Sad news. Cox & Forkum are no more. John Cox and Allen Forkum hung up their spurs and turned their horses out to pasture.

Through their editorial cartoons, John Cox and Allen Forkum poked fun at liberal silliness—and conservative silliness, but today's drawing, called "Final Bow," was their last regular edition. 

Since August 2001, Cox & Forkum took on everything from 9/11 to the recent Washington Post “Opus” drama and did it all with biting wit and professional pen work.

In a September 30 goodbye post, Forkum explained their future plans and gave a little insight into why they are stopping:

But lately, for reasons I won't go into here, I can no longer afford to divert so much time and attention away from my publishing business and other personal concerns, such as my family.

I also want to stop focusing so much of my creative energy on negative aspects of daily life. There's still an ideological battle to be fought, not to mention an actual war, and I will stay engaged in some form and medium. But at this point, anything seems more appealing than immersing myself in the sewer of daily politics.

Hopefully the guys will enjoy the extra time with their friends and family and recharge while away from the grind of daily politics.

There is a bit of good news. Forkum said they probably won't be able to resist a cartoon now and then, so keep an eye open.

Humor is very powerful and done right, it can be more effective than serious commentary. Cox & Forkum did it right and could say in one frame what would otherwise take paragraphs to convey.

Thanks guys.

*Flickr photo by Keith Eddleman. Creative Commons license.

Lynn is a contributor to NewsBusters and can be reached at tvisgoodforyou2 AT yahoo DOT com