The Nobel announcement should make for an interesting day in right-wing crazyland.

Secret Agent Beck vs. the menace of A.C.O.R.N!

… some notes on this one: the ACORN logo is based on the United Underworld logo from the 1966 Batman movie (in the original, the tentacles belong to an octopus at the center of the design). The volcano headquarters are taken from “You Only Live Twice,” as are George Soros’ facial scar and Chairman Mao jacket (based on James Bond’s archnemesis from that movie, Ernst Stavro Blofeld). Agent Beck’s predicament at the end of the cartoon is of course based on the classic scene from Goldfinger, leading to my one regret about this cartoon. The movie’s original dialogue goes something like this:

BOND: Do you expect me to talk?

GOLDFINGER: No, Mister Bond — I expect you to die!

I was originally hoping to end the cartoon with this exchange:

BECK: Do you expect me to talk?

SOROS: No, Mister Beck — I expect you to cry!

Had to cut it due to space, but in retrospect, I kind of wish I’d figured out a way to squeeze it in.

You can enter the contest here.

There’s a clause in my contract which states that I am to receive copies of all merchandise using my art. I wish my attorney had thought to include the phrase “and contest prizes…”

The Very Silly Mayor Tom Tomorrow Ig (Consortium, dist.), $16.99 (36p) ISBN 978-1-935439-01-1
Tom Tomorrow (a penname for cartoonist Dan Perkins), whose This Modern World comic strip skewers government follies, brings his gee-whiz irony and clip art–style panels to this parable of sorts, his picture book debut. The wild-eyed title character presides over “a medium-sized city.” Smiling a leprechaun’s overeager grin, he instructs police officers to dress as clowns, firefighters to substitute peanut butter for water and citizens to paint their homes green and purple. Sparky the penguin and Blinky the terrier, two sensible smart-alecks from Tomorrow’s strip, expect public outrage. Instead, clean-cut, dimwitted TV talking heads praise their leader: “Peanut butter sounds like a delicious way to fight fires!” When Sparky asks his neighbors why they would conform to ridiculous, even dangerous policies, they admit, “I didn’t want anyone to laugh at me.” They suggest that Sparky replace the mayor, but the pro-election, anti-coup penguin chooses instead to be the mayor’s adviser. While children can appreciate the absurdities, adults are most likely to chuckle at the satire. Followers of Gan Golan and Erich Origen’s parody Goodnight Bush will snap this up. Ages 4–7. (Oct.)

Not a bad review, though I would reiterate once again that this is genuinely a book written by a parent, for children — it wasn’t secretly aimed at adults, as so many kid’s books are.

My friend Kenny Be, who draws for the Denver Westword, responds to his inclusion on GLAAD’s “Worst of the National Media” list with a cartoon history of his life as an out, and outspoken, gay man.

I wrote earlier that Borders is stocking the Mayor, but this may not have been an entirely accurate statement. I was in a Borders over the weekend, and according to their computer kiosk, the book is “not available in stores,” only online.

I chose to go with a small publisher on this one so I could get it done right (in terms of design and production), and I understood from the start that that decision would bring with it a particular set of challenges. Still, you’d think an author/artist who has been profiled in both the New York Times and the Washington Post within the space of two weeks wouldn’t have quite so much trouble getting his first children’s book stocked in the major chain bookstores.

Fortunately we have the internets. You can buy the Mayor at Amazon, where the overwhelmingly positive reviews should reassure you that it’s not some polemic screed aimed at browbeating your young children into ideological submission. (It is also available — online — at Barnes & Noble and Borders.) At the risk of repeating myself, you’ll be supporting independent publishing, independent cartooning, and independent thought in young minds, for less than the price of a burger and a beer.

Update: as mentioned below, I am also eager to hear of independent brick-and-mortar stores which have the Mayor in stock. So far my only confirmed sightings are at Powell’s in Portland, Oregon, and Moe’s in Berkeley. Will post more if/when I hear about them.

… one more: City Lights in San Francisco …

Been doing a little housecleaning around here. Archives have been brought up to date, and are now consolidated under the “Comics” link. Interviews & Articles section has been updated for the first time in many years, and I’ve added a “Portfolio” section to highlight some of my illustration work. The Animation & Film section now has a “Featured Animation,” which I’ll rotate on some sporadic basis. Signed prints are available again, and there’s a new “Posters for sale” section which currently has a few of my older posters, and should at some point have the work I’ve done for Pearl Jam, assuming I ever get those posters myself. And the T-shirts & Swag link will take you to the Cafe Press store, which I’ve recently revamped with what I think is some cool stuff, including some actual old advertisements from the fifties (”He won’t love you — if you cough!“)

While conservatives are laughing themselves silly over Chicago’s failed bid to host the 2016 Olympics, deluding themselves into seeing their own rabid hatred of Barack Obama reflected in the eyes of the IOC, let’s take a step back here. Putting aside for the moment that Rio is an excellent choice to host the 2016 games, if I was on the International Olympic Committee, I dunno if I’d be so keen on hosting the Olympics in the America either. I don’t know how much American news the Swiss receive, but if they saw one of the gun-toting mobs of tea baggers holding signs of the President’s face Photoshopped with a Hitler mustache, it probably wouldn’t do much to help them forget that the last time the United States hosted the Summer Olympics, a right-wing domestic terrorist planted a bomb in the middle of the Centennial Olympic Park.

If you take a look at Eric Rudolph’s statement on the Olympic Bombing, it looks like something that could have been written yesterday :

Even though the conception and purpose of the so-called Olympic movement is to promote the values of global socialism, as perfectly expressed in the song Imagine by John Lennon, which was the theme of the 1996 Games even though the purpose of the Olympics is to promote these despicable ideals, the purpose of the attack on July 27 was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand.

I’m not saying this is why the IOC didn’t chose Chicago, but if I had to chose a venue for the Olympics, the recent explosion in right-wing lunacy would certainly make me think twice about whether or not it’s safe for the United States to host another Olympic Games.

Here. If it seems oddly truncated — which it does, to me — keep in mind that this was edited down from a conversation that lasted an hour and a half. A lot of nuance seems to have been lost in translation.

Parents love the book, and Amazon sales are holding respectably steady. Borders is stocking it, and I’m getting numerous reports of sightings at various indy stores. Nonetheless, I am told that the nation’s largest bookstore chain, Barnes and Noble, has yet to place an order. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working with a very small publisher without much marketing clout, and the only thing that’s going to keep the Mayor afloat is word of mouth. So, one small favor: if you find yourself in a B&N, ask them to stock the book. Alternately, if you are a buyer for B&N: please stock the book.

… adding: we could also use a hand getting the word out to librarians, who are crucial to the success of a children’s book.