When asked on CNN about whether or not the Republicans regret taking out the pandemic money in the stimulus, Michael Steele said “we didn’t know there was going to be a flu pandemic! You can’t make that link!”
Dan Nadel’s post “Dave Stevens and Nostalgia” is very interesting, although “Alas” readers hoping for a feminist critique of Stevens will be disappointed. (And really, what would there be to say that wasn’t incredibly obvious? There was nothing layered or subtle about Stevens’ objectification of women, so it just comes down to how bad you think objectification is.)
Stevens was a much-celebrated comic book artist best known for his retro-style drawings of pin-up women, and for creating “The Rocketeer.” I always assumed that Stevens never wanted to do anything but pretty-but-shallow retro drawings, but apparently he was unhappy with the limits of his work, but never found the drive/visions/opportunity to do more.1
There’s an interesting discussion of being someone drawing in a very retro (and time-intensive) pulp style decades after the time and market for it has evaporated:
Ironically, the guys that came after Wood and Kane and Toth, like Bernie Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Barry Smith, and Jeff Jones, followed them right down the manhole, dabbling in independent publishing but basically choosing to be pulp artists at a time when the pulps no longer existed. They chose to be willfully anachronistic. That helped make their work popular to a generation of guys who’d been children (if that) when the ECs came out and were now 20-something fanboys eager for more of the same, but, with the exception of Smith, who really brought a new kind of ferocity to his mark-making, it also severely limited the work. There was nowhere for it to go except for further wallowing in nostalgia – it would never transcend its nostalgic origins. The idea was to just make the best version of Arthur Rackham or Joseph Clement Coll as possible. There’s nothing wrong with that, really—it’s just rather limited.
It’s not that nostalgia is necessarily limited; Seth’s work is full of nostalgia, but it’s also some of the most vibrant, fresh cartooning out there. But Seth’s vision, while nostalgic, isn’t limited to the desire to recreate great works he read as a kid.
Nadel says at one point that Stevens had “the all-important illusion of technical proficiency (here defined as a late 19th century notion that conveniently ignores 20th century art history).” That really intrigues me, and I hope he develops that thought more in a later post.
Another dangerous figure has been incarcerated in beard jail. Kevin Moore posts his own Photoshopped Ayatollah, riffing on my post from yesterday.
If there’s anyone you know who needs a stint in the beard house, I’d encourage you to make one and send it it. It only takes a few minutes.
Last week the Minnesota Supreme Court set June 1 as the date to hear Norm Coleman’s appeal of the Senate election results. I swear, if the situation were reversed, the Dems would have caved to the bellowing Repubs on November 5.
Of course, the insane, naked partisanship Coleman is practicing is precisely the kind of extremism that has led to Arlen Specter to switch over to the Democrats, as we learned today. The slightly-moderate Specter needs to do it or else he’ll lose the Republican primary.
This was the first time I’ve drawn Coleman or Franken, and I’m pretty happy with how they came out. While I was researching photos of Coleman, I came across some old pics of him as a longhair. I guess these have been widely circulated, and maybe you’ve seen them already, but I hadn’t. Really makes me wonder how a person goes from looking like this to the pompadoured d-bag that Coleman is now. Dude went through a serious case of adult-onset cheesification.
[PS -- Shouldn't that name read NORML COLEMAN?]
This one needs some context, so read the post underneath it.
And, believe it or not, this is the third ‘toon I have done regarding Miley Cyrus. It shocks even me.
| Originally published at mooreroom. |
A new cartoon is up on my website. It’s the penultimate cartoon for this story line.
My New Yorker cartoon is running this week. Keep an eye out. I don’t consider it my funniest cartoon but I’m proud.
On another front I’m animating like crazy. I’m slower than I’d like – drawing is easier than animating (for me) but I’m loving it.
That’s about it for a production front. On the consumption front I’m loving Breaking Bad and Kings. Lost is enjoyable. Heroes is breaking my heart.
The true part is that I rebroke my foot recently while Masheka was still in his left foot cast. The not-true part is that it was intentional–having a broken foot SUCKS. And HURTS!
Note: I rarely use photo references when drawing myself, but I needed them here–these are quite accurate recreations of how I broke my foot, the giant stack of pillows (complete with cats) I used to keep it elevated, etc. I even donned a wool coat in 80ish degree heat to pose for panel three!
P.S. Yes my foot is all blue and nasty under the cast–or it was last time. I’m sure it will be again when they remove the current cast.
Campus Progress has a piece grading some of Obama’s budget initiatives on a condom scale drawn by yours truly.
A poll over at the Comics Riff blog caught my eye. It features a number of caricatures of foreign leaders and asks “which cartoonist drew your favorite?” Amazingly, the current winner is a cartoon by John Sherffius featuring Ayatollah Khomeini. He’s been dead for twenty years, but I suppose his ghost ordered the Iranian government to imprison that poor journalist in his beard.
I’d hate to be jailed in a beard.
Good caricature, huh? Sherffius can draw with the best of them but when he uses Photoshop he really nails the likeness for some reason.
I wanted to see how fast I could replicate this master so I hit up Google image search and grabbed the first result. Then I opened it in Photoshop and applied the Threshold adjustment. Putting the levels at 128 seemed right. Next, I made his eyes appear like they were looking forward and extended his villainous black cloak a bit.
I added Elvis in the weird jail beard because those crazy Iranians hate that hip-shaking troublemaker and all the swooning the ladies do over him.
5 exhausting minutes later I was all done.
Which one of these cartoons is a better caricature? Whose use of Threshold captured the face better? Please vote in my comments section.
