This past Sunday, November 2, after 28 years (well, 20 if you don't count the 8 year hiatus between Outland and Opus), Berkely Breathed and his bow-tied alter ego departed the pages of the Sunday comics section, with, if I can be honest here, more of a whimper than a bang. The most recent incarnation of the strip never really lived up to Bloom County in its heyday or even Outland at its best, but in all its forms, Breathed's strip has been one of the highlights of the comics section and will be missed. Luckily, I have all of the books, so I shan't be missing Opus too much.
Among Breathed's many accomplishments is his 1987 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. However, the events of last night throw into serious doubt Breathed's skills as a political fortune teller. In a sequence of strips from 1988 (which I intended to scan on Saturday to accompany this, but I chose instead to have a total emotional meltdown. We won't go into that in a parenthetical phrase. However, if you're reading along at home, said sequence is reprinted on pages three and four of Night of the Mary Kay Commandos and page 148 of Classics of Western Literature.), "deeply Democratic" Tom Binkley is beset with a "liberal Democrat guilt fit" because he thinks "Jesse Jackson is kinda loopy." He goes on to say, "Jesse can give a heck of a sermon...and he rhymes well...But I'm sorry...I...I just don't see him as the leader of the free world."
To assuage his father's anguish, young Mike Binkley calls on Oliver Wendell Jones' father, Frank, who assures Tom, "Speaking for blacks worldwide, we don't hate you!" and goes on to predict that "The first black in the White House will be a conservative."
To be fair to Breathed, given the political climate of the time (a time that extended to about six months ago, in truth), this was a perfectly reasonable assumption. And if Colin Powell had ever chosen to toss his gold star festooned hat into the ring, it most likely would have become reality.
Instead, last night, this nation elected to lead it the man described by his GOP critics as the most liberal member of the United States Senate.
It's funny, though, that four years ago, John Kerry was the most liberal senator. And I'm sure that if the race for the Democratic nomination had gone differently, you can just guess who would have found herself tagged as the Senate's most liberal member.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Times The Are A Ch-Ch-Changin'
Since Ray's spent the past two days on the election, I thought I'd round it out with a small sampling of political cartoons from The Cagle Post.Many people are happy and quite proud...
...playing a part in this historic event...
...the history books are definitely going to remember this day fondly...
Ah, but then there are the others who have a different point of view...
I've got my own thoughts on the matter. But no matter which side of the coin you're on, the coin itself is worth the same amount (unless, of course, there's an economic depression). Hopefully, we can all work together to help make the American Dream worth dreaming again.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Chicks Dig The Shirt
Back at Mid-Ohio Con last month, I picked up the Barack Obama T-shirt pictured above, featuring an image painted by noted comics artist Alex Ross, best known for his work on Marvels and Kingdom Come. As I said in my last post, I wasn't quite the true believer that I am now, but a cool T-shirt is a cool T-shirt when all is said and done.
I am, in fact, wearing said shirt as I write this, and, it should go without saying, wore it to the rally on Sunday. I figured my chances of getting a bus after the event were about zero, and if I did it would be unbearably crowded, so I set out to walk toward Clintonville. Along the way, I noticed a couple women, and really good looking ones, giving me, as the saying goes, "the eye." Of course, I knew what was going on here. It wasn't me; a tall skinny dork with broken glasses, a football shaped head, a big nose and bad teeth; that caught their eye. The truth is that, as the headline says, chicks dig the shirt.
I wonder if that will still be the case after the election. I guess that depends on the outcome. All the reaction my Michael Dukakis T-shirt gets is pointing and laughing.
Monday, November 3, 2008
By The Time We Got To The Statehouse, We Were 60,000 Strong, And Everywhere Were The Signs Of A Celebration
Did you know that the next President of the United States of America is only two inches tall?
Or so he appeared to me at the Barack Obama rally at the Ohio Statehouse yesterday. It could be, of course, due to the fact that I was quite far from the speaker's platform. In a crowd of 60,000, however, I suppose I was lucky to have been able to see him at all.
I am, either by nature or due to certain events in my past life, if not a full blown cynic then at least a dedicated skeptic, and while I did vote early for Obama, I didn't quite buy the whole hope and change message. Until yesterday. Perhaps it was because I was surrounded by 60,000 cheering true believers, or maybe it was something about actually hearing what was, to be honest, mostly the standard issue stump speech that he has delivered hundreds of times and I've heard most of on the news, in person and from the man himself. I can't really say, but by the end of the rally, I had, to quote a sketch from Saturdays SNL, "drunk the Obama Kool-Aid." I wish I could vote for him all over again. Hopefully, I will be able to vote to re-elect him in four years.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a comics blog, so I'm going to connect this to comics presently.
The 60,000 attendance figure, more than twice what had been expected, comes from National Public Radio's All Things Considered. The NPR correspondant also noted Obama's muffed attempt to reach out to the geek vote. Challenging his opponents self-styled image as a "maverick," the candidate repeated his charge that John McCain voted with George Bush over 90% of the time on economic issues, saying that McCain was more a sidekick than a maverick, "like Kato with the Green Lantern." The NPR reporter correctly pointed out, and I got as he said it, that Kato was, in fact, the sidekick of the Green Hornet.
This gaffe, is in an odd way, reassuring. After all, the POTUS has more important things to do than read comic books, especially super-hero comics.
I bet Dubya knows the difference between the Green Hornet and the Green Lantern, although I picture him as more of an Image comics reader. I can picture him, in the summer of 2001, poring over every detail of the latest issue of Spawn or The Savage Dragon while the now infamous briefing paper entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Targets Inside US" languished unread in the bottom drawer of his desk beneath a half-eaten bag of stale Cheetos.
I end this rant with a reminder--no--an admonition to all of you to get out and VOTE! If you're in Franklin County, there's still time to get in line at Vets Memorial to vote today. If you're in line by 7 p.m. they have to let you vote. If you can't get out today, then remember that polls are open tomorrow from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Or so he appeared to me at the Barack Obama rally at the Ohio Statehouse yesterday. It could be, of course, due to the fact that I was quite far from the speaker's platform. In a crowd of 60,000, however, I suppose I was lucky to have been able to see him at all.
I am, either by nature or due to certain events in my past life, if not a full blown cynic then at least a dedicated skeptic, and while I did vote early for Obama, I didn't quite buy the whole hope and change message. Until yesterday. Perhaps it was because I was surrounded by 60,000 cheering true believers, or maybe it was something about actually hearing what was, to be honest, mostly the standard issue stump speech that he has delivered hundreds of times and I've heard most of on the news, in person and from the man himself. I can't really say, but by the end of the rally, I had, to quote a sketch from Saturdays SNL, "drunk the Obama Kool-Aid." I wish I could vote for him all over again. Hopefully, I will be able to vote to re-elect him in four years.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a comics blog, so I'm going to connect this to comics presently.
The 60,000 attendance figure, more than twice what had been expected, comes from National Public Radio's All Things Considered. The NPR correspondant also noted Obama's muffed attempt to reach out to the geek vote. Challenging his opponents self-styled image as a "maverick," the candidate repeated his charge that John McCain voted with George Bush over 90% of the time on economic issues, saying that McCain was more a sidekick than a maverick, "like Kato with the Green Lantern." The NPR reporter correctly pointed out, and I got as he said it, that Kato was, in fact, the sidekick of the Green Hornet.
This gaffe, is in an odd way, reassuring. After all, the POTUS has more important things to do than read comic books, especially super-hero comics.
I bet Dubya knows the difference between the Green Hornet and the Green Lantern, although I picture him as more of an Image comics reader. I can picture him, in the summer of 2001, poring over every detail of the latest issue of Spawn or The Savage Dragon while the now infamous briefing paper entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Targets Inside US" languished unread in the bottom drawer of his desk beneath a half-eaten bag of stale Cheetos.
I end this rant with a reminder--no--an admonition to all of you to get out and VOTE! If you're in Franklin County, there's still time to get in line at Vets Memorial to vote today. If you're in line by 7 p.m. they have to let you vote. If you can't get out today, then remember that polls are open tomorrow from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
scary art-related events for 10/31-11/1 and news
- Gallery Hop is Saturday night in the Short North.
- Junctionville Studios is hosting Por Vida!, a Day of the Dead celebration, Saturday night at 10PM.
- The OSU Department of Design celebrates its 40th anniversary this Saturday.
Plus:
- The Highball Halloween parade is tomorrow night beginning at 6pm on High St.
- Not an event but it's an interesting story: there are billboards around town featuring the work of a New York photographer that are causing a stir.
- And while it's not exactly on-topic, it is definitely noteworthy: the Grandview movie theater is coming back!
- Junctionville Studios is hosting Por Vida!, a Day of the Dead celebration, Saturday night at 10PM.
- The OSU Department of Design celebrates its 40th anniversary this Saturday.
Plus:
- The Highball Halloween parade is tomorrow night beginning at 6pm on High St.
- Not an event but it's an interesting story: there are billboards around town featuring the work of a New York photographer that are causing a stir.
- And while it's not exactly on-topic, it is definitely noteworthy: the Grandview movie theater is coming back!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Scarlet Veronica signings this week
I just came from the Ogre and there was a signing there today by the creators of a book called Scarlet Veronica, a horror comedy from Ape Entertainment. I haven't read it yet, but it looks like it'll appeal to Buffy fans.
Tomorrow, they'll appear at Hobby Central in Delaware and back at the Ogre on Saturday. Unfortunately, their website doesn't list times, so you'll have to call ahead.
Laughing Ogre: (614) A-MR-OGRE
Hobby Central:
report on Milai lecture @ CRL
The Lantern has a piece on the recent lecture at the Cartoon Research Library on Sam Milai, whose work is currently on display.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Cartooning the Campaign
NPR conducted an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution cartoonist Mike Luckovich and Mike Peters of The Dayton Daily News about the presidential campaign so far. Of note: Mike celebrates his 40th anniversary at The Dayton Daily News this year!
The above cartoon is discussed in the interview.
Want more political cartoons all year long? Check out The Cagle Post for hundreds of comics from all around the world (and you can sign up to get delivery every day)!
The above cartoon is discussed in the interview.
Want more political cartoons all year long? Check out The Cagle Post for hundreds of comics from all around the world (and you can sign up to get delivery every day)!
Too Much Photography exhibit taking submissions
Opening: November 29th, 5-7pm
Submission Deadline: November 12th at midnight
Show Dates: November 28th-December 20th
Is there really such a thing as Too Much Photography? We don't think
so and we'd like to show Columbus all of the talented artists working
in photography by showing as many photographic works as we can fit in
our gallery. If you are an artist working in color or
black and white, digital, or every possible other form of photography,
we would love to see your work!
Please send digital images of your work to madlabgallery@madlab.net .
You can obtain the jury card at
www.madlab.net/gallery.htm and send it
with your images so we know who you are and how to contact you.
The deadline for your digital submissions is Saturday, 11/12 at
Midnight. The show will run from 11/28 through 12/20. The gallery
opening is Saturday, 11/29 from 5 pm to 7 pm! All participating
artists will receive one complimentary ticket to the theater show so
you can make a night of it! This season it?s MadLab?s presentation of
Split.
So, hurry and submit your work NOW!
Thank You!
Madlab.Gallery.
Submission Deadline: November 12th at midnight
Show Dates: November 28th-December 20th
Is there really such a thing as Too Much Photography? We don't think
so and we'd like to show Columbus all of the talented artists working
in photography by showing as many photographic works as we can fit in
our gallery. If you are an artist working in color or
black and white, digital, or every possible other form of photography,
we would love to see your work!
Please send digital images of your work to madlabgallery@madlab.net .
You can obtain the jury card at
www.madlab.net/gallery.htm and send it
with your images so we know who you are and how to contact you.
The deadline for your digital submissions is Saturday, 11/12 at
Midnight. The show will run from 11/28 through 12/20. The gallery
opening is Saturday, 11/29 from 5 pm to 7 pm! All participating
artists will receive one complimentary ticket to the theater show so
you can make a night of it! This season it?s MadLab?s presentation of
Split.
So, hurry and submit your work NOW!
Thank You!
Madlab.Gallery.
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