Catching up with some photos

OSU's Wexner's book store had my Pekar book for sale! I couldn't believe it. More pictures from the OSU Festival of Comic Art are here.


Matt Groening and Tom Gammill.




Jeff Stahler construction cartoons at the Columbus Museum of Art.


Jen Sorenson and Richard Thompson admiring Crumb's line.



Pictures of Ted Rall at Busboys and Poets are here.

Right wing blogosphere notices Ted Rall interview

A few weeks ago I interviewed Ted Rall about his new manifesto prior to his local appearance.

The interview's being negatively noticed by the right now, although honestly, I think Rall's so far to the left that he's curving around to meet the right on this issue. I like Ted personally, but we're agreeing to disagree on this book.

Radical Cartoonist Ted Rall, Off the Deep End: New Book Calls for Violent Overthrow of the Government
By Tim Graham
Newsbusters.org's Tim Graham blog 10/09/2010

This next one misses the point that Rall's just calling for revolution of any sort, although he would prefer a Marxist one.

Is America Ready for a Marxist Dictator?
by Donald May
LubbockOnline.com's Mr. Conservative blog 2010-10-10

And I am ashamed to admit that Graham found a local interview that I missed -

Man Of Action: Ted Rall, 'The Anti-American Manifesto,' Buboys (sic) and Poets
Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Express September 27, 2010

Ted Rall in town and interview up at City Paper blog

Ted's going to be at Busboys and Poets on 14th and V, NW at 6:30 tonight. I'm planning on being there. Here's an interview about his new prose book:

Meet a Visiting Cartoonist: A Chat with Ted Rall

Posted by Mike Rhode on Sep. 27, 2010

 

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2010/09/27/meet-a-visiting-cartoonist-a-chat-with-ted-rall/

Coming Monday - a big Ted Rall interview

I interviewed Ted Rall last night for the Washington City Paper, about his new book, An Anti-American Manifesto. The interview should run at the City Paper on Monday morning and you can read Ted's statements like, "I would say that I'm an idealist, and anyone who's not an idealist is a bad citizen."

 

Then you can go to Busboys and Poets on 14th and V St, NW at 6:30 pm (September 27th) and debate him. Fun for all!

Cavna on Peanuts and with Ted Rall

Cavna's Comic Riffs blog post turned into an article over the weekend -


'Peanuts' comics strip will leave syndicate in February for Universal Uclick
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 11, 2010; C02

and then he ran an interview with Ted Rall today -

The 'Riffs Interview: TED RALL returns from Afghanistan, ready to draw upon his up-close encounters
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 13, 2010

ComicsDC (ie me) helped fund Ted's trip through Kickstarter, so I'm glad it worked out well. I don't need any guilt about prematurely dead cartoonists.

Comic Riffs on Rall and Bors in Afghanistan.

'No filter': Cartoonists MATT BORS & TED RALL depart for Afghanistan eager to tell 'the people's story'
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog August 9, 2010;

You still have a chance to send Ted Rall to Afghanistan...

His latest plea for money (I've given some)-

Heading Toward the Finish

My plan to return to Afghanistan this summer is halfway there--more than 140 backers have put up 50% of the $25,000 I will need (I'm also going to spend about $10,000+ of my own money) to get there and around. War zones are crazy expensive, and this is actually the bargain rate for this sort of journalism, particularly when one isn't backed by a major publication or broadcasting company.

This is the do-or-die phase. I'm halfway there, but there are less than two weeks left. Unless the pace of pledges accelerates, I won't make it. If you have been considering whether or not to participate, please think about it now!

As always, I remain ready, willing and able to answer any and all questions, comments, concerns, etc. about this project.

To comment on this update or see previous updates:
http://www.kickstarter.com/e/7JEIG/projects/tedrall/comix-journalism-send-ted-rall-back-to-afghanista-0/posts/9163?show_token=c63ec49fab336c2c

OT: Help send Ted Rall to Afghanistan

Ted's an acquaintance of mine, thru SPX and the like, and he's asking to raise $25,000 to go back to Afghanistan to do more cartoon journalism. One can pledge funds here -
Comix Journalism: Send Ted Rall Back to Afghanistan to Get the Real Story or click the Widget below. I just pledged $50 because I think cartoon journalism like Ted and Joe Sacco do is an important emerging media (or genre if you'd like).

OT: AAEC president Rall has a letter in the NYTimes

I'm not sure how widely this will be picked up, and since I'm home with a sick kid, and saw it in the paper, here you go - "And Now a Word From the Artists: Pay for Our Work," Published: June 18, 2009.

Weingarten on Doonesbury's perceived 'anti-Semitism', comic strip salaries and Ted Rall

Here's some bits from Weingarten's last two chats:

Chatological Humor: Grammatically Speaking; Late-Term Abortion (Updated 6.5.09)
aka Tuesdays With Moron
Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 2, 2009; 12:00 PM

Isn't this your guy, Gene?: From Illinois' State Journal-Register last Friday, 5/29:

"From health care to torture to the economy to war, Obama has reneged on pledges real and implied. So timid and so owned is he that he trembles in fear of offending, of all things, the government of Turkey. Obama has officially reneged on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. When a president doesn't have the nerve to annoy the Turks, why does he bother to show up for work in the morning?

"Obama is useless. Worse than that, he's dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now - before he drags us further into the abyss."

Rush Limbaugh? Nope. Dick Cheney? Nope. Bill Ayers? Nah. It's none other than Ted Rall, whose cartoon work and political insights you've always admired so much. Here's the whole column.

Enjoy.

Gene Weingarten: This is CLASSIC Ted Rall.

Rall often has good points to make, but then makes them with such wild overstatement that he undercuts himself. And occasionally has to apologize.

Here's a cartoon of his

after Antonin Scalia said he'd be in favor of slapping terrorist prisoners under certain circumstances.

Here's another one

that's self-explanatory.

----------------------

15th Street, D.C.: Gene- What do you think of Sunday's "Doonesbury"? Do you think it could have been perceived as a tad anti-semitic? I am not even close to being politically correct but thought Trudeau took an...interesting path to make a not funny or interesting point.

Best- A 31 married Jewish guy in D.C.

Gene Weingarten: I don't see any antisemitism here, and I think it was a very funny and interesting comic.

The joke is about the current economy, and what bankers have done to us.

_______________________


Chatological Humor: Insuring Your Weekly Quota of Yuks. And Yucks (UPDATED 5.29.09)
aka Tuesdays With Moron
Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 26, 2009; 12:00 PM

Westminster, Md.: Gene, I am curious about how cartoonists are paid. If a cartoonist is syndicated in 1,000 newspapers, as some are, and is paid a mere $5 by each paper, the cartoonist (and his distributor, agent, etc.) make $5,000 PER DAY for drawing a cartoon. But it seems equally unreasonable that a paper like The Post pays a mere $5 for something that may draw more eyes than the headline story on the Metro page. So what's up?

Gene Weingarten: As the old Yiddish expression goes, re wishing something stated were true: "From your mouth to God's ear."

Alas, no. The formula for comic strips is that the author and the syndicate split about $1,000 a YEAR for each newspaper that runs the strip. So, if a strip is in 1,000 newspapers (this is almost unheard of) the cartoonist would get $500,000 a year.

A typical, moderately successful strip might be in 100 papers. Do the math. It isn't pretty.

Ted Rall's coverage of President Obama's first day

Shilling for Ted Rall

He asked nicely, so here's a press release about Ted Rall's EXCELLENT AND EXCITING NEW ANIMATION:

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

New Animated Cartoon by Ted Rall:
DEATH CAB FOR SARAH PALIN

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and animator David Essman have released a hilarious, vicious parody of GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to celebrate Election Day 2008.

Distributed for free on YouTube and at tedrall.com, "Death Cab for Palin" is an animated political cartoon that lampoons Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions. Noting that vice presidents frequently become presidents, "Death Cab" depicts a rabid Vice President Palin trying to poison and bomb President McCain in the style of the classic "Road Runner" cartoon series.

Rall, a syndicated cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate, is no stranger to controversy. His "Terror Widows" and "FDNY 2011" cartoons after 9/11 were some of the most controversial cartoons in U.S. history. Will "Death Cab for Sarah" join their ranks? "I don't know," says Rall, "but it was such a fun idea I just couldn't resist going with it."

Permission for reproduction and broadcast are freely given under the condition that the piece not be altered in any form without express permission. To contact Ted Rall, please email ted@rall.com.

---

TED RALL's editorial cartoons and columns are syndicated to more than 100 newspapers around the U.S. Twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award and a Pulitzer Finalist, he is President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

DAVID ESSMAN is an animator currently at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His animated films have been screened across the country, including Animation Block Party, The Chicago Underground Film Festival, and the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Good stuff in today's papers

"Godzilla's Older, Creepier Cousins: Beings Such as Filth Licker Haunt Japanese Culture," By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Foreign Service, Friday, October 31, 2008; A01. This is about creatures called yokai, who are apparently roughly equivalent to goblins and boggarts. Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt are a married couple have written a book about them, when not translating manga.

The animated movie Fear(s) of the Dark was also reviewed in "Gripped (at Times Loosely) by Fear," By Neely Tucker, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, October 31, 2008; Page C06.

Meanwhile in the Post's Comic Riffs, Michael Cavna's interviewed a bunch of cartoonists about the election including locals Telnaes, Sorenson, and Wuerker in "Who'll Win the White House? Cartoonists Issue Their Predictions" as well as decidedly non-local Garry Trudeau in "Obama Wins? Yes, 'Doonesbury' Calls the Election!"

And on Disney's direct to video movie and Fairies product line is "Disney Hoping 'Tinker Bell' Spreads Fairy Dust on Sales" By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times October 31, 2008.

SPX 2008 - a few bits

At the Saturday panel on political cartoons, Frank Camusso said, "The internet really is a great place to suck." Ted Rall commented later in the same panel, "It gets really tiresome to do cartoons to remind people that torture is wrong."

On the Joost Swarte panel, he covered bits of his career. A few interesting points that I noted:

He designed stamps for a special December holiday mailing which have a reduced rate. He put the text of the stamps explanation of the rates in the center of the sheet so they couldn't be discarded. The stamp itself people delivering mail to each other until light shines at the end of the tunnel (ie the center of the stamp).

Swarte was majorly influenced by Willem's underground work, and then by the Americans in Zap Comix like Crumb, Shelton, Wilson, Moscosco and Spiegleman (with whom he worked on Raw).

The building he designed for Haarlem's arts center can be seen at http://www.toneelschuur.nl The photos he showed looked very cool.

He's illustrated three novels by a Dutch writer - Neskio perhaps? These looked interesting. He designed the illustrations to work as a flip book with the character's head centered throughout in one of them.

One thing he showed was his latest comic work - a short story Exercise of Style #100, based on Queneau's 99 Exercises in Style.

The Interview: Alt-Political Cartoonist Ted Rall

By Michael Cavna October 2, 2008;
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2008/10/the_interview_alt-political_ca.html

Ted Rall's political animation

Ted Rall, whose hard-hitting and vicious cartoons are sadly missing from the City Paper, sent in this press release today. Rall will be at SPX next month, as he usually is, and I've bought his books from him regularly there. I'm not all that keen on political animation for some reason, but I understand the need to keep current.

TED RALL GETS ANIMATED

September 18, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Outrageous political cartoonist Ted Rall has released his first animated editorial cartoon. "President Obama's First Day," which depicts the Democratic hopeful taking the oath of office, dumping billions of dollars out of an airplane, and shooting rays of sweet, sweet love at the Taliban, is available at YouTube and at Rall's website, tedrall.com.

Rall wrote, drew and designed the characters for "President Obama's First Day," a tongue-firmly-in-cheek look at liberal Democrats' fantasies of how an Obama Administration would instantly change things for the better. The video can be seen at the following YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fimEJAklKso

The animation was done by David Essman (see biography below).

"There are some great Flash-based edittoons out there, but they take a different approach than I do. I see each animated cartoon as a skit, as a mini TV show," Rall said. "I hope people enjoy watching 'Obama's First Day' as much as David and I enjoyed making it."

Rall and Essman plan to continue releasing Web-based animated cartoons.

BIOS:

Ted Rall, 45, is President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. A nationally-syndicated editorial cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate, Rall's cartoons have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Village Voice, Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek and more than 200 other publications. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1996, and twice won first place in the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards.

David Essman is a 22 year old animator, currently studying at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His films have been screened across the country at film festivals including San Francisco Shorts, Animation Block Party, and the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Contact: Ted Rall, ted@rall.com

Small Press Expo Announces Ted Rall, Ruben Bolling and Matt Wuerker as Guests for “Outside Looking In: Alternative Political Cartooning in 2008”

Small Press Expo Announces Ted Rall, Ruben Bolling and Matt Wuerker as Guests for “Outside Looking In: Alternative Political Cartooning in 2008”

For Immediate Release
Contact: Warren Bernard
Phone: 301-537-4615
E-Mail:webernard@spxpo.com

Bethesda, Maryland; September 9, 2008 - The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, is proud to announce Ted Rall, Ruben Bolling and Matt Wuerker as guests for the SPX 2008 special event, “Outside Looking In: Alternative Political Cartooning in 2008”.

Ted Rall is the President-elect of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (A.A.E.C.) and has traveled extensively to Central Asia. Author, ATTITUDE editor, cartoonist, columnist and sometime TV personality, Ted’s most recent book is “Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?” and his latest cartoon collection is, “America Gone Wild”. For more information on Ted Rall, visit his website at http://www.tedrall.com.

Ruben Bolling is the creator of the multi-faceted, multi-paneled social and political weekly strip, Tom The Dancing Bug. His most recent book is “Thrilling Tom The Dancing Bug Stories”. SPX is grateful that Ruben is making his first appearance at SPX in a number of years. Visit his web site at http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/.

Matt Wuerker is the cartoonist and illustrator at Politico.Com and the weekly Politico newspaper. His cartoons and illustrations have been published by Smithsonian Magazine, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Nation. You can see his cartoons at http://www.politico.com.

Ted, Ruben and Matt will join previously announced Tom Tomorrow and Lloyd Dangle at a special series of panels and interviews surrounding the state of political cartooning in this historic election year.

Additional guests will be added over the next few weeks, please stay tuned for those announcements.

The events surrounding “Outside Looking In: Alternative Political Cartooning in 2008” is included with the SPX admission fee of $8 for a single day and $15 for both days.

SPX will be held Saturday, October 4 from 11AM to 7PM and Sunday, October 5 noon-6PM at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

For further information on the artists or to request an interview, please contact Warren Bernard at webernard@spxpo.com.

SPX, a non-profit organization, brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, political cartoon books and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. A series of panel discussions will also be held of interest to readers, academicians and creators of graphic novels and political cartoons.

SPX culminates with the presentation of the 12th Annual Ignatz Awards for outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning that will occur Saturday night, October 4. The Ignatz is the first Festival Prize in the US comic book industry, with winners chosen by balloting during the SPX.

As in previous years, all profits from the SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, go to their website at
http://www.cbldf.org/.

Founded in 1994, SPX is North America's premier alternative comic-book and graphic novel festival. This annual event brings together comic creators, publishers and fans together to celebrate the art of visual storytelling.

Oct 12-13 Small Press Expo guests Cartoonists with Attitude

This came from Randy T and Warren in close succession - not the October 11th booksigning as well, as Randy points out.

Small Press Expo Announces Cartoonists With Attitude, featuring Ted Rall, Jen Sorensen and Keith Knight at SPX 2007

For Immediate Release
Contact: Warren Bernard
Phone: 301-537-4615 E-Mail:webernard@mindspring.com

Bethesda, Maryland; September 11, 2007 - Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, is proud to announce that the Cartoonists With Attitude (C.W.A.) posse will once again attend this years SPX, which will be held October 12 and 13 at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Members of C.W.A. along with Kim Deitch, author of the graphic novel “Alias The Cat”, will also be at a book signing event to be held on October 11 at 7:30PM at the Barnes and Nobles bookstore in Bethesda, Maryland.

Founded in the finest tradition of Thomas Nast and Matt Groening, C.W.A.’s mission is to draw attention to the groundbreaking political and social commentary its member cartoonists contribute to the weekly alternative newspapers around the United States and in the online world. The C.W.A. posse coming to SPX this year consists of the following award winning cartoonists:

Ted Rall (“Search and Destroy”) - http://www.tedrall.com/

- Ted was just appointed as the new President of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (A.A.E.C.) and recently returned from yet another trip to Central Asia. Author, ATTITUDE editor, cartoonist, columnist and sometime TV personality, Ted is currently has two books out, the “Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?” and his latest cartoon collection, “America Gone Wild”.

Jen Sorensen (“Slowpoke”) - http://www.slowpokecomics.com

- Jen is now following in the footsteps of Jules Feiffer, as her weekly cartoon is now being published in the Village Voice, amongst many other alternative weeklies. The first place winner at in the 2005 Association of Alternative Newsweekly Awards, Jen has two books out, the latest being “America Gone Bonkers” and was featured in “ATTITUDE: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists”. Jen is working on her next book, “Slowpoke: One Nation, Oh My God!” due out in April 2008 from Ig Publishing, with an introduction by Ruben Bolling of “Tom The Dancing Bug” fame.


Keith Knight (“The K Chronicles”, “(th)ink”) - http://www.kchronicles.com/

- Keith is a Harvey award nominee and has twice won the Glyph Award for Best Comic Strip. He is also a rapper whose latest books are “Are We Feeling Safer Yet”? and “The Beginner's Guide to Community-Based Arts”. His art has appeared in various publications worldwide, including Salon.com, ESPN the Magazine, L.A. Weekly, MAD Magazine, the Funny Times and World War 3 Illustrated.

Mikhaela Reid (“The Boiling Point”) - http://www.mikhaela.net/

- Mikhaela has just released her first cartoon compendium entitled “Attack of the 50-Foot Mikheala!” with a foreword by Ted Rall. In 2006, Mikhaela was named one of “Girls in Government's Real Hot 100”. Mikhaela is a political cartoonist and illustrator whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Boston Phoenix, Bay Windows, Metro Times, The Rochester Insider, Women's eNews, In These Times, Ms., The Funny Times, Campus Progress, Girlfriends, The Minnesota Women's Press, amongst publications.

Masheka Wood (“Not Just Knee Deep”) - http://www.whatmashekadid.com

- Masheka is a Glyph Award nominee, and has just released his first book titled “Deep Doodle”. He is currently working on a series of illustrations titled “Dirty Letters” and his comic “Not Just Knee Deep”.

Stephanie McMillan (“Minimum Security”) - http://www.minimumsecurity.net/

- Stephanie’s latest book is titled “ATTITUDE: Featuring Stephanie McMillan's Minimum Securit”y. In 2006, one of her cartoons was featured in the MoCCA art show "She Draws Comics: A Century of Women Cartoonists". She recently sparked controversy with a cartoon featuring anti-choice South Dakota state senator Bill Napoli's home phone number.

August J. Pollak, (“XQUZYPHYR” & Overboard) - http://www.xoverboard.com/

- August will premiere his latest book “Junk in the Toaster” at SPX. A Washington, DC local, August's cartoon "Some Guy With a Website" and has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, In These Times, and The Huffington Post.

Matt Bors (“Idiot Box”) - http://www.mattbors.com/

- Matt was featured in “ATTITUDE 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists” and has self-published a series of “Idiot Box” books. Clients include the Seattle Stranger, the ACLU and The Nation.

Brian McFadden (“Big Fat Whale”) - http://www.bigfatwhale.com/

- Brian was also featured in ATTITUDE 3 and has self-published a series of “Big Fat Whale” books.

For further information on the artists or to request an interview, please contact Warren Bernard at webernard@spxpo.com.

SPX, a non-profit organization, brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, political cartoon books and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. A series of panel discussions will also be held of interest to readers, academicians and creators of graphic novels and political cartoons.

SPX will be open to the public from 2 pm - 8 pm, Friday, October 12 and 10am - 7 pm Saturday, October 13. Admission is $8 for a single day and $15 for bothdays.

SPX culminates with the presentation of the 11th Annual Ignatz Awards for outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The Ignatz is the first Festival Prize in the US comic book industry, with winners chosen by balloting during the SPX.

Cartoonists with Attitude booksigning report

A couple of days ago, Matt Bors was commissioned to do a full-page drawing for "Drawing Blood: Cartoonists With Attitude" by Scott Rosenberg, Express July 5, 2007. I found out from Scott when I ran into him at the event that this interview with Tom the Dancing Bug cartoonist Ruben Bolling was online even though I couldn't find it. So here's the article. The event was well-attended - standing room only as I got there late having driven (duh) to the wrong downtown Borders. The gang loosely led by Ted Rall each showed three or four of their cartoons, sans microphone, and then took questions and signed books. I think I head the Borders rep say 150 people were there. I spotted local cartoonists Richard Thompson and Jason Rodriguez (whose Postcards book is coming out soon), Scott, cIndy blogger Chris Shields, SPX organizer Warren Bernard and OSU Comic curator Jenny Robb. I bought all the books I hadn't by the group and if I wasn't so tired, I'd list them for you. And yes, I got them all signed.

Post censors comic strips, again - Get Fuzzy this time

MetaDC and Ben Towle picked up that some papers, including the Post, were censoring marijuana jokes in Get Fuzzy last week. Ben's got the story, and the some of the strips in two posts - here and here. Fortunately Darby Conley's syndicate wasn't as worried as the Post and all the strips can be seen on the Comics.com website for a few weeks.

As is par for the course, the Post never mentioned this. You'd think the paper would have a bit more spine, and at least confess to their censorship.

Anyone like to try to recall other instances of the Post censoring, or "editing," (their preferred term) the comics? There have been several. In Sept 2005, a Dilbert strip showing assault by a porpoise was cut (Dave Astor had the story); in July 2005, they pulled a Boondocks strip and Suzanne Tobin defended their actions in a chat with Paul Gilligan of Pooch Cafe. (Hit refresh and the link will work - twofer!)

They had pulled Boondocks in 2004 and their ombudsman at the time Michael Getler noted, One year after refusing to publish a week's worth of the "Boondocks" comic strip drawn by Aaron McGruder, The Post did it again last week, only this time it didn't tell readers. The Post says that comics are edited just like any other feature of the paper and denies that this is censorship. Editors say last week's offering was racially offensive and used negative stereotypes of African Americans to lampoon TV reality shows. Last year The Post was the only paper, among 250 that buy "Boondocks," to drop it. This time seven other papers dropped it, including the Boston Globe. I disagreed last time, and this time, too. I think McGruder, who is African American, is a brilliant artist who has created young, black characters speaking with razor-sharp, satirical candor who say things that make us uncomfortable but also make us think. In January of 2004, Mike Peters of the Dallas Morning News noted that the Post dropped a BC strip, admittedly lame, The strip offered to newspapers today mocks the notion that two Asians could have flown the first airplane. The punchline: "Two Wongs don't make a Wright?" They've dropped other B.C. strips for religious sensitivity reasons too.

The aforementioned Boondocks was dropped in October 2003, the Boston Globe reported, "In an unprecedented move that angered readers and generated industry criticism, The Washington Post recently killed an entire week of "The Boondocks" comic strip with a story line suggesting the world might be a safer place if national security adviser Condoleezza Rice had a more active love life." As in the later event, the ombudsman Michael Gertler disagreed, noting on October 19, 2003 "I may need a refresher course in sensitivity training, but I also found the sequence of strips within the bounds of allowable satire. I don't know a thing about Rice's personal life, nor do the characters in the strip, and I think readers understand that. The "Boondocks" characters, and their creator, were being mischievous and irreverent, in their mind's view of the world, about a high-profile public figure, and that seems okay to me." A month earlier, a Doonesbury strip about masturbation was dropped. Boondocks also was skipped twice in January and October of 2002. There's a few more BC examples and Ted Rall's strip was dropped online in March of 2002 after his 9-11 Widows strip. Anyone else got any more?