Political cartoons have been a comic genre that I generally have much disdain for. Often, they simplify issues that ought not to be handled lightly, or they exagerrate issues to the point where I cannot take them seriously anymore. They also almost always have a heavy personal bias attached to them, allowing their personal feelings to color, distort or even mangle the facts. While I do know that in order to convey humor, one must exagerrate or otherwise paint a situation to be more ridiculous than reality. That's all well and good for me when the biggest headline is about a presidential intern acting as a humidor, but when dealing with grave issues such as war, poverty and civil rights, it's hard for me to read a cartoon and not be a bit perturbed at how it handles those issues with too much tomfoolery or alarmism.
That said, Filibuster is okay.
This is a cartoon drawn from the perspective of a Canadian conservative. It devotes about a third of its cartoons to Canadian politics, so some of the issues presented don't hit me at all. However, I can tell that he does have some contempt for his own government and how it is run, but I honestly can't relate beyond that.
The comics in general, however, are presented in a very 'clean' fashion. The cartoons themselves are usually not very expository, but have useful sideline commentary to help out viewers that may be in the dark. While I think the sideline-comments are good, sometimes I think that the cartoons could use more recognizable situations and caricatures. Also, there are a few strips that are actually quite wordy, which often kills the punchline and renders the sideline commentary pretty much useless. None of the comics have made me laugh out loud, but a lot have made me smile, knowing that the guy writing these has at least done his research and decided not to strictly stand behind a party line. The flip-side of that coin, however, is the fact that someone who is so middle-ground makes it hard for his jokes to pack a punch. That's not a personal problem for me, though, as I'd much rather prefer just giving a political cartoon a smile than be angry at it.
There is also the subject of the art style and caricatures he uses. The human representations in this comic have obviously exaggerated features, such as George Bush's ears and eyebrows, and John Kerry's chin. However, many of these people wouldn't even be recognizable if there wasn't a label pasted on them, such as Tony Blair, who has swirly eyes for some reason. Also, the art style itself is pretty bare, obviously colored on a computer with very defined black lines. The 'clean' style, though, detracts from the comic in a way. Unnecessary lines and sloppier inking can sometimes convey more emotion than something simple and clean. Sometimes it feels more like a robot drew this comic rather than a human being.
In the end, I like this political cartoon better than most others because it does not make me upset. However, I like many more webcomics better because they have more personality to them. I'll check back every once in a while to see the author's take on whatever's going on in the world. |
