Dueling Tariff Man comic strips in major metropolitan newspapers

Last week, the Washington Post ran:

The amazing adventures of Tariff Man!

by Ellis Rosen

Washington Post (December 9): Outlook 2

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/outlook/amp-stories/the-amazing-adventures-of-tariff-man/

Today, the NY Times ran their version:

Tariff Man: An Origin Story

Illustrations by Paul Hoppe

The New York Times (December 13 2018
online at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/12/business/economy/tariff-man-origin-story.html

AFAIK, neither is by a regular comic strip artist either.

Is it something in the water?