdb.com'',  April 13, 2010.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/markfiore Personal YouTube of Mark Fiore]
*[http://www.markfiore.com/ Personal home page of Mark Fiore]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051228043005/http://www.reuben.org/ncs/awards.asp NCS Awards]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061230095045/http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2005/ RFK Awards]

{{PulitzerPrize EditorialCartooning 2001–2025}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiore, Mark}}
[[Category:American editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:Colorado College alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Artists from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners]]
[[Category:1970 births]]