Anyone see today's POLITICAL "Family Circus" comic?

[Hissyspit]

The strip is usually amazingly entertaining - in ways never intended by the creators. I haven't seen it today, and it is not archived yet on his website (unless you subscribe http://www.familycircus.com ), but here is how a friend has described it:

"I'm sure that you guys are as avid readers of "The Family Circus" as I am. (Insert stupid smiley icon.) Yesterday, Mr. Keane and his son (who's now helping him with the strip) made a bold political statement of some kind. . . I just can't figure what that statement is.

The cartoon was Billy and a bunch of his friend standing together and holding toy guns. Another group of boys is facing them with their toy guns. . .And the punchline is Billy saying, 'Okay. We'll be the good guys, and you be the insurgents.' "

Nice of the Keane's to make all kinds of political statements with their newspaper forum about, say, lies about weapons of mass destruction, and lies about 9/11-Saddam connections, etc.

If anyone can find it and capture it, feel free to post it.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Neo-Con mouthpiece cartoon.

[CO Liberal]

2. Almost as Bad As "B.C."

Which I don't read any more, because Johnny Hart has gone over to the dark side....

[Catholic Sensation]

23. Explain to me how it's neoconservative

and explain to me what a neoconservative is. Family Circus has always struck me as religiously conservative. Neoconservatives are famously anti-religion (the Weekly Standard hated the Passion of the Christ more than any other publication I can think of). I have yet to read a Family Circus comic. I see nothing similar between whatever commentary is offered by Family Circus and the views of people like Irving Kristol and Paul Wolfowitz.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. Okay, just con mouthpiece.

Bad enough.

[leesa]

38. Bush is a neoconservative. It's about illegally invading a

disarmed country and STILL thinking that WE are the good guys!

[lumpy]

62. Jeez, I hate it when

the dead Grandpa makes his ghostly appearance.

[BlueEyedSon]

3. "We'll be the good guys, and you be the imperialist occupiers."

[Bellamia]

4. Family Circus not so funny

to me, yes, I saw it, Billy and the insurgents. I thought it quite awful...in very poor taste; and would a kid that age know the word "insurgent"?

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. You'd be surprised at what kids know.

When my mother was teaching kindergarten on a navy base in the '70s a fighter flew over. On kid looked up and declared it to be a F111. "Naw" the other said, "that's a F-4 Phantom!"

Kids know what they're exposed to.

[dflprincess]

44. Kids do pick up on things

and real kids might play "good guys" and "insurgents" without understanding what an insurgent is. They've just overheard the news and know an insurgent is "bad". (I can remember as a kid not understanding why there was a "gorilla" war.)

What drives me nuts about family circus (besides the fact that it's just too cute) is that I can remember when those kids and I were the same age, now I'm menopausal and Dolly is still in first grade.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

54. .

[Lone Pawn]

5. It's what Americans think.

Instead of playing cowboys-and-indians, where cowboys are good and indians are bad, the new model is soldier-and-insurgent, where soldiers are good and insurgents are bad. Although it may have a message, I would see this more as a mirror as to what our national belief on the insurgency is--a bunch of savages with outmoded weaponry who rely only on ferocity to randomly kill, but who are checked at every turn by the heroic white guys. Ridiculous, but it's how most Americans approach the situation.

[Devlzown]

6. Gawd, I hate that cartoon!

Keane's drawing is amateur at best and the dialogue always sucks. The dad was listening to Rush Limbaugh in one segment I saw. Perfect for people who prefer to think it's still 1955.

[onenote]

7. its truly an abysmal cartoon

and I always put it at the top of my list of "cartoons" to be dropped when my paper does a survey (even ahead of Apt. 3-G!)...

That being said, I don't mind that it offered a "political" message (albeit one with which I strongly disagree). Lots of comic strips offer political messages and while some are more clearly oriented towards an adult audience, its not as if Family Circus doesn't have adult readers too. I will criticize a cartoon for its content, but I will not criticize a cartoon for having content.

onenote

[walldude]

9. Yup it's always been a fundie

right wing piece of crap... but he has a right to his opinion.. Since Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes left us I almost never read the comics anymore.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Well, we still got Boondocks! n/t

[Arugula Latte]

14. But I've wondered about Calvin and Hobbes

What is the deal with those stickers you see on cars with Calvin bowing his head in front of a cross?

[bunkerbuster1]

17. Please. It's not like the genius behind C & H

(whose name escapes me at the moment) had anything to do with those aggressively unfunny serious of stickers.

[XemaSab]

18. Copyright infringement

n/t

[OrlandoGator]

27. Bill Watterson has NEVER authorized C&H merchandise.

Besides the collection books, any Calvin and Hobbes merchandise you see (particularly the "pissing" and "praying" stickers) are ripped off.

[Arugula Latte]

28. Okay, good.

Thanks for the info. I'm glad Bill W. wasn't corrupted.

(Go Dean!)

[Sugar Smack]

29. Welcome, OrlandoGator!!!!

I've seen so many ripoffs of Bill Waterson's work on the same vehicles that sport the "W" stickers. The only similar interpretation of that pure genius could be, "insouciant child". Other than that, Watterson is sensitive and talented, which is a no-no for republican sensibilities. I hope he (Watterson) is doing okay, and I wonder how he feels about this. :hi:

[Warren DeMontague]

39. Yeah, and you can find ones where he's peeing on just about everything

too.

usually on trucks with giant tires, driven by double digit i.q. types.

[Blue_Tires]

25. we need the wisdom of "the Far Side"

now more than ever!!!

[annabanana]

56. nope... Jeff Larson has, um....moved on..

http://www.thebackpew.com/backpew/bible_newtestament.htm

[BiggJawn]

59. You SURE that's the same Jeff Larson?

Drawing style looks NOTHING like "The Far Side".

[lumpy]

63. Uh, Gary Larson

?

[semillama]

64. Far Side was GARY Larson

I mean, come ON!

[Blue_Tires]

68. 'the far side' was drawn by GARY Larson n/t

[kliljedahl]

36. Yeah, but Opus is back

Damn I missed him & Bill

[tjwash]

8. We'll be the good guys and you be the people defending your country.

I figure they have it coming to them too, them having our oil under their land and all...

/sarcasm

[UTUSN]

12. KEANE Has Been a Paul HARVEY Wingnut Since the '60s

Somebody raised this "insurgent" cartoon yesterday in the------GASP----Lounge! And in the course of Googling to back up my claim that he's a LIMBOsevic dittohead, it turned up that Bil (one "L") KEANE had done a cartoon tribute to HARVEY, and has DISSED McGRUDER at a cartoon convention. He's a darksider.

I've been conducting my own personal boycott since whenever he declared his cartoon fealty to LIMBOsevic. Yes, I avert my eyes and skip to the next strip, same as with Mallard the Duck.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2787486

[KansDem]

13. Now that it's political, do a parody follow-up...

A good artist adept at creating parodies could have a field day with this. Draw "Billy" and his friends making the other boys pile up on each other in a naked pyramid, while "Billy" holds back his dog, "Barfy," who is snarling at the boys in the pile. "Billy" could be saying something like, "Why do you hate freedom?," while "Dolly," his sister, poises ala Lindy England. "PJ," the infant, could be hitting the boys in the pile with his bottle, while "Jeffy" holds him.

Something for "The Onion?"

I mean, as long as it's political...

[6000eliot]

15. Maybe "Not Me" has the WMDs!

[KansDem]

19. Yeah! I remember "Not Me!"

Along with "Ida Know!"

Do you get the distinct impression that members of the Reagan/Bush administration read "Family Circus" quite often?

[Lisa]

41. I'd like to see a single-panel "Bush on 9/11", with dotted lines ...

... tracing his frantic attempt to "get out of harm's way" as thousands of his fellow Americans died, and millions waited in vain for him to reassure them -- even via a radio or cell-phone link -- that it wasn't World War III.

[KansDem]

51. How about this on a T-shirt?

Just like those rock bands and their tours with their dates of appearances, we could have the "George W. Bush US Tour" T-shirt:


George W. Bush US Tour

September 11, 2001
Gettin' out of Harm's Way!

[Mairead]

16. Keane has always been a conservative Irish Catholic

He comes from the 'Leave it to Beaver' days of McCarthyism, segregation, and the 'rhythm method', where lesbians and gay men were pathologised, Zionists were noble pioneers, and The Organization Man was read as a textbook on how to succeed rather than as the satire the author meant it to be. If your goal is never to be challenged by a cartoon, Keane's strip is a good one to focus on!

Tom Paxton captured that time wonderfully well in his 'What Did You Learn In School Today':

What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine ?
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?

(1) I learned that Washington never told a lie,
I learned that soldiers seldom die,
I learned that everybody`s free,
and that`s what the teacher said to me.
That`s what I learned in school today, that`s what I learned in school.

(2) I learned that policemen are my friends,
I learned that justice never ends,
I learned that murderers die for their crimes,
Even if we make a mistake sometimes.
That`s what I learned in school today, that`s what I learned in school.

3. I learned our government must be strong,
It`s always right and never wrong,
Our leaders are the finest men,
and we elect them again and again.
That`s what I learned in school today, that`s what I learned in school.

4. I learned that war is not so bad,
I learned about the great ones we have had,
We fought in Germany and in France,
and some day I might get my chance.
That`s what I learned in school today, that`s what I learned in school.

[UTUSN]

45. Careful, I've Managed to P-O EVERY Dem Constituent Group HERE n/t

Starting with Tweety/G.E.RUSSERT (read, "Irish Catholic").

[Kazak]

20. OMFG, I did!

It was in my local newspaper today. I wanted to fucking wretch!!!

[bunkerbuster1]

21. I don't suppose anyone remembers the brilliant "Dysfunctional

Family Circus" parody site

http://www.medmeta.dyndns.org/dfc/index.cgi-list=1.htm

that the Keanes shut down in '99?

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,21853,00.html

[BigMcLargehuge]

24. no, King Features Syndicate shut it down

Keene wrote into Mad Magazine a dozen or so years ago after they ran a series of family circus parodies, he was complimentary and had a sense of humor about them, and they were no different than what was on that website.

[bunkerbuster1]

30. er, well, it's a little more complicated than that.

Keane could've let the Spinnwebe folks continue on with the site, he was well aware of it for some time time during its existence.

Apparently the real problem Bil had with it was two fold. One, if he didn't protect the copyright, there'd be a problem, and two, more and more folks were happening upon the parody site when web-searching for the legitimate cartoon, and being rather horrified in the process.

Bil apparently was man enough to call the website's owner and talk it over, and the owner took it down voluntarily. I followed the story pretty closely--there was a Usenet newsgroup for its fans.

BTW, I never saw the Mad Magazine parody, but I seriously doubt that it was anywhere near as harsh as was the DFC, unless it had captions referring to Thel as a "Sperm-Burping gutter slut" and suchlike.

The DFC could be pretty damn gross.

[Hissyspit]

52. I do remember it. I didn't know it got shut down. n/t

[semillama]

65. I used to post on that

You can find archives of that here and there. Funniest damn site ever.

"Holy Crap! Some sick fuck nailed a dead jew up behind the altar!"

[pstokely]

67. anyone remember this 1979 classic?

http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0852/

[BigMcLargehuge]

22. I'm going to go out on a limb and defend the comic

part of The Family Circus' charm is that it often toys with the way kids interpret the world around them, and I think this is another example of that. The idea that they are playing "goodguys and insurgents" is a reflection, more to me, of the constant media barrage that kids are hearing and seeing everyday. So, it's not unusual for them to adopt or coopt what the see and hear, interpret it in their limited life experience, and then play based on that interpretation.

As an example, I actually cut one of his recent ones out of the paper where Dad is reading The Night Before Christmas to Jeffy, and the phrase "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" is read. In Jeffy's mind he see's a computer mouse.

I thought it was funny and clever, and I think this is the same sort of interpretational humor.

My two cents.

[ironflange]

26. I agree

Goodguys and Insurgents? In my day it was Cowboys and Indians.

On the Family Circus website, click on Files then Take-offs. He's collected references to FC, some of them less than flattering. I like that he's a good sport.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. I couldn't get past the part about "The Family Circus" having "Charm."

You and I obviously have wildly different taste in comics.

Along with "Cathy", "Prince Valiant" and "Rex Morgan, M.D.", "The Family Circus" is easily among the most useless few inches in the newspaper.

Give me bizarro, zippy the pinhead, Opus, Boondocks, and This Modern World (although no corporate newspaper will carry it) any freakin' day.

[BigMcLargehuge]

46. my taste in comics has nothing to do with it

I just don't think the worst possible interpretation of a single panel comic is necessarily worth throwing a shit-fit over.

[Warren DeMontague]

49. Who is throwing a shit-fit?

I just happen to think it sucks.

[BigMcLargehuge]

50. it was more a comment on the whole thread

and not a comment on you personally... didn't mean to offend if I did.

[Warren DeMontague]

66. S'okay. I do think he tends to have a bit of a right-wing fundy POV

but it is subtle.

[bunkerbuster1]

34. Yeah, from what first-hand stories I've heard from folks who've

encountered Bil, he doesn't seem like a bad guy at all.

As for the good guys/insurgents thing, well heck, like you said--obviously kids pick up this stuff from corporate media. It's kinda sad, not especially funny, and maybe that was the subtle intent.

Let's not go nukeyouler on this.

Besides, the guy was decent enough to publish a Bloom County "take off" on his website. And this Mike Luckovitch 'toon, also published on his site, was downright... dark.

[NoSheep]

57. I read the cartoon the way you did. To me, it points to

the ridiculous idea that one side is good and the other bad. It points to the labels that "make" people bad. I realize the comic is usually quite lame...but in this case...I think there's more than one way to read it.imho

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Hmmm. A little Pro-War break from his normal Ned Flanders

Christian Right Syrup and pablum.

Feh.

Along with Scott Stantis and the doofus that does "B.C.", it's all proof that right-wingers have absolutely no fucking handle on things creative, artistic, or aesthetic.

For instance, on one side we have Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix. On the other side, we have Amy Grant and Ted "The Nuge" Nugent.

I rest my case.

[hfojvt]

43. do you know Jimi's famous quote

He claimed that he was not the greatest guitarist, that Phil Keaggy was. Phil, a Christian musician.
It is kinda funny that the long-haired wild man Ted Nugent of "Cat Scratch Fever" fame is on the same side as Amy Grant and Billy Graham.
We need some way to divide these people.

[Dude_CalmDown]

32. Wait, there's actually someone out there who reads Family Circus?!!?

I feel like I just met Bigfoot.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

40. Don't point, you'll scare 'em away!

[Lautremont]

35. I hate the Family Circle with a violent passion,

but this particular comic could be interpreted in a number of ways, most readily as a commentary on kids picking things they don't understand from the news or their parents' conversation. Keane may well be a darksider (it would be my first assumption, in fact), but I don't think this "insurgent" gag is a direct product of it.

The very same joke might be hailed as brilliant if it was 'Bizarro' instead of the Family Circle.

[lonestarnot]

42. Fuck a family circus! It is appropriately named for a repuke cartoon n/t

[Donailin]

47. well, back in the day it was

cowboys and indians, cowboys being the "good guys" and Indians being the bad. The irony of it was that it was just the opposite. So perhaps it's a just a modern day play on that theme, irony included.

[porkrind]

48. Yawn.

ZZZzzzz....

[Craig3410]

53. Which is why I read Dilbert.

Scott Adams is a Democrat, I'm pretty sure.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

55. "Family Circus" is a right wing racist toon.

I don't read it.

[Andyjunction]

58. Could it have been meant in irony?

Family circus is the most unfunny comic ever and Keane is definitely a wingnut, but I sense some irony in that particular strip. Maybe his son was making a statement about "one man's freedom fighter" etc.

[lumpy]

61. I do read Family Circus,

and I do agree it is'nt funny at all. The political slant, if you can call it that, is pretty weak. Nothing cute about injecting good guys vs. bad shit into the 'circus'. But what really gets me is that those kids are not very bright; I mean they make REALLY dumb comments. Arggg!

[enki23]

60. is the point that it's childish to draw those hard-edged boundaries

between "good guys" and "insurgents?"

some insurgents are killing civilians. some "good guys" are killing civilians. some insurgents are fighting for their god, their country, and their right of self-determination. so are some of the "good guys." other insurgents are fighting for the paycheck, while still others fight just because they're murderous angry. same goes for the "good guys."

some insurgents are fighting to expel brutal foreign occupiers. some are fighting because they were tortured, or know someone who was. or is.

some "good guys" are fighting to avoid a harsh fundamentalist regime. some are fighting because they were tortured, or know someone who was. or is.

when kids used to play cowboys and indians, the "good guys" wore white hats, and carried six shooters. they probably didn't know the real ones carried blankets from smallpox wards.

the only point i can see, is that kids can't be expected to know what the fuck is right or wrong. and despite expectations, adults aren't much better.