The original sketch for the toonpool.com mascot. These days it serves as decoration in our bathroom.

We went online on November 15, 2007 and since then the site has evolved quite a bit. Today, there are over 55,000 cartoons by 1430 artists from all over the world. We introduced great new features, like Collections and the Community page as well as features that turned out not so great in reality (anybody remember Bubble-It?). We stayed true to the rating system, even though a lot of users have complained over time. We witnessed and took part in several debates about topics like censorship and anti-Semitism and we survived an international scandal in the cartoon world. Throughout all of this we held some fierce internal debates about the site’s appearance that ended only a year ago. Some of us still miss the old lamella design.

The idea behind toonpool.com is quite simple, yet the artists made the site a special place on the internet: something different from other portals that provide funny illustrations and photos. It’s always amazing to see how fast artists provide topical cartoons – sometimes only ten minutes after an item has appeared on the big news portals. In the future, we want more people outside of toonpool.com to profit from this. We will work hard to make the amazing works on our site known to a greater public. We are also planning to help those who feel inspired to do a cartoon but just can’t draw. There’s more to come.. so, stay with us. And tell your friends.

We would like to thank everyone who has worked for toonpool.com in the past, interns and temporaries and loosely affiliated folks. You helped us a lot. And we would like to say thank you to all artist and users. Obviously. You’re the most important part of the whole thing.

The toonpool.com staff

Staff Picks

Max: It’s not exactly easy to pick a favorite out of 55,000 cartoons. There are so many different drawing styles on toonpool.com that I really enjoy. But I picked a “classic” cartoon: “Good Morning” by Ronald Slabbers. The cartoon is classic in several ways – it combines social criticism and a funny drawing the way great cartoons have done for 50 years now and it’s a prime example of Slabber’s classic cartoon art. His style always reminds me of cartoons in the New Yorker, which I would look at as a kid without really knowing English.

Bernd: I like “Speech” by Pawel Kuczynski best. That’s all.

Battlestar: My favorite is this one by Creative Jones. It’s about a problem in our society that affects me personally, too. Online networking has become a huge part of modern society and there are so many communities you are supposed to join and so many accounts to take care of, so much time we spend on the internet …it can drive you insane sometimes. I think it’s important to reflect that and make fun of it. Besides, I am always imagining this is the “Tom” from myspace, who is everyone’s first friend. I think he would like that cartoon as well.

Ches: I can’t really decide between “Johnny Skywalker” by Volkertoons and “Screen Shot” by Achecht. They are both ingeniously rendered word plays.

Paul: “Haarschnitt” by Peter Thulke always makes me smile. It’s about the transforming power of children’s haircuts. Well, maybe that’s my favorite cartoon for friendly days. On another day I might have chosen “Handschuhe” by Ari, for instance.

Photos