Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
November 23, 2014

Because if there is one thing that unites us — whether doing battle with a private business like the cable company, or a government agency like the unemployment office, or something in between like an insurance company — we all detest having to climb the phone tree.

And also, someday it would be nice if our roads in Michigan weren’t so crappy.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
November 16, 2014

I think the big winner in the 2014 election turned out to be the cranks. The what? The cranks. You know, folks who say it’s all going to hell, that people are awful, government is hopeless, life used to be much better. Now it’s all ruined. What’s the use? Throw the bums out. If I were in charge, I’d <insert something over-simplified and vaguely racist>. That sort of thing. A crank.

I’m not saying cranks can’t be right. And I can’t say they don’t deserve to be heard. (Obviously they voted.) I’m just saying that it’s okay to poke a little fun at them. And point out that indignation is not always righteous. I will offer my own rabbit tracks down various Wikipedia trails as evidence that all the money taken from me in taxes was not necessarily hard-earned. So for all the cranks who have been and will be online shopping at work, let’s check ourselves with all that “hard-earned” talk.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
November 9, 2014

My daughter Ellie got me a humongous book of New Yorker cartoons a couple of weeks ago at a library book sale for $1. (So let’s review that quickly: cartoons, book sale, library, one dollar — I am so pleased with the way that kid has turned out!) I have been reading the book and after I conjured up this week’s cartoon, I realized its style was somewhat influenced from my reading. So when I got to the point of coloring it, I decided to try that watercolor wash that many (especially older) New Yorker cartoons have. I had bought some Photoshop watercolor brush plugins a year or two ago, and it always feels good to at least try to use the stuff you bought. And here it is. It’s obvious to me that I don’t know exactly what I’m doing, but I do like the effect.

As for the cartoon itself, yeah, it’s not entirely fair. But as I think I mentioned before, editorial cartoons don’t have to be fair. In fact, it’s better if they aren’t. My point: the GOP may have some actual arrows in their quiver, but as far as health care goes, myself and the rest of the voters are going to be very interested to see whether they have an actual plan. It does not bode well for them when Ted Cruz tells us that “net neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet.” Ted, baby, your team won! You can’t continue calling everything you don’t like “Obamacare.” So …what’s the actual plan?

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
November 2, 2014

Look, I want you to vote. I definitely want you to vote. And it would be best if all of us Michiganders did all of our research before we do vote. But if you didn’t have the time to figure out which, say, supreme court justices that you support (and you are, like me, a bit mystified as to why you need to be voting on this anyway), I’d suggest leaving that part of the ballot blank. At the very least, don’t use any of the methods illustrated in the comic to make your decision. And I will do the same. Thanks. Now go vote!