Big Stick

Vice President Joe Biden drew laughter with his "big stick" comment during a speech on national defense.

Many readers interpreted this cartoon as a partisan dig on Romney's relatively "small stick".  This is not an unfair conclusion.  It is always safe to assume that your audience will interpret, and often misinterpret, your work.  Nonetheless, my aim in this cartoon was to exaggerate Biden's zeal and enthusiasm in making the statement.

Americans are Lazy

There are times when I become a little too enthused with a set of ideas and they begin to culminate in ways that excite me and confuse everyone else.  Sometimes I will catch myself and peel off a few layers to simplify things.  Other times I will publish something that causes everyone to scratch their heads.

On November 20, 2011, I attempted to do this in a smart way by combining complementary elements in a hierarchical structure of importance, from lowest to highest.

At the bottom, I sought to again illustrate November's freaky weather as I did in the October cartoon.  I had to concede that it’s not a particularly significant element and accept that it was very unlikely to connect with the average viewer.

Next, the news about the president set to pardon a turkey on Wednesday is clear.  The news itself is pretty unremarkable.

Finally, the primary theme is a parody of Rick Perry’s screamingly deceptive charge that the president called Americans “lazy” in his speech to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum as well as Perry's decision to double-down on the accusation.

Black Friday Mayhem

Although the quality is poor, this has, over time, become one of my more initimate and favorite cartoons.  I was experiencing yet another creative block.  Finally, I struck gold with a story about a woman who pepper-sprayed Black Friday shoppers over an Xbox.  It was an incident so outrageous, so ridiculous, I figured that some added exaggeration would make an effective parody.

Unfortunately, I had very little time left and no resources to scan the drawing.  Trying to take a photo of the drawing with my Macbook proved a little difficult.  The local CVS did not provide scanning.  Finally, I took a photo with my phone, applied a cheesy sepia tone and submitted it.

It's not the best, but the experience definitely elevates it in my view.