The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
"The crisis is lifelong."
This week’s supplement is just for us, subscribers. Welcome in.
Poems:
“Creation Theory” by Joy Harjo: A straightforward elegy to Harjo’s somewhat estranged brother, this could easily be read at a funeral reception. That’s not to say it lacks nuance, but it clearly privileges pathos above nuance – it wants to tug. I didn’t quite get taken along on its journey, but I don’t think that’s a matter of content; some of the poignancy is lost on the page. It demands a speech act.
“Two Kinds of Ending” by Vona Groarke: Well, if you want ambiguity, here it is; it’s impossible to say conclusively what exactly is going on here, but my read of the narrative is of a woman leaving an unhappy marriage silently; she wants to protest more loudly but can’t out of concern for their child. And then at the end there is some fresh fruit… for some reason. The Irish certainly like their hard-to-parse literature, and more power to them. I appreciate that this is a third-person narrative poem that tells a story; there aren’t many of those in the magazine these days, and perhaps there aren’t many being written at all. But divorcing poetry from narrative-building does no one any favors.
Cartoons:
Here's where to find the cartoons, with credits, in order.
Cover: Sure, that works. Not hugely inspired, but graphic and striking.
Pg. 19: I thought this was just silly, but apparently Nebraska does produce a plurality of popcorn corn. Educational!
Pg. 24: Sherlock Homescreen.
Pg. 27: I associate Crossfit with a move away from those little barbells and toward complicated gymnastic movements combined with Olympic-style weightlifting.
Pg. 32: Hacky joke, but I do love that gangly bird with a bowler hat.
Pg. 34: This is how you make zany work – combine it with everyday emotions. The idea of an evil alien feeling melancholy and regret is itself funny, if you can get us to believe it.
Pg. 37: Probably didn’t need to draw an entire detailed bathroom to make this parse.
Pg. 40: Absolutely zero reason for the figures and the caption. Just the machine would be kinda funny, as is it’s a groaner. Have some trust in the reader!
Pg. 41: At least it’s an NYC-specific gripe.
Pg. 46: Not amazing, but I do sometimes want the magazine to take a page from its past self and publish more light verse. Not instead of the poems it has now, but in addition to them. Maybe this is a first step.
Pg. 51: Clever joke, better drawing. Good togas, good faces.
Pg. 52: MPJ today stands for Multigrain, Pita, and Johnnycakes.
Pg. 55: Cheugy.
Pg. 57: Funny and kinda profound. Great face and hair on the guy. Best of the Week.
Pg. 60: This but unironically.
Pg. 64: Leans zany, but I do like that fish.
Pg. 71: Just come up with a policy that governs your tipping and follow it. You never have to think about the thing again. (Mine for dining in: Minimum 6$ per person, otherwise 20% rounded up to make the total be a flat $ amount.)
Pg. 74: Eesh, “what if God had a nagging wife” is a very rare whiff of a premise for Steed.
46 Years Ago Today
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