Classic Cartoons

Martin Plimmer on cannibals

the picky eating preferences of cannibals hold a fascination for us that goes beyond mere food faddism. Is it the justice of invaded cultures getting their own back? Or the simple attraction of missionaries boiling to death in pots? I plump for the second.

Cartoons, which are not governed by the normal laws of good taste, love the idea. In 1956, Mahood's elegant Giacometti-like cannibals had to subsist on stringy Anglicans. But as Neil Kerber's recent drawing shows, the advent of air travel and mass tourism (or "fast food" as it is known in certain parts of the world) have turned them into calorie-counters.