Toon In, Drop Out: Ars Cartoonica
Okay, so we all know this was a big week in for the Democratic primaries. But the number of Obama/Clinton/McCain cartoons printed in the Ivy League this week was absurd. Nine out of the 26 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) cartoons printed in the Ivy dailies this week were related to the Democratic primary (that’s more than a third). I’ve made this complaint before… and I got to thinking, what’s so bad about it? So perhaps it’s time for a little explication of the standards by which I judge these cartoons - an ars cartoonica, if you will. And, of course, I’ve still got a couple of bad ones, just after the jump.
So we can all agree that political cartoons are an integral part of political criticism in our country and a healthy way for artists to critique the more vulnerable aspects of our political system. But just as I would turn to the New York Times before I turn to a campus paper for news of national importance (except for information on how said news is related to the university or affiliated people), I wonder why Ivy cartoonists haven’t taken more strides to relate the events of the primaries back to their respective institutions. For all their hokey repetitiveness, Campus Issues! cartoons, when published in a campus paper, are doing what they are intended to do in the only real forum that exists for them to do so. The same cannot be said for nationally relevant cartoons in campus papers.
Now, I don’t want to suggest that the dailies’ opinion pages should publish political cartoons only when they’re more locally relevant. After all, the pages of the dailies are some of the only outlets for the expression of political opinions on campuses. But perhaps political cartoons have become a crutch for those papers who struggle to furnish cartoons every day; and this week’s plagarism at Dartmouth shows what can happen when that struggle becomes desperate. I suggest that those papers who do find the task of publishing daily cartoons to be onerous should simply not do so. The Spec and YDN publish cartoons on a semi-regular basis. Other papers could certainly follow suit and only publish when they feel they have something to contribute. And with that, let’s move on to the funny stuff.
Yale Daily News, David Meunzer (Wednesday 4/23): Ummmm… Douchebag?
So a few weeks ago, I made an unfounded claim about suckiness at Yale. To clarify, I was referring to David Meunzer’s consistently awful comic strip. Whoever this guy with the cringe-inducing facial hair is, he likes to make the douchiest comments possible about his college existence. I’m not trying to hate on generic sentiments about college life (see Hayley Kennedy below). But god damn it, how does this qualify as an “editorial cartoon”? At least this fellow is wiling to admit that he was once the “most annoying person in the world.” But from what I can glean from David Meunzer’s cartoons, he still is.
The Dartmouth, Hayley Kennedy (Friday 4/18): A Round of Applause for Hayley Kennedy
I’ve been holding back for a couple weeks on posting about The Dartmouth’s comics page. But man, Dartmouth has the best cartoons around, particularly Hayley Kennedy’s “noparentswoo.” For those of you who are interested, I also liked this one. Unlike many of the cartoons we find on the dailies’ opinion pages, this cartoon isn’t funny for Dartmouth kids alone. Kennedy’s cartoons walk that fine line between trite college bullshit and universal relatability. All we can do is enjoy what she has to say for the next few weeks until she graduates.
Daily Princetonian, Sean Rubin (Tuesday 4/22): nothesiswoo
Okay, so I’ve hated on Campus Issue! cartoons in the past. But I adduce this as evidence as to how the Campus Issue! cartoon can fulfill its necessary duty in conveying banal-yet-relatable pablum. Sean Rubin has provided us with a nice, trite, easily digestable campus cartoon that strikes to the heart of what it means to be a Princetonian in spring. The style is far superior to the average Ivy cartoon (just look at the Crimson any day). I guess that alone exceeds our (or at least my) expectations.
Brown Daily Herald, Roxanne Palmer (Tuesday 4/22): Someone Get These Men A Cookie
Another excellent cartoon. Everyone in the Ivy League loves to laugh about Brown’s purported affiinity for marijuana, and, by extention, rich, white-ass, dreadlock-and-sandal-wearing dudes dancing for peace or whatever. And we all like circle jerks… I think. Anyway, thanks to Roxanne Palmer for the dash of ironic self-deprication, blended perfectly with an awesome, crisp artistic style.
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April 25th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
How, exactly, does this article about cartoons fail to mention the scandal surrounding yesterday’s BlarFlex comic in the D?
April 25th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
ahhh… yes. this is one of the more idiotic things i’ve seen published in an ivy league (or any) newspaper.
http://dartlog.net/2008/04/blarflex-comic-gets-hate-mail.php
April 25th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
http://dartlog.net/2008/04/blarflex-comic-gets-hate-mail.php
April 25th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
@ “d10″: Maybe because you’re too much of an idiot to not realize that it was both NOT posted on the D’s website (even while you had to post to a 3rd part site), and the fact that IvyGate doesn’t have access to PRINT versions of the papers. Hence, they did the next best thing: Write about Haley’s funny comic, which is the point of this column.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
“extention”? eep!
April 25th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
So is the Sun running cartoons that are just not published online, or are there no cartoonists in all of Ithaca?
April 26th, 2008 at 3:08 am
I’d rather not have people find out that one of the Sun’s comics is Mr. Gnu.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:29 am
DONNY! DONNY! DONNY!
yo donny! tight!
April 26th, 2008 at 8:32 am
DONNY! DONNY! DONNY!
yo donny! tight!
April 27th, 2008 at 9:23 am
@keggy: Excuse me? I realize both of the things you said. But IvyGate has correspondents on each Ivy League campus, and I would expect these correspondents to notify IG when a juicy news item like this appears. And when IG is notified of said juicy news item, I would expect them to go to more effort to explore than simply examining the online version of each Ivy daily.
Am I an idiot for asking IG to do a little journalism?
April 27th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
muenzer blows. Big time. He’s a good drawer, but his comics just flat out suck, and are considered to be the shittiest part of the YDN other than the op-ed page (really, quite an accomplishment considering how much they fuck up)
April 27th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
this column is great example of how ivygate has gone from “Lovable snots” to a pathetic peanut gallery. why pick apart college cartoons like a lit major on a powertrip (or more like, really, that kid in high school who thinks because he waded through some piece of existential philosophy he is qualified to lend his “keen analytic min” to anything).
April 27th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
this column is great example of how ivygate has gone from “Lovable snots” to a pathetic peanut gallery. why pick apart college cartoons like a lit major on a powertrip (or more like, really, that kid in high school who thinks because he waded through some piece of existential philosophy he is qualified to lend his “keen analytic min” to anything).
April 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
*mind
April 27th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Are you afraid to apply your intellect to the entire world around you? If not, why are cartoonists at selective universities not fair game? We’re not criticizing grade school children or Jessica Simpson here.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
why isn’t this covered yet?
http://dartlog.net/2008/04/professor-to-sue-students-for.php
April 27th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Shutup about that!
April 27th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
One of Harvard’s improv troupes posts a rap video for Pre-Frosh weekend. Apparently filmed in the Adams tunnels. Manages to cover defenestration, Chaucer’s Prologue, and Pasteur.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=i_MEKssYtbE
April 28th, 2008 at 7:04 am
today’s no parents woo is awesome.
but yes, do please report on last week’s comic issue and this crazy-prof-is-suing-students thing.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I agree Muenzer blows goats, but a good drawer? Please, look at that thing above me and tell me he’s a good drawer. For fucksake. I vote Muenzer as handsdown the worst Ivy League cartoonist. Any other contenders?
April 28th, 2008 at 11:57 am
BTW, More Muenzer suckiness in today’s YDN…it’s just downright depressing: http://www.yaledailynews.com/photos/view/11460
April 28th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Competition extended to April 30th .
More times for you to vote J
Harvard senior makes it to the semi-finals of national comedy competition!
Subject: Vote for Harrison Greenbaum as National Comedy College Finalist
vote for HARRISON GREENBAUM!!!!
http://www.rooftopcomedy.com
Go to the link above . Click on College Compitition.Look for Harrison in the middle of the page . Click on watch and vote- register then vote.
- you can vote everyday starting April 21st until April 30th
vote early - vote often-……………Tell all your friends to vote!!!!
Spread the word…Send This to everyone with an email address.
Thank you for your support
——————————————————————————–
April 28th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Competition extended to April 30th .
More times for you to vote J
Harvard senior makes it to the semi-finals of national comedy competition!
Subject: Vote for Harrison Greenbaum as National Comedy College Finalist
vote for HARRISON GREENBAUM!!!!
http://www.rooftopcomedy.com
Go to the link above . Click on College Compitition.Look for Harrison in the middle of the page . Click on watch and vote- register then vote.
- you can vote everyday starting April 21st until April 30th
vote early - vote often-……………Tell all your friends to vote!!!!
Spread the word…Send This to everyone with an email address.
Thank you for your support
——————————————————————————–
April 28th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
alekseyvaynerblog.com
He’s back… again!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Competition extended to April 30th .
More times for you to vote J
Harvard senior makes it to the semi-finals of national comedy competition!
Subject: Vote for Harrison Greenbaum as National Comedy College Finalist
vote for HARRISON GREENBAUM!!!!
http://www.rooftopcomedy.com
Go to the link above . Click on College Compitition.Look for Harrison in the middle of the page . Click on watch and vote- register then vote.
- you can vote everyday starting April 21st until April 30th
vote early - vote often-……………Tell all your friends to vote!!!!
Spread the word…Send This to everyone with an email address.
Thank you for your support
——————————————————————————–
April 28th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Vayner on street fights: “Running away as fast as you humanly can is your best defense. No, you are not being a chicken. Put your ego aside and understand that in a street fight you are in mortal danger.”
What’s this? Humility? Has he seen the light?
April 29th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
You should have kept reading. Vayner’s full advice is:
1. run away as fast as humanly possible, or
2. failing that, never stop punching and kicking
which I think is sound advice.
Vayner’s actually full of good advice, take for instance his “5 easy steps to being the best (and achieving happiness).” I hope the first step wasn’t reading the rest of the post.