Cartoon critics Phil Witte and Rex Hesner look behind gags to debate what makes a cartoon tick. This week our intrepid critics take a look at the stock market. It climbs, it falls, sometimes it even crashes. Who would take a ride on such a thing? No, it’s not an amusement ride or an ultra-light…
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Anatomy of a Cartoon: The Vegetarian Option
Cartoon critics Phil Witte and Rex Hesner look behind gags to debate what makes a cartoon tick. This week our intrepid critics take a look at vegans and vegetarians. Vegetarianism and its stricter cousin, veganism, are gaining adherents as never before, embraced not just by college students and artsy types but by middle America. Exhibit…
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“Dueling Abductions” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
In Tom Toro’s cartoon, two flying saucers are trying to abduct the same person, who is caught in the competing tractor beams. An alien in one UFO is saying something to the alien in the rival UFO. The abductee looks like a wishbone about to be pulled apart, so my first and most obvious thought…
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“Bad Driver” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
In Ellis Rosen’s cartoon, an older man is sitting in the passenger seat of a car being driven by a much younger man. The car is perpendicular to the flow of traffic on a multi-lane highway. I initially assumed that the older man was a driving instructor: “Failing to signal is the least of it.”…
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Anatomy of a Cartoon: The Anxiety of Christmas
Cartoon critics Phil Witte and Rex Hesner look behind gags to debate what makes a cartoon tick. This week our intrepid critics take a look at holiday anxiety. ‘Tis the season of gifts, decorations, and family. Wreaths, adorned trees, and twinkling lights announce that homes are celebrating a mashup of traditions that seems to consume…
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