Politikal Komiks!!

[Sortelli]

My God, today's strip about political cartoons is so true it hurts. I love you, man.

[Rann]

Heh... the first day I decide to post at the EOI forums is the first day I see you post here. Weird. n.n;

[Krazy Krow]

Aww, I feel loved

I have a crazy friend who insists there were funny political cartoons back in the 1700's, but until I see one he's crazy.

[Sortelli]

I know, Rann, I recongized your name but I didn't want to say HEY YOU WAS JUST ON MY FORUM coz, you know, this is Krow's home and my first post here. You have good taste in comics.

I'd believe the statement that there were once valid political cartoons way back in the days that certain things couldn't be said without freaking the world out, but now anyone can say any damn thing they please. Political cartoons aren't constructive anymore, it's just some lame excuse for opiniated artists to mock anyone they disagree with or just plain mock the subject du jour to make a deadline. It's kind of sad, and I think it promotes the general cynicism and apathy of the world in general, rather than motivating anyone to think or act.

[Centurion]

I take issue with statement sir, political comics, just like webcomics, are subject to the %90 rule, which states that %90 of anything is pure shit. I'm sure its always been that way, even back in the idealistic times you speak of.

A good example would be my local paper, the San Antonio Express, which features two cartoonists, Branch (who utterly sucks on a level comparable to Rall) and Leo Garza, who publishes a wonderful little four panel called Nacho Guarache (although you'd have to live in South Texas to get 95% of the stuff he talks about, and it is hit and miss sometimes. Sadly, like all comics, NG seems to be entering is final "turning from great to utter crap" stage, but his early work is awesome.) Branch on the other hand, gets syndicated nationwide. He also does this neat little Sunday strip called Aztlan featuring an Aztec warrior (complete with leapord skin outfid and obsidian battle axe) displaced from his homeland and navigating the absudities of modern day San Antonio politics.


You can't say no to super-deformed Mexicans.

Like I said, they're out there, you just have to keep in mind that like webcomic artists, most political cartoonists have no idea what they're doing (yet unlike most webcartoonists, they're getting paid for it)

[Centurion]

On that note, (sorry for the double post, keenspace keeps timing out when I try to edit) its a rather sad occurance that the guy who draws NG seems to have stopped putting effort into was once a great strip, thus proving that all cartoonists are suseptable to producing their strip long after they've run out of ideas.

[Sortelli]

I would like to see that, I live in the Southwest and our papers also have Hispanic-themed (non-political) comics but they're so heavy handed that it hurts.

Unfortunately, though, the vast majority of political cartoons aren't even about making a point. They're about making comedy out of politics and polarizing the differing sides of view. You can't take all the relevant factors of an issue into account in a 1 to 4 panel strip where the desired result is a punchline, not enlightenment.

I'd like to think that people with functioning brains wouldn't be persuaded on an issue just because they saw a "clever" picture of the current president dressed as a monkey, but this is a country where politicians can be elected just for having a handsome head of hair. Can you imagine if a homely mug like George Washington tried to run for office today?

I'll can accept the 90% shit rule, it just feels like 99.99999999% percentage of shit to me.

[Krazy Krow]

Are there any archives of it online?

A 4 panel comic that touches on politics could be funny, my main objection was to the single strip draw-enemies-in-unflattering-manner type that usually goes on the Opinions page.

I mean jeez, those take no effort at all to come up with. I could draw Bush as a short order chef cooking waffles labeled "Iraq" while scrambled eggs labeled "North Korea" are burning and make an easy $30 out of 5 seconds of thought.

[Sortelli]

Maybe we're in the wrong market...

[Centurion]

Krow: sadly its not online, the SA Express is really pissy about putting its stuff on the web....*sigh* I really wish I still had the early stuff where Nacho was an illegal alien hiding out from the Border Patrol and living inside a henhouse.

And as far as political cartoons go, if you think the modern ones are heavy handed, you should have seen the ones from back in the day, particularly the first Presidentail elections, where it depicted various canidates depicted as tyrants devouring the American citizenry ala Dante's inferno. Its was Rall all the time, but even more vicious.

On the other hand, you at least had to know how to draw back then.