October 3rd, 2017

Sole Mate

by Wayno & Piraro

(Explore the exciting world of embiggenation by clicking a comic.)

This was another raucous week of hate mail and negative comments over one of my cartoons with an overtly political message, which I’ll discuss later in this post. I hesitate to call them “political comics” because I’m not an editorial cartoonist and my cartoons are not in the style of typical editorial cartoons. As I’ve mentioned before, cartoons are sold to newspapers as either “funny” or “editorial”, and those of us in the “funny” category are expected to stay away from heavily political content. In 99% of my comics over my 33-year career, I’ve kept to that rule but the absurdity of our current president and his administration have inspired and compelled me to an occasional political cartoon.

Along with the critics, my political comics have also garnered a lot of positive messages, emails, and comments so even though I am clearly losing conservative readers, it seems I am also picking up progressive/liberal readers who perhaps were not previously aware of my work. It is my belief that since America’s current administration is a textbook example of authoritarian fascism, it is the duty of any decent, patriotic American to speak out against it until the threat is passed. That might take a while.

My critics often chastise me for being “partisan” and using my “bully pulpit” to spread divisiveness. My response is that America’s form of democracy guarantees the right and encourages every commoner to express their partisan views; it’s kind of the whole point of the country. If you don’t like that sort of thing and think that people should keep their mouths shut and honor the flag and the president no matter what, you should move to a dictatorship. (I know, with this president you’re hoping to achieve that without having to move and I don’t blame you. Moving is a hassle.) Also, look up the definition of “bully pulpit”. Cartoonists don’t qualify. In fact, it is our job to point out the absurdities of human behavior.

Pugs and reanimated corpses are two things that are really hot right now so why not combine the two and have the best of both worlds? Insider backstory: I fashioned the Frankenstein Monster’s facial expression and body language on those I’ve actually seen expressed by friends and family members when confronted with an objet d’cute. 

As I said in my FB and Twitter posts of this cartoon earlier in the week, in a just world, jails would be full of rich white assholes. Of course, assholes are not all rich nor white, but there are enough rich white assholes causing the rest of us all plenty of misery and trouble that you could easily fill some penitentiaries to the brim with them.  And while their crimes typically go completely unpunished, their crimes are not without grave consequences.

Here’s an example: a poll came out last week that showed for the first time ever, a majority of Americans believe Climate Change is responsible for the growing frequency and intensity of major storms. That’s good news as it may help aim legislative efforts to curb it. But the downside is that the vast majority of that majority are Democrats. The majority of Republicans still think it’s a hoax. You may be tempted to blame the Cheeto Mussolini for that since he has said as much, but the real culprit is Fox News Channel and the rich white assholes who control its content. Why are they the only (supposed) news agency in the world that does not report on the scientific consensus about Climate Change? Because they are a propaganda network for the Republican Party, which is run by corporation-owning rich white assholes who do not want to stop polluting and raping the planet because they might lose profits. They lie to you to protect their own short-term gains in spite of the fact that they are compromising the health and well-being of every single person on the planet.

Did you know that many cave painters actually used to do this with their hands? Were they signing their work? Were they indulging their ego with a primitive kind of “selfie”? Or were they just playing with a new special effect they’d invented like a kid does when they learn how to fold a piece of paper, cut a few chunks out and end up with a snowflake?

It was erroneously assumed for centuries that cave painters were male but recently it was discovered that many were female. Of course they were––why do we always default to sexism?

I’m not sure how we figured out some were female. Maybe it’s because so many cave paintings were of ducks and bows and gingham. (There it goes again! DAMN that sexism! )

The above cartoon was the result of a premonition about my own death. I’ve got to either read faster and more hours per day or build a sturdy retaining wall between my bed and my nightstand. As it is, I wear a bike helmet when I sleep but I still fear I could be smothered.

As I knew it would, this cartoon about Trump’s racism got me into major hot water (and possibly got Bizarro canceled in one major Midwest market). That’s not surprising but what truly surprises me is how America isn’t constantly talking about the fact that our president is a self-admitted racist and Nazi sympathizer. Didn’t we fight an entire war and lose over 400,000 American lives fighting Nazism? Tolerating their parades and rallies is one thing (and is protected by the First Amendment) but allowing one to serve as our Commander in Cheif is beyond absurd. These days I often feel I am trapped in a Vonnegut novel.

Of course, this is what open-minded people get for electing a non-white person to the presidency. And then we tried to elect a WOMAN. I guess we should have known better.

And finally, here’s this cartoon about the ever-clever Swiss Army and its ability to hide useful things inside of other useful things. With the Swiss Army knife-and-boot combo, you can carve up enemy combatants on the battlefield all day, then slip into an open-toe pump in the evening and open a bottle of wine with your hidden corkscrew.

Thanks for reading, Jazz Pickles. If you enjoy my cartoons and commentary, please consider dropping a buck or two into the Tip Jar or buying a gift or two from my store. (Don’t miss that there are TWO pages.) These things all help to keep things going at Rancho Bizarro as more people read my work online for free and more newspapers fold or get taken over by Trumpers who don’t think Bizarro is respectful enough of racists.

Below are some ways you can help me to keep moving forward. Until next time, be smart, be happy, be nice. And never stop resisting the assholes.