I decided at the last minute to attend the Seattle ComiCard Convention Sunday. The upside: I had a great time, scored some good loot, and got to meet Tom Peyer, writer of the Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen comic (if you like the blend of politics and comic books I’ve been serving up on the OtWP Blog, you’ll probably get a kick out of Peyer’s Beer & Meat blog, too). The downside: No new toon this week, as I was on the Amtrak Empire Builder when I should have been at my art board.

So … it’s back to the archives for a toon this week. With the Jena Six and Genarlow Wilson stories placing race front and center in recent headlines, 2005’s “See the Problem?,” below, still seems awfully timely.

New toon next Monday. Promise.

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “See the Problem?” [Archive No. 0536]

Wow, has there ever been a more anticipated entry into a presidential race who has flopped as hard as Fred Thompson? Dud doesn’t begin to describe it, as most duds at least register a heartbeat.

Art wise, I don’t think I quite nailed his caricature in this week’s toon, “Candidate Fred Thompson,” below. This was one of those weeks when I liked the penciled version, but lost a bit of “the essence” somewhere in the inking process. It’s an OK debut and will improve with time — if Thompson does, that is. With any luck, he won’t be long for this campaign season.

As always, feel free to add your two cents to the debate.

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “Candidate Fred Thompson” [Archive No. 0735]

I ran into one of my co-workers in the break room at The Wenatchee World today, shortly after my latest cartoon came off the press.

“I don’t understand your cartoon today,” he said.

I asked him what he didn’t understand. He wanted to know if I was trying to say Hillary is cold and emotionless — almost robotic — in her pursuit of the presidency, or was it that the Clinton campaign was an unstoppable juggernaut racing toward the nomination.

“Yes,” I said.

“The Clinton Machine” has been a marvel to behold this primary season. And my co-worker understood this cartoon just fine.

What do you think?

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “The Clinton Machine” [Archive No. 0734]

Beyond editorial cartooning, I haven’t done much illustration during my tenure at The Wenatchee World. But when we decided to do a Halloween coloring contest this year, I thought it would be fun to play. Following is my coloring contest page, which appeared in the 10.11.07 edition of Go! Magazine.

(Longtime followers of my work will recognize Elle the Vampire in there, middle row, second from left. She’s a recurring character from the past that I hope to dust off and do more with in 2008.)

Has there ever been a more politically tone-deaf administration than this one? I can understand Bush’s need to score points with the base. But if you’re going to veto legislation to take a stand against “big government,” couldn’t you pick something more palatable than quashing healthcare for poor children? And to say we can’t afford $35 billion for sick kids, at the same time you’re asking for around $190 billion — that’s $190,000,000,000! — in additional war spending?

How did this numbskull ever get to be president? No, really.

As I was sitting down to tackle this week’s toon, I was looking to do something with that notion of tone deafness. But as I brainstormed symbols that spoke to children paying the price for America’s war machine, I kept coming back to the same image: Jules Feiffer’s Munro.

For those not familiar with Feiffer, the guy is on the top rung in my pantheon of creative heroes. Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist. Obie-winning playwright. And, in 1961, he was the writer of an Academy-Award-winning animated short called “Munro.”

“Munro” started life as a short story in Feiffer’s 1957 cartoon collection, “Passionella.” The story revolves around a four-year-old boy named Munro who is drafted into the U.S. Army and can’t seem to convince anyone that there’s been a mistake. It’s a brilliant piece of work, one that still has wonderful resonance today. (If you haven’t seen the animated version, treat yourself on YouTube.)

Feiffer retired from editorial cartooning on a regular basis in 2000.

With our young again being victimized by a misguided military effort, it seemed a good time to pay homage to one of my greatest influences. “Munro, 2007,” below, is the result. I think it works fine with no knowledge of the “Munro” back story, and offers deeper meaning for those in the know (which now includes everyone reading this). I’m pretty tickled with this one.

As always, feel free let me know if you agree or disagree.

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “Munro, 2007” [Archive No. 0733]

I was planning to write a lengthy commentary piece to go with this week’s toon, pointing out several other “blast from the recent past” headlines that were in the news these last few days. But then I went to the dentist today. I was expecting a root canal but ended up getting something called a pulp cap. The upside is that it leaves the nerve alive, which is good for the tooth in the long run. The downside is that it leaves the nerve alive, which is bad for me tonight. That’s one pissed off nerve. Oww.

So check out my latest toon, “Reruns,” and let me what you think. Me? I’m going to try to get some sleep.

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “Reruns” [Archive No. 0732]