A recap of the last year and a half in political cartoons is planned for Thursday.

The first presentation in the summer lecture series titled “Drawn and Quartered: Brian Duffy on the Art of Political Cartooning,” will feature Brian Duffy, editorial cartoonist for The Des Moines Register.

The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in Fisher Theater. Admission is free and open to the public.

The summer lecture series is slightly different, with a combination of substance and entertainment, said Pat Miller, program coordinator for the committee on lectures.

The lecture’s topics will range from the events of Sept. 11 to politics in Washington, overseas and in the Iowa statehouse, Duffy said.

“It’s retrospective, whatever that means,” he said.

His focus will be on his most recent cartoons, Duffy said, with an emphasis on local and state politics.

This year’s legislative session has been particularly interesting, which makes for great cartoon material, he said.

“I don’t know what [politicians would] do if not elected in the Legislature,” he said. “It’s their own little form of welfare.”

Ross Perot and Richard Nixon have been favorites of most cartoonists because of their easily exaggerated features.

“Generally, most politicians are funny looking people,” Duffy said.

What won’t be shown at the lecture are Duffy’s personal cartoon favorites.

“I don’t have one – I can’t have one,” he said.

Once a cartoon’s off his desk, it’s out of his mind, Duffy said. However, the process of getting a cartoon off his desk takes a full day’s work, he said.

Generating ideas is usually the most time consuming, ranging from 10 minutes to hours. The drawing of the actual cartoon moves much more quickly, he said.

Duffy has worked at the Register for about 19 years, and the newspaper is the last daily publication still printing editorial cartoons on their front page, he said.

Duffy said he’s amazed that, during a time when many papers across the country are getting smaller, his cartoon is still on the front page.

“It’s a tradition at this paper and they’ve continued it,” he said. “I thought they’d dump me onto God-knows-what page by now.”

Duffy said he is planning to show his own animated editorial cartoons at tonight’s lecture but warns “it might crash and burn,” as the technology is sometimes not agreeable.

A veteran lecturer, Duffy has given presentations at colleges, schools and Rotary Clubs, as well as other locations, he said.

Miller said in past lectures at Iowa State, Duffy has shown animation, slides of his cartoons and has drawn while speaking.