The frequency with which Zola appeared in denunciatory cartoons during the Affair points to his central, very public role. In his J’accuse, Zola had staked a claim for the necessity of political engagement on the part of writers, scholars and historians. In the wake of this type of commitment, the term ‘intellectual” was born. Zola was thus often portrayed as a traitor (lower left, p. 1, where his mask serves as the face for the Jew and of the German); a vain status seeker, and a fop (p.2). Of special note: the image on the upper left of page 1, showing Zola emerging from a toilet seat carrying a soiled brush carved in the likeness of Dreyfus. Much of the most violent anti-dreyfusard imagery exploited heavy pornographic or scatological elements.