Michael Payne’s Toon In! wins Illustrated Sports Book of the Year award

Toon In! is a uniquely insightful book of wicked humour and visual genius, which uses the cutting insight of 400 of the world’s greatest cartoonists from 50 countries to help tell the extraordinary story behind the modern Olympic Games.

Started as a COVID-19 lockdown project, Michael, a collector of political cartoons, pulled together more than 1,200 Olympic-themed cartoons, accompanied by a personal 100,000-word commentary, to produce a one-of-a-kind, 500 page coffee table book.

Speaking about Toon In! after receiving the award, Michael said:

“I am proud and very honoured to be presented with the prestigious Illustrated Sports Book of the Year Award. It was very special to receive it from eleven-time Paralympic gold medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.

“As a collector of political cartoons, I have always admired the incredible skill and visual genius of the cartoonist. It’s that ability to tell the most incredible stories and reveal hidden truths, often without words. What started as a little COVID-19 lockdown project to bring people a few smiles ended up as fun, time-consuming, but very rewarding project.

“I would firstly like to thank the IOC for not suing me for libel! I would also like to thank the publishers, Vision Sports Publishing, and the designer, Theodora Mantzaris, whose design brilliance was actually able to pull this creativity together. The whole project was for four charities around the world.”

All profits from the sale of Toon In! are being donated to the following four charities and special causes:

• Back Up Trust
• Cartooning for Peace
• Peace and Sport
• Yunus Sports Hub

Toon In! is published by Vision Sports Publishing (UK). To see a full overview of the book and to purchase a copy of Toon In! visit: www.olympiccartoon.com. A special collectors’ version, with a limited edition (250 copies) art litho of the cartoon from Jim Thompson detailing the history of the Olympic ceremonies, along with signed copy of Toon In! by the author is also available.