CSotD: Going three-for-three
Skip to comments
One of the frustrations of this blog is when I come across a comic that cracks me up, except …
Except that they stepped on the punchline.
Except that the setup is flawed and you have to assume what the cartoonist meant.
Except that, while it's funny, it relies on something that, while a lot of people believe it, just isn't true.
Except that I'd have to ignore the fact that parts of it aren't excellent.
It is not a terribly forgiving medium. When you work in a universe of four panels or fewer, there isn't a lot of room for error. Would you give an Oscar to a movie for "Best Picture" if you had to ignore a quarter of it in order to find it enjoyable?
I mean, besides "Braveheart."
Don Asmussen takes on a daunting challenge with Bad Reporter, because he has to come up with three timely gags and they have to each be good, and they have to hang together in some way that is appealing.
Given that the feature is basically a political cartoon — and he's certainly not the only political cartoonist who tends to inject more social commentary than actual politics into his work — these could be released as single panels on subsequent days and the response might be "I really liked Tuesday's, and Wednesday was also good. I think the arc had kind of run out by Thursday."
But if you are going to bundle them into one piece, it's got to all be good, and that's a daunting mark.
And, of course, like every other editorial cartoonist, he has to submit his work and then pray that events don't overtake the gag. But I think the odds of Herman Cain failing to either remain steadfastly on course for the rocks, or else make the situation more painful and ridiculous than it already is, are mighty low.
The man makes Sarah Palin seem like Margaret Thatcher. If the Octomom were one of the Kardashians, Herman Cain would still be the greatest gift to cartoonists in a decade.
But today's Bad Reporter is a gem, tying in Cain's scandal and his misstep on the immigration issue with a very funny pun-and-gag about Groupon, timely due to it having its IPO just last week.
Ah, the curate does not have to work hard to compliment this egg.
Comments
Comments are closed.