The first month of the year seems to be obsessed with comics and cartoons. In full disclosure, I enjoy short-form comics only occasionally. However, the short form seems to be getting all the attention right now.
Earlier this month, an illustrator of one of the bigoted JP comics of the Prophet Muhammad was the target of an attempted murder. The cartoonist fled into a panic room in his house. Not a bad idea for writers in the public eye.
An Indian comic portraying Australian law enforcement as the Ku Klux Klan provoked the ire of the target organization. It seems ironic that the Global South has the chops to offend those that supposedly have a monopoly on freedom to offend.
Lastly, cartoonist Mark Fiore has received death threats about a recent short cartoon portraying the dialect of teabag. The video below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqQRflUWd4&w=425&h=344]
Its nice to know cartoons and comics mean something in the world. Which is Why everyone should start reading long-form comics (prominent authors listed below) and watching cartoons.
- Warren Ellis
- Grant Morrison
- Joe Sacco (possibly the only “graphic novel” author I like)
- Hiroki Endo
- Katsuhiro Otomo