“Now I’m confused. Is that a black hole, or the maws of AIG?” Cartoon ©D. Barstow 2009

Who doesn’t love a cartoon bashing AIG, the worst insurance company of all time? And there’s a dog in it for you, too.

I’m choosing this cartoon for the Illustration Friday assignment, Subtract. All artists know that to subtract means you better deal with the negative space, dude! (subtract it) This was for Slate, and I did it right before the big news broke about AIG asking for even more money, for those f-ing bonuses. On this day it was just “normal” money they wanted.

I thought AIG was an insurance company, but some cartoonists were doing it as a bank…I think it’s an insurance company FOR banks. But this whole idea that the world’s economy will collapse if AIG dies is a bunch of baloney. I don’t believe it for a minute, and I’m sure there’s at least one more cartoon heading down that road.

The Drawing

I had a somewhat modified version of this cartoon that I did years ago, when I did a whole bunch of astronomy cartoons. I knew a couple of cartoonists – Sidney Harris and Nick Downes – who were doing pretty well doing cartoons for science magazines. (And books: Whatever Happened to ‘Eureka’?: Cartoons on Science and Einstein Simplified, Revised Edition: Cartoons on Science!)
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“I’m thinking about putting my face on our new product line, like Paul Newman does…would that turn you on?” ©D.Barstow 2009

I heart Paul Newman! Not so much for his movies, although he was great – but for entering my own life by doing movies on location, where I found him in person.

I was dating the special effects guy on one film, and I remember he had to build a special sweat hut so Paul could sweat off all the beer he drank each day and still look trim for the film. (What, no Paul Newman beer? I think I saw a beer in his hand every time I saw him.) Read more »

“Thanks to Obama, we’re not ENDANGERED in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, UT, OR, WA, etc. We’re target practice.”

The subject this week for Illustration Friday is “intricate,” and I found these wolves to be just so very detailed and particular.

As it happens, this was also today’s cartoon I did for Slate, so kill 2 with one stone, and all that good stuff!

The Cartoon

This took a long time to draw! I had to study how wolves look different from dogs or coyotes, and how they stand, their fur, nose, etc. And put a bunch in, crowded. And figure out what accessories they could wear. I have to say, as I drew the little one with a potted plant on his head, I got tears in my eyes, he was so cute. Usually I crack myself up, but this went in the opposite direction… Can you tell I love the way these wolfies turned out?

Here in the blog it really needs an outline, with all that white in it, but in the space they give me in Slate and GoComics, it looks fine. (Gocomics has comments.)

The Story in the News

Right after Obama took office he cancelled Bush’s plans to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, affecting wolves, among other animals. I took note of that, thought of this idea, but then put it aside because I wasn’t sure if it was definite. Once you have to write about the news – and believe me, as an editorial cartoonist I’ve become a better journalist – you notice how much of the news is really stuff that might happen, or will happen. Then they report it all again when it actually does happen, as if it’s fresh meat! Read more »

“Melissa, rejected from the Bachelor, joins cast of Dancing with the Stars…and we get our first sonic boom from reality tv.” (A different version of this is here.)

Why I Did It

It’s a brand new world. Now I have to read the newspaper – I mean the bits besides interesting murders, the funnies, and local stuff that makes me mad. Because my syndicate, Uclick, is waiting for more, more, more cartoons, with hungry maws. (and I just used that word in a cartoon recently.)

And I have to send in the cartoon by 6 PM my time, so there goes my Sunday afternoon, unless I do it in advance. Today I didn’t know yet what I would do. I had some ideas: that wolves can now be killed in many states (Obama said he would protect them with the ESA, which lasted, oh, about a month) , Obama’s continual pouring out of money into sinkholes, etc. But you know what I was most excited about today?  TV reality news, people! ABC did a mashup of The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars.

About the Cartoon:

One of the things that I’m loving about my new gig is trying different styles. I didn’t want this cartoon to be too busy, as it has two panels already, and text in each. I could have colored each item, but why? And how fun to just have this red jagged sonic boom thingy (pointing at the words sonic boom) and really making the whole black and white thing pop! I’m really pleased with this one!

More: People leaked the new “Star” in Dancing with the Stars, Season 8! It’s Melissa Rycroft, the rejected one (well, engaged, and then rejected) bachelorette from the latest Bachelor!

Rycroft, 25, is to fill the slot vacated by Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell, who had to withdraw from the competition on March 5 due to a knee injury. According to a source close to the production, the Dallas beauty, who has had only days to rehearse, is expected to perform live on Dancing’s Monday premiere.

(TWO stars were injured before the Season even starts on Monday, March 9; Holly Madison (from the The Girls Next Door Playboy show) is believed to be taking over for singer Jewel.)  Read more »