I had no idea there was an actual name for it and that it was considered a cartoonist’s convention, but apparently there is – it’s the Silent Penultimate Panel.

Arnold Wagner wrote about it recently on his blog, and that was where my eyes were first opened to it.

I’ve used those now and again (I try not to over-use them, but they’re fun). Frequent cartoon-lunch cohort Matthew Hansen refers to them as “Third Panel Guys Staring at Each Other cartoons,” which has a nice ring to it, but I’m kind of excited to now refer to them as SPPs.

Here’s one of my favorites.

EDIT: And another.

Saw this link over at the Toon Talk forums. It’s called Rightwing cartoon watch from an openly-liberal blog called BlueHerald.

Now before you go thinking this is just the left-wing equivalent of how Rush Limbaugh makes up funny names and voices for politicians he doesn’t like, it’s hardly without any kind of intellectual merit. Here’s the blog on itself:

Comedians, artists and certainly political cartoonists tend to possess an anti-authoritarian, skeptical, irreverent streak. This makes the staunchly conservative cartoonist an especially odd bird.

Rightwing Cartoon Watch seeks to highlight far right cartoons, but also document the broader range of opinion from conservative cartoonists on the hot issues of a given week. While a primary goal is to challenge GOP talking points and fallacies, we also seek to celebrate the fine American tradition of editorial cartooning — and have a little fun in the process.

Which cartoonists dare to criticize their own party? Who seems to literally illustrate GOP talking points? Who are their favorite targets? Who mocks liberals — and who seems to truly hate them? Who’s funny? Who’s independently minded and who’s a hack? Read, and decide, for yourself!