#81: Corruption
Hello letter openers,
It doesn’t matter where you are, or who you are, now is the time for action. Wait, did I say action? I meant cartoons. Now is the time for cartoons.
This week, we get political corruption at a very small scale, and witness the sort of Halloween horror you can expect only at this time of the year.
Keepin’ it spooky,
Chris
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Caption: “Deny everything.”
There’s big corruption and then there’s small corruption.
Like, say if you did something horribly wrong. That’s big corruption. But if you had a file that wasn’t opening. Well, that’s small corruption.
But the response in both cases? Deny everything.
A little artist’s note: This is one of those cartoons that, when I had the idea, it sounded perfect. But when I drew it, it didn’t quite feel that way. Because, I really like the joke, but I struggled a lot with trying to show that it was a political office. And, while I’ve included the little vote badges really, they’re not quite enough. However, then I started to think about how corrupt corporations are it made me wonder if this wasn’t quite limited to politics. Which, of course, it isn’t.
So, here we have a reflection of general corruption. Because no matter what it is, the response is always to deny everything. Maybe it will strike a chord with people. A corrupt chord.
Caption: “The Hendersons have really outdone themselves this year.”
Spooky comes in all shapes, sizes, and ideological persuasions.
Like, say you put a ton of skeletons on your front lawn. Now that’s scary. Or, say you put spiders and jack-o'-lantern on the porch. That’s also scary. Or, say you put up a ton of campaign signs like these.
It would scare the life out of me.
A little artist’s note: I know, last week was cancellations, this week is Trump signs. But, you know, they’re all big ticket items and hot topics in the world today.
We Australians are pretty far away from, well, anything. Which can be nice and comforting because not everyone wants to take a 24 hour flight to include us in their affairs. However, the US election affects everyone and whoever gets voted in will have a genuinely profound impact on the world well outside those star-spangled borders. It’s all kind of terrifying.
Anyway, visually I feel like I spent a disturbingly long time trying to find the angle for this one. And, even now that it’s done, I still keep thinking: Is there a better angle I could do? But alas, this is how this version of this cartoon is. I hope it’s the last time I ever have to bust it out. Although, the biggest challenge here was physically adding the text on the signs. There was a real pain in the pit of my stomach as I added the words. Almost like I was endorsing someone. And that someone.
Which is, once again, kind of terrifying.
Thanks for reading MiddleSquiggle!
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