January 29, 2025

The Cartoon & Poem Supplement

The Cartoon & Poem Supplement

"My husband is home."

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Poems:

“The Bay” by David Baker: A spare meditation on death and vast water, which proposes spareness itself as the fruit of near-death. Elegant, and not overworked. The plural speaker is a really nice touch – this is a collection of nice touches, really.

“Speaker” by Paul Tran: This is, in comparison, a five-course meal – a kaleidoscopic portrait of, seemingly, the speaker’s mother, waiting at a bus stop. The first half is descriptive, albeit in a sidelong and strange way; the second half is more of a philosophical conversation, across time, between her and “Her Life”, “the speaker”. Tangibly about the Vietnamese refugee experience, this speaks to diasporic existence more generally without oversimplification. A major effort from Tran – and quite successful.

Cartoons:

Here's where to find the cartoons, with credits, in order.

Cover: Gorgeous backlit birds. I’m not sure what the central figure is meant to be doing with his hands – clapping? – but it feels like a sort of praise position.

Pg. 9 [Postscript]: I suppose printing a few of his bowing men is a decent tribute to Feiffer, though his words were at least as important as his illustrations.

Pg. 14: Strong – while this effect is usually achieved deliberately, from “You Can Call Me Al” to “Semi-Charmed Life”, imagining it as a source of conflict is funny, and the caption is well-phrased.

Pg. 21: I like this enough that I won’t tag it as an MPJ. Doesn’t make much sense that the cat tree is outside, though; while it does add something to the metaphor to have the dog be in a dog house, I think a dog bed would work fine.

Pg. 27: I think I’d like this more if the guy’s expression was dismayed – as if caught in an exaggeration – instead of smug.

Pg. 28: I think the idea here is just that she’s going on a trip but it does kind of read as a divorce scenario, which is higher-stakes but just kinda sad. One really does lose a lot of couple friends to that sort of thing.

Pg. 33: Not that funny, but those are great storks – each with their own personality.

Pg. 34: I first thought this was some kind of astrological wordplay, but it’s actually just hacky.

Pg. 38: Downton Athleizh

Pg. 41: Not sure if this is going for mockery of shallowness or “hey, that’s me!” – it’s a little of both, which makes both halves feel insincere.

Pg. 42: I mean, this is literally just Weeaboo.

Pg. 47: A bit too “novelty mug” for my liking.

Pg. 51: Not quite hitting it. “Authentic” should be something closer to “classic” or “old-timey”.

Pg. 53: Maybe causing everything bad in the world to flash through your head is not the best quality for a cartoon… but this is clever.

Pg. 57: This feels caption-contest-y but not in a bad way.

Pg. 58: Three and a half!

Pg. 62: Smart nonsense – wonderful. Best of the Week.

61 Years Ago Today

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the nose

knows