The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
The Cartoon & Poem Supplement
"Sure, my horse talks to me,"
Welcome.
Poems:
“Last Exit” by Rowan Ricardo Phillips: Opens in a moment that gives way to a metaphor, as a journey – maybe an escape – between ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’s fires’ gives way to “a film fuming at its wheel”, its color giving way to “light’s light”, “not intended for eyes” – I’m down for any filmic imagery, and this has spark, but there’s an implied fury early on that gives way only uneasily to “see how beautiful it is” – as though the speaker were trying hard to convince themselves to be awed.
“Make the Audiobook Before the Book Is Made” by Terrance Hayes: Distinct and masterful, drawing lines between self-care and the built landscape and creative expression that are totally surprising and yet, once spoken, feel inevitable. What to make of the ending – a disjunction? Or productive solitude? I suppose this is a love letter to ambiguity, to the things that are and are not written on a clear mirror before the steam sweeps in and makes meaning clearer, and cloudier. You can’t wash off a speech act, but you can still sing in the shower.
Cartoons:
Here's where to find the cartoons, with credits, in order.
Cover: Well-drawn, but kind of a non-idea.
Pg. 11: Not sure jokes about higher education are ‘punching up’ at this particular moment.
Pg. 13 [Sketchpad]: Woof. Semi-incoherent, overexplained, excruciatingly zany.
Pg. 17: ‘Mafia sharks’ has been done, unfortunately.
Pg. 19: File under wouldn’t get a laugh if someone said it to me in real life.
Pg. 25: The ‘what the dog doin’ of it all distracts from a joke which isn’t otherwise much of anything.
Pg. 26: The whole point of those signs is to attract your attention by being outrageous; making the joke “what if those signs said something outrageous?” is never going to work.
Pg. 30: Don’t forget the stomachache! (Highly recommend the linked article.)
Pg. 36: Salmon are unbelievably efficient movers, unlike the people getting their luggage down from in front of you on the Metro-North.
Pg. 39: Have to give this credit for relative subtlety; I did at first just think it was a joke about being obsessed with your horse. Best of the Week.
Pg. 42: Not bad, but Arnold doesn’t feel like the perfect name.
Pg. 47: Fast Fascism
Pg. 48: Is this the male loneliness epidemic?
Pg. 52: Good Chast. I like how happy all the people are to be bad at chess.
Pg. 61: The best newscasters lack all conviction; the worst newscasters are full of passionate intensity. Yup.
27 Years Ago Today
