Cartoonists With Attitude

Awesome.

Last chance to download your own copy. Before it’s too late.

(P.S. This blog proudly uses Movable Type)

Possibly my all-time favorite American sit-com.¹ It fizzled out towards the end, but I think there’s something to admire even in failure, when that failure is based on a determination to keep on pushing boundaries rather than repeating past successes.

Leigh posted on the subject, focusing on Darlene and how well the show handled the teen girl characters. I loved all the characters, but Jackie and Dan were my favorites, probably due to the incredible performances of Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman.

Also worth noting: Joss Whedon got his start as a TV writer on Roseanne.

1. My all-time favorite sit-com is Black Adder. Although this is always a bit hard to say, because the truth is I have five or six different all-time number one favorites.

How did my portrait of Dwight Eisenhower, in my latest comic, somehow end up looking like a face Jack Kirby would draw?  I have no idea, but I'm very happy about that strange occurrence.

I love this holiday, especially in NYC. You get to see how creative and/or slutty New Yorkers can be (“Hey look, it’s Sexy Werewolf!!�?).

Since Mikhaela and I missed Halloween ‘07 (we were at ‘Day of the Dead’ in Mexico), we really want to do it up this year. As a special Election ’08 bonus, I’m going to keep a tally of how many Obamas, McCains, Bidens and Palins I see…until I get drunk or bored. My money is on a plethora of porn-y Palins and zombie McCains.

Oh yeah: for all you basic cable fans, I’m going as this guy.

-Masheka

P.S. If you’re going to a Halloween party, wear a freakin’ costume or keep your lame ass at home. Besides, if you’re single, you have a better chance of getting costumed booty if you get into the inherently hedonistic spirit of the holiday with your own outfit.

The Classic Kranti and Zen Pug t-shirt sale is over today at 5 p.m. I still have a few left of each kind.

Thank you to everyone who ordered! I’ve shipped some of the packages this week and will get the rest out by Monday.

*THE CONTROVERSY BREWS ON..

The Montclarion brouhaha continues to grow, with a ton of discussions going on about it on the web. Below are some of the choice ones.

http://ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com/

http://www.baristanet.com/

http://dailycartoonist.com/

Here is an interview I did today.

I’m also throwing in some letters/emails of the week concerning said brouhaha:

Mr. Knight,
My name is J. and I am a junior at Montclair State University. I am also the Assistant Sports Editor of The Montclarion. As you know by now, a comic you created has sparked a big controversy on the campus here. When I first saw the comic, I was very upset.
You see, I come from a family where it does not matter your color, ethnicity, creed, sex, etc. When I was little, my first best friend was black. When I moved to a pretty white suburb, I heard the jokes about other races and it offended me, even though I am white, that is just the type of person I am. In high school, when more black students moved to town, I had to leave school early one day because the white kids were going to beat me up because they were calling my friends a nasty name and I told them, starting a semi-clash.
I got it all through high school; because I dress a certain way, listen to a certain type of music, I was called names so nasty and heard people say the nastiest things, you would just wonder “Why do they think like that?”.
I’m not going to pretend I know what it feels like to be a black person in America. But seeing my friends go through it everyday, hanging out in the city of Newark, a heavily populated black city, I see it. And again, I don’t know how it feels, but I do get offended. It would not have mattered if it was about an Hispanic person, an Asian person, a Middle Eastern person; it still would have offended me.
But, on the other hand, I do get what you were saying. It was based off a real-life event and it took a professor in the Broadcasting Department, the Department I am majoring in, to explain that even though these people are ignorant and racist, they still see Obama is the best choice no matter his skin color.
I was going to quit the newspaper yesterday after I saw that comic. I just think that the word is nasty, and it holds a lot of bad weight. I feel that if people on my campus heard your side, they might understand it a little more. Also, this isn’t even a black/white thing because I have dealt with more white people coming into the office or talking about how offended they were.
I know I have written a lot and I do not want to take up anymore of your time. I just wanted to let you know how I felt and I also want you to continue doing what your doing because what you are doing is educating Mr. Knight, though to some on my campus it does not seem like that. I hope to hear back. Thank you again.

Sincerely,
J.
—-
Your shit sucks. It’s sad to see someone with no future like yourself going so low that you have nothing better to do than right racist comics, (which suck). You must have no life goals if this is all you do. I hope you enter the 21st century someday. I know i am not the first to send something to your racist self, but i hope i just wasted some more of your worthless time.
—–

Again, below the Obama infomercial posts, is my official statement to various media outlets.

I’m off to San Francisco for the Alternative Press Expo and Cartoon Art Museum events. Ciao!!

*THE CONTROVERSY BREWS ON…

Here is my “official statement” that I gave to the Montclarion school paper, Politico.com and some newscast that contacted me.

To Whom it May Concern,

First off, it’s nice to know people are still reading the paper.

In all seriousness, the strip is based on some true incidents that happened to canvassers in some battleground states.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/on-road-western-pennsylvania.html

Is it offensive? Yes. Is it sad? Sure. But that’s the reality of the United States and this very unique election.

We have the first African-American candidate for president who could actually win. And folks of all colors are coming face-to-face with bias and race issues they didn’t know about, have ignored or pretended didn’t exist. Neighbors, co-workers, and family members are learning a little more about the society we live in.

The comic is pointing out one aspect of it. Straight-up racists are prepared to pull the lever for a black man. While some folks out there, who never thought they were prejudiced, aren’t going to vote for him because of his skin color.

Should we ignore stuff like this? I don’t think so.

Should it be in a comic strip? Yes!!

Comic strips aren’t always “ha-ha” funny. They can be peculiar or strange or dark or embarrassing. Some of the most effective cartooning addresses serious issues. I suppose there are still a lot of folks who think comics should all be like “Garfield”.

I think it’s good that people are discussing the strip, whether it be negative or positive. It shows that they care and are willing to confront issues that are often swept under the rug.

This election is the most significant event to happen concerning race in this country since the civil rights movement. It has shown us what makes this country great, and what we still need to work on. I like to think my work shines a light on both the negative and the positive.

If given the opportunity, I would love to do a slide-show on campus about cartooning, politics, race and the media. It would be nice to talk to the readers in person.

Cheers,

Keef
Creator of (th)ink &
The K Chronicles: 2008 Glyph Award Winner for Best Comic Strip
Next Signing:11/1-11/2 APE, San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center
New books:I Left My Arse in S.F. & The Complete @ http://www.kchronicles.com
Now running in a paper near you: “the Knight Life”, Keef’s New Daily!!
http://www.knightlifecomic.com

*AND, OUT OF ALL THE FEEDBACK I’VE READ ABOUT THE STRIP, THIS PERSON GOT WHAT I WAS TRYING TO CONVEY:

“For better or worse, it’s a word with a lot of power. There are those who attempt to strip it of its power by using it casually or artistically. Here I think the power of the word is harnessed to make a thoughtful and worthwhile point about the way people are voting in this election. I have encountered people who I would consider racist who are voting for Obama in a strangely promising and simultaneously troubling phenomenon.”

-this post is from Ian off of barista.net

“Halloween in the time of cholera” — A wonderful set of pre-1940 Halloween photos.

From Ethan Pollack, at the Economic Policy Institute:

As money is spent, it creates beneficial ripples through the entire economy. The evidence is that most of the money from the recent tax rebate was saved rather than spent, thus blunting its stimulative benefit.1 By comparison, other options—such as infrastructure spending, aid to states, food stamps, and unemployment insurance (UI) benefits—are much more cost-effective because they target the needs most likely to channel money back into the economy. Mark Zandi from Moody’s Economy.com estimates that each dollar of refundable tax rebates only boosts GDP by about $1.26, while each dollar of infrastructure spending could provide a $1.59 boost. Not only are many of these stimulus options more effective, but they also have the added benefit of assisting those hardest hit by the downturn and tackling long-standing infrastructure needs that would lower transportation costs, decrease traffic, and increase business productivity.

Zandi’s analysis also shows what doesn’t work as stimulus: a variety of tax breaks for corporations and wealthy individuals, which cost over twice as much as they return to the economy.