The aim of this qualitative study is to examine how mental images of prospective social studies teachers regarding current global issues are illustrated through cartoons they draw. The study adopted the phenomenological research design, and it was conducted with purposefully selected 39 prospective Social Studies teachers, who had previously taken the course `Current Global Issues'. The data were collected through the cartoon-making activity forms prepared by the researchers, and analysed using the content analysis technique. The results showed that the cartoons that activate the critical and creative thinking processes of prospective teachers were influential on the way they expressed their ideas about an issue, and the problems were likely to be discussed from a broader perspective. The problems addressed appeared to be related to both environmental and social issues. Among the major problems, environmental issues such as environmental pollution, global warming, and drought were found to be frequently illustrated in the cartoons, in addition to a social problem pertaining to the health concerns caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such problems as technology addiction, wars, and violence were also observed in the cartoons as part of the social concerns.