I know you guys are dying for some Charlie Sheen cartoons. I know I’m NOT. At first I was curious what he was going to do after Two and a Half Men was cancelled, but then he spun way out of control, and aren’t druggies boring!? The cartoons I’ve seen on him are pretty lame so far – many compare him with Gaddafi, which is just stupid. I’ll cover both of them later in the week.

Best cartoons of the week for the LA Times

I talk about why I’m editing these cartoons at the end of the post.

bob englehart union cartoon

This cartoon by Bob Englehart from cagle.com is an effective simplification of the brouhaha in Wisconsin and other states over collective bargaining power – or, unions, if I may speak directly. (And why doesn’t the media?)

I don’t begrudge unions – I’ve been in IATSE, in the movie studios, and the National Writers Union, which is affiliated w/ the UAW (auto workers!) – and in the studios, especially, unions are really necessary for safety and health issues.

But with state unions, with benefits paid by taxpayers? The rules are different. (The LA Times current “editors”, btw, would never choose this cartoon – it’s too simple. They prefer obscure cartoons, fancying their readers to be like NY Times readers. But since they’re not (after all, I am one of them!) here is a cartoon they SHOULD be using.)

dick locher cartoon on pensions and unions

I haven’t paid much attention to Dick Locher’s cartoons, even though he was on Gocomics with me for 2 years, until I was fired. But I like political cartoons that take place out of the office. Why not the kitchen? And I admire how he managed to fit all that teeny tiny lettering on the milk carton (or milk cartoon!) and still have it be legible.

From this cartoon, it’s not clear where Dick actually stands on the issue of pensions and jobs. Is he saying most companies don’t have pension plans? That it’s better to work for the government? In any case, this is a funny one!

mike luckovich cartoon on Republicans and how mean they are

Mike Luckovich is a card. It’s okay to say that, right? He’s one of the most consistently good cartoonists, so I use his work a lot in these roundups. However, I’m torn on this one; this is a foolish, diversity-obsessed, liberal slanting cartoon that I wouldn’t pick on my own. But I want to edit a balanced selection for the Times, so I’m including it.

Why would unemployed and minorities and unions be grouped together anyway, except that the Dems like to feel sorry for people… Mike draws on the left, in case you were wondering.

The colors are very good, however, and the way the figures stand on the bottom of the frame is good design, and the lamppost touches the top. From Gocomics.

taylor jones cartoon on supreme court justice clarence thomas

Finally, here’s an example of why the LA Times is still respected and great! LA can be very proud that the Times broke this story of  Justice Clarence Thomas never asking a question during arguments in the Supreme Court…for 5 years now!! He says he only goes by what is written down. So when lawyers present their case, he just listens!

The other justices do not agree with him on the value of oral arguments. They said the back-and-forth exchanges with the lawyers give them an opportunity to clarify aspects of the case they find puzzling. Sometimes, they also use the arguments to throw out ideas to get the attention of their colleagues.

And on occasion, the justices say, the answers they hear during the oral arguments persuade them to change their decision in a case. Thomas, by contrast, indicates he has his mind made up prior to the argument.

Investigating this further, it seems that his silence has been going on for several years. NY Daily News says he’s known as the silent member.

When someone on the Supreme Court is acting strangely, this should bother people. Curious, intelligent people (ie, those who ask questions) are smarter and better-educated, and being stubborn has no place in a court of law. Also, he’s a Conservative judge – he should be as well-informed as possible!! How dare he vote on something he has to guess about!

Why is this cartoon by Taylor Jones (Cagle Cartoons) so  important? It’s the only cartoon out there concerning Thomas’s silence. If you don’t get the LA Times, or didn’t notice this news item, this cartoon would make people curious enough to look up the news. In a real sense, this cartoon IS the news. (Just FYI, I did my own cartoon of Clarence Thomas last year, when his wife decided she didn’t like him being the star, so she started her own tea party. I guess his wife talks more than he does.)

nick anderson cartoon on drug violence in mexico

Nick Anderson, from Gocomics, usually colors in pastels, and the drawings can end up rather beige, but red and black and white always hits the spot for good design! Of course, no one wants the violence in Mexico, but he cartoons for one of the Texas papers, so this especially hits home for them – and for California, of course, since we’re border states, like Arizona. That’s Uncle Sam holding the flag – he’s is a tired editorial symbol – maybe I should say lazy – dating from the 18oo’s, but  overall this cartoon is striking.

michael kountouris cartoon of european politics

Michael Kountouris, of Cagle Cartoons,  sounds like a Greek name…and I think the stars mean something in Europe…Beyond that, I’m lost. Does anyone know what this cartoon means?

No matter – it’s already far more amusing and eye catching than any of the forgettable scrawls (pretend illustrations) the illustrious LA Times publishes in place of interesting cartoons. The Times needs illustrations like this one, desperately.

Why I pick cartoons for the LA Times

I started this category almost a year ago,  after getting fed up with the backwards-thinking Los Angeles Times. Six years ago they axed Michael Ramirez, their staff cartoonist (conservative), and not only did they never replace him, they put a fatwa on most cartoons in the editorial pages. One source says that one of the key editors at the Times just “doesn’t like cartoons.” Well, it shows, Mr. Editor. The LA Times opinion section has less cartoons than any of the top 100 papers in the country, although it’s  #3 in circulation!

Image via Wikipedia of The LA Times. Can't tell whether it's recent or very old...

They run about 2 cartoons a week, plus 3 on Sunday. One is by Ted Rall, an alternative cartoonist; his national comics are very good, but his cartoon in  the Times, which is supposed to be local (he lives in NY!)  is  a bust – confusing, trivial, and never funny. Worse, his amusing savage anger is gone! Maybe because LA is a city he’s never lived in, and he just doesn’t care.

The Sunday Times cartoon editor, Joel Pett, is a cartoonist out of Lexington, KY, with no editing experience, who has visited LA once.  He usually chooses obscure international cartoons, or dour liberal sad ones, or he often picks his own, just to spice things up.

Both Rall and Pett are Liberal, but of course that’s to be expected at the Times.

The Times has to pull itself together and pull readers into the Opinion pages; not drive them away with dull shoulds, but entertain them with coulds. Treat the readers like smart adults, please. And hire someone with cartoon experience who actually lives in the city you’re trying to target.

Cartoon Captions

Nick Anderson cartoon of Uncle Sam holding the American flag. It says Mexican drug violence, with a big splash of blood.

Taylor Jones’ cartoon: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is shredding the Constitution with his mouth zippered shut.

Mike Luckovich’s cartoon: Two people are on the street looking at a line of people under a streetlight, with labels of jobless, hispanic, gay, muslim and union member. One person says, “American Federation of Scapegoats.”

Dick Locher cartoon: Couple in kitchen eating breakfast. Man reads milk carton that says: MISSING: Your company’s pension plan. Have you thought about a government job?

bob englehart union cartoon – Unions and State Government (Wisconsin or other) are sitting at the Bargaining Table. The essential Taxpayer is missing. Someone needs to call him.

More cartoons:

1. The cop who ordered green ice cream.

Well, my main issue is that not only do I often not understand them, it’s that you often admit in the commentary below your cartoons that you have grave doubts that your audience will understand them. I think there was one in which you said you didn’t even get it yourself. Other times, you go to great lengths to explain the cartoon and why you think it’s funny. Chris

ESL cartoon English as a Second Language

Another man wrote me to complain about the cartoon above. (We’ll call him Anthony, since his name is Anthony.)

I saw this cartoon and decided immediately that you are out of touch with reality.  For you information, even school districts in Kentucky, (not known as a bastion of education reform) require all students in high school to take Spanish as a second language. It’s obvious from your cartoon your are a RACIST AND BIGOT!

Spanish is spoken by thirty four million Americans in the U.S. and that number is growing. Only right wing, Bible thumping school districts, like those in Texas, would not teach the fastest growing second language in the U.S.!

A little education for you, since it’s apparent you failed your ESL!

Spanish was the language spoken by the first permanent European settlers in North America. It was brought to the territory of what is the contemporary U.S. in 1513 by Ponce de León. In 1565, the Spaniards, by way of Juan Ponce de Leon, founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the continental U.S. …

Your Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh mentality is apparent!

Chris, meet Anthony.

Actually, I don’t normally explain my cartoons – I write about why I did them, and talk about the news. But in this case, I guess I do have to explain it, since you say you often don’t get them, Chris, and for sure Anthony didn’t get a word of this. And Anthony, I don’t normally respond to rude and rac-ist name-calling, but since you say you’re an author (The Third Cell)….maybe you will understand words better than cartoons.

According to this LA Times article:

California schools educate 1.6 million English learners, a quarter of all students; they comprise the largest concentration of English learners in the nation.

Nearly 60% of English language learners in California’s high schools have failed to become proficient in the language despite more than six years of a U.S. education, according to a study released Thursday.

The article goes on to say this threatens the economic future of California!

But they develop major deficits in reading and writing, fail to achieve the academic English needed for educational success and disproportionately drop out of high school, according to the study by Californians Together, a statewide coalition of 22 parent, professional and civil-rights organization who support English-learners.

The flaws in California’s English-language programs have placed hundreds of thousands of children in academic jeopardy, dashing their dreams for college and imperiling the state’s economic future. The off-spring of immigrants make up 55% of Los Angeles County’s child population.

This is on top of many failures for ESL – they’ve come up with the same fail for decades. As my cartoon points out, hopeful libs and Dems still believe what their hearts tell them – just try harder!

The cartoon says: ESL has failed. The man makes a little joke about making Spanish the second language – which it already is, of course. The woman says Ola. (A combination of Hola and Ole.)

I think a good education always includes learning a second language, Anthony; I myself took several years of French and Latin (I was considering being a lawyer) and even a tiny bit of Greek! So why can’t foreigners (in California,  they are usually here ILLEGALLY) learn English in 6 or even 12 years, huh?

Don’t assume you know who I listen to on the radio or watch on TV, either. And don’t call me the r-acist word – as Tammy Bruce would say, that’s just being a lazy writer. And the fact that you call me that because I do a cartoon about the Spanish language….is an example of how whites get targeted unfairly ALL the time! Also, retarded.

Caption for search engine: THE LIBERALS FIX EDUCATION. This study says ESL has failed again. No problemo. We still have some money left. Let’s try Spanish as a Second language! Ola!

I’m told this cartoon got lots of excitement and comments over here.  (Sorry, no link now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.) And if you want to read my California cartoons before they’re in Slate, go to Calwatchdog.

More cartoons:

1. The Meg Whitman Fork-tongued Doll.
2. Meg Whitman’s maid has nothing on John and Ken.

I think I’m on the other side, though. And I couldn’t let the whole week go by without pointing out the best cartoons of the week…for the Los Angeles Times crowd, that is! (Speaking about editors and awards, I used to write bitter posts here about Time Magazine’s Cartoons of the Week. I don’t bother anymore. Turns out Time chooses cartoons from only 3 syndicates – BORING – and so their choices are extremely limited, and are only what they pay for. Like every newspaper in town. So their famous award…not so meaningful now.)

Aside from the BP oil spill – which according to my own stats, ranks right up there with Tiger Woods in the public’s interest and concern – not that many big stories last week. The headline on USA Today for Friday’s big news was about the weather: Gloom predicted in several states. That says it all.

As it happens, all my picks this week come from Cagle Cartoons, which is the most local syndicate to Los Angeles, anyway.

cameron cardow cartoon on bp oil spill and goldman sachs

What a great looking cartoon! Cameron Cardow is not only pretty, but has combined two issues in one: both the oil spill and the Goldman Sachs dustup (piggy activity).  Even though we are home to movie stars (and of course, oil wells, if you remember Beverly Hillbillies) all of us here know that even the stars love a good bargain! Why do you think  swag bags proliferate at every single event? And so, the LA Times gets a double header with this cartoon.

Great colors, limited gradient or fade tool (my least favorite effect in Photoshop) and super concept. Funny, there are an awful lot of Goldman Sachs rear ends in this cartoon…  

(I love this cartoon, but there are so many good oil slick cartoons out right now that I think I’ll also make it the theme for next week.)

jimmy margulies cartoon on the greek economy

I just love a little mythology thrown into the mix! Kind of like Lost does, but Lost is rather sucky this season, so let’s concentrate on Icarus. I knew Icarus was a Greek hero who made his own wings and flew too close to the sun and died, very sad. But Wiki also adds that he could have been the person who invented sails on boats, which is somewhat like flying, I guess, since roller coasters hadn’t been invented yet, and then he still died by falling out of the boat and drowning. (like Fate, in Lost…)

I like the Jimmy Margulies’ imagery of the Mastercard and Visa melting. Does this really represent Greek’s meltdown? Who knows? But it does relate to our own country’s confused and dysfunctional relationship with credit cards.

nate beeler cartoon on fannie mae and freddie mac and greek crisis and obesity

Here’s an article about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, since I’m unable to help you with this. It’s something about mortgages, and if I am ever lucky enough to own a house in my lifetime, I’ll read about it then. Even though houses are out of reach for so many people here,  real estate is super important in LA, so the Times will dig this cartoon by Nate Beeler!

At first I thought the cartoon was on the running theme this year on obesity, so it works that way, too. I didn’t even see Uncle Sam squeezed between them – I’m not a fan of donkeys, elephants, or Uncle Sam as symbols – until I had already downloaded the image. Oh, and it’s something about the Greek Debt Crisis, as well. Here’s a triple-subject cartoon for you, Times!

Honorary Mention: here’s one by Mike Lester, on National Prayer Day.

mike lester cartoon on national prayer day

I didn’t know there was such a day, but it’s a great idea, isn’t it? It’s kind of a lightweight cartoon, and the very loose drawing style matches that. I like all the sketchy pen strokes here – casual, yet controlled. I don’t know why his name is so childish and dark, however; it distracts from the easy lines.

People think of LA as being Godless. That’s not true. We don’t talk about it much, but we pray, we do.

Thanks, everyone, for the terrific cartoons I was allowed to share with everyone today! And thanks to Daryl Cagle for letting me borrow them.

My own cartoons:

census cartoon for republicans

Comments on Republicans are here. (Sorry, no link now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.)

cartoon on hollywood unemployment

Comments on unemployment are here. (no link now, see above) And I hope you caught this one, one of my favorites!

cartoon on jack and jill -or illegal immigration, pick one.

Comments on illegal immigration are here.

Captions for blind Google: Icarus flies into the sun with Greek debt, Mastercard and Visa. An appropriate punishment for Goldman Sachs Executives: cleaning the Gulf shoreline of oil from BP. National Prayer Day – Governor says Pray! That’s a switch. The other 364 days they say Pay! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Uncle Sam: Tsk! That’s what happens when you don’t keep yer house in order! Hey, buddy, ol’ pal! Can you spot me another $11 billion? Greek Debt Crisis.

More cartoons:

1. Political oil, immigration, Facebook cartoons for the LA Times for May 2, 2010.
2. Editorial cartoons for LA Times, April 2010.

They do have 3 cartoons on Sunday, however, here and in the paper (tiny). But they’re edited by Joel Pett, a cartoonist in Lexington, KY. Lexington, really?? As far as I know, Joel has never lived here, and is Lexington in any way similar to Los Angeles? Well, they both begin with L, I guess. Anyway, Joel only chooses cartoonists in his particular cartoon group, which leaves out 15 or 20 of the top editorial cartoonists in the country.

I’m the only New Yorker cartoonist who also does editorial cartoons, so I have a good background in both. As an award-winning cartoonist and editor, and since I’ve been a cartoonist for the LA Times for 6 years, and, maybe, most importantly, actually live IN Los Angeles, I decided it’s time I stepped up to do the job myself. :)  Now, let’s pick today’s winners!

Tony Auth is a great cartoonist. I picked this one for several reasons: he was first out of the gate on this issue,  on the new coastal oil drilling Obama just approved. (boo, hiss, even though I don’t have all the environmental facts yet. Just because I don’t trust Obama.) It seems to be pretty common that editorial cartoonists will pick a name or word and then decorate it like an insane calligrapher. But he did a good job here, and the oil spatters are truly dramatic, spilling over the name itself.

People from other states (like Kentucky) might not realize that in LA oil rigs are common. Not out to sea, but they have baby ones like 12 feet tall in people’s backyards! They call them grasshoppers or some insect, and they are SO CUTE bobbing up and down. I hate driving to the airport, but I take the long way just to watch them.  I love industrial things. (more cartoons below.)

Next, I chose Marshall Ramsey‘s cartoon of an Easter egg hunt, and the big golden egg of Jobs hiding behind the tree! Very amusing! Good spring colors.

I have rarely, if ever seen this style of cartoon in the LA Times, and of course they don’t have color – even online. They rarely have holidays, either. But it’s time to shake things up there, and use cartoons people are AMUSED by – especially when they appear on a holiday, don’t you think?

Also, unemployment is much higher here  in Cali than almost any other state. Staggering.

I also picked this one by Michael Ramirez, the last fulltime opinion cartoonist for the Times. He actually lives here in SoCal. Did anything happen with Israel this week in the news? I don’t know. I don’t know that much about middle east issues. But I assume Michael does. Sometimes cartoons are used to instruct, or point something out to us, and the Times deserves an international cartoon. I like the design and rhythm in this.

Runner up is Walt Handelsman, below, both because I like the message, and I really like jigsaw puzzles. (I just saw some in Costco for like $17. Yowza.) Obama has a lot of work in front of him, but you know, life is more fun when you look at it as a game.

More on why I’m doing this: I edited a Barnes & Noble calendar and 2 books, and I was recently invited to be a judge for a national cartoon contest, so this is a piece of cake. I’ll edit the cartoons for the LA Times, thanks, and post my selections right here! I’ll pick from Gocomics.com and from Politicalcartoons.com, neither of which Joel covers; but if you are a cartoonist in another venue, and would like to be considered for my weekly roundup, by all means submit your best cartoon of the week (only one per week, please) to me at my email on my Contact page.

Also, Joel often picks his own cartoons for the roundups. I won’t be doing that. You can see my California cartoons, most of which appear in the Sunday LA Daily News in print, here or in CalWatchdog, and my Slate cartoons are both here and in Yahoo.

Thanks for playing, everyone, and more next week!

And let me know what you think of my choices!

My own cartoons this week: (Sorry, no links now. Uclick threw away 2 years of my cartoons on Slate, Gocomics and Yahoo News when they kicked me out of Gocomics.)

Bad priest cartoon.

Canary cartoon.

Evil health insurance cartoon.

More cartoons:

1. Op-Ed cartoons for the LA Times, April, 2010.
2. Political oil, immigration, Facebook cartoons for the LA Times for May 2, 2010.