The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
"MACHINES MUST BE WIPED DOWN AFTER USE"
Alright, I was going to make this subscriber-only because I really didn’t like the second poem and feel bad publicizing my hate when it comes to a poem. But: I got too into tracking dumb stats about the cartoons (way down below) so now you all have to suffer. (My prose, that is, not the poem.) Subscribe to suffer more often.
Poems:
“South Carolinian American Sonnet for Independence Day” by Terrance Hayes: Hayes rarely misses, and this is an excellent piece on the South and sense-memories of family that doubles as a backhanded compliment to our country, a place that “‘might choke you’” if you don’t bless it. How to react to family with disparate tastes or views? Let a bit of their belief touch your tongue to be polite… then say “‘Hell no’ twice.”
“God” by Campbell McGrath: I get skeeved out by some of the more religious poetry the magazine publishes; I’d still certainly take that over this smug hogwash, which can’t even decide if it’s about God or the afterlife, and which doesn’t advance beyond dorm-room-level philosophy as negation, expressed as though there were no such thing as religious studies to consult, and as though believers, because they “hunger for reassurance”, deserve condescension. Yet does this poem not hunger for reassurance too – that the universe can be reasoned with, that words might suffice to escape the mind – and fall far short of any given prayer?
Cartoons:
Here's where to find the cartoons, with credits, in order.
Cover: In theory, a Niemann marker portrait of the bridge – what’s not to love? In practice, well, it’s a bit “sidewalk salesman poster”, unfortunately.
Pg. 10: Great choice to make the bloodthirsty lion really cute.
Pg. 14: Good thing you have a backup career as the eggman.
Pg. 18: Surely not the idea, but it’s hard not to think it was a slur.
Pg. 27: Slightly too grim to be droll.
Pg. 30: Haven’t you heard? Everyone stands now – for some reason.
Pg. 35: Hard to beat a dry Chast.
Pg. 39: Not really sure what age group or set of fashion trends this is supposed to be satirizing. The kids are definitely not dressing like this; is anyone?
Pg. 42: Bicycle Thieves, dammit! Although: Maybe this is a “Fast Five” thing? (Still can’t believe they didn’t have the courage to sell the next one as just “Furious Six”.)
Pg. 46: Late-era Judd Apatow spec script lines won’t work as panel cartoons.
Pg. 47: Roger, Cor-man.
Pg. 50: It’s interesting how even post-COVID the default “normal” landscape of the magazine’s panel cartoons has not really shifted back from home to workplace. Pretty shocking when I look at ‘80s issues how overstuffed with workplace jokes they are.
Pg. 55: The punchline is very Far Side, but the watercolor grounds it slightly more. Best of the Week.
Pg. 61: No shot they’re still doing that lesson with what appear to be sixth graders. Honors high school bio; sure.
22 Years Ago Today
I promise I made this tally after I wrote the thing above about workplace jokes. Do businessmen… not exist in the popular imagination anymore?!
Cartoon Settings:
Current issue:
3 Home/Family
0 Workplace (general)
3 Workplace (specific)
3 Parties/Third Spaces
2 Zany/Talking Animals
2 Other
Archival Issue (2003):
5 Home/Family
5 Workplace (general)
2 Workplace (specific)
4 Parties/Third Spaces
3 Zany/Talking Animals
3 Other
If literally anyone is interested, I can keep tracking these. Let me know if my categories make sense. Here are all the Workplace (general) panels so you can see more clearly what I mean:
zero