September 24, 2001

8:05 AM

Daily comic strips have started to react to the attacks. The only two I noticed in today's paper were Fox Trot and The Boondocks. Their tones are, predictably, somber. The one comic I'd expect to have something to say, Doonesbury, is still stuck on an older storyline. Have other strips referenced September 11?
posted by sandor (26 comments total)

it may take awhile, since strips are penned and sent to the newspapers six-eight weeks ahead of time. i seem to recall a delay in reaction to Charles Schulz's death.
posted by phooey at 8:11 AM on September 24, 2001

I couldn't get through. Try these other links. Foxtrot, Boondocks & Doonesbury.
posted by fresh-n-minty at 8:21 AM on September 24, 2001

Memorializing 6,000 dead in Fox Trot...something's wrong there.
posted by luser at 8:23 AM on September 24, 2001

The net comic strips were quite quick on the uptake - I liked the one on Sinfest. Touching.. Mainstream hard media strips are usually penned way before as phooey said..
posted by Mossy at 8:29 AM on September 24, 2001

Not surprisingly, Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World has tackled the subject in his last three strips. Also, Keith Knight's The K Chronicles and Carol Lay's Story Minute. (All syndicated on Salon. Go figure.)
posted by waxpancake at 8:29 AM on September 24, 2001

Why, luser? The author of Fox Trot feels like showing support with his/her art. Just because it's a comic strip does not mean it's trivializing. Was the strip trite? Was it inappropriately funny? I don't think so. I felt the same way after 3 days straight of news coverage and seeing the same damn shot of the plane crashing into the north tower. I don't think there's anything wrong with Fox Trot showing support. Explain why you do, please.
posted by starvingartist at 8:30 AM on September 24, 2001

Bill Amend gets to comment, same as you, luuuuuser.
posted by dhartung at 8:32 AM on September 24, 2001

I thought this sinfest was the tribute. Actually there seems to be more than a couple, just keep hitting 'previous comic' to see the rest.
posted by skallas at 8:36 AM on September 24, 2001

Aaron posted this link earlier about the cartoons straight after the attack, and how bland they were. Also interesting is the cartoons about the tragedy from around the world.
posted by kathrynhunter at 8:44 AM on September 24, 2001

My favorite comic is This Modern World printed Mondays on Salon. He is notoriously verbose and almost as critical of Democrats as he is of Republicans (or anybody else for that matter). He did an uncharacteristic Tuesday comic on the day of the attack. Last Monday and today he has covered the subject of the attacks, and although he has avoided the opportunity to potshot politicians, he has returned to satire. For a frame of reference, check out his previous comic on how George Bush has killed satire.
posted by wsfinkel at 8:44 AM on September 24, 2001

oops,sorry about the double post, but i gave a better description than waxpancake.
posted by wsfinkel at 8:45 AM on September 24, 2001

Just to reinforce to what's already been said, Sinfest, starting with this and clicking through 'Next Comic' has done a terrific job. Also, Oliphant's take has been good. You can find his work by clicking on the Oliphant link under editorial cartoons here.
posted by rutgersgrad00 at 9:03 AM on September 24, 2001

All political cartoons on the WTC events
posted by magullo at 9:17 AM on September 24, 2001

To say that a funeral held at Chuck E. Cheese is inappropriate is not a slam CEC's merits as a restaurant, or as a suitable shelter from the elements, or even on the idea of using restaurants for funerals. I’m a fan of comics. Of course Bill Amend has the right to express his grief. It is a fact, though, that there are some subjects so weighty, and some forums so trivial, that their combination is dissonant to many people. 6,000 dead via Fox Trot to me is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Tom Tomorrow? No, that seemed fine. Depends on what you can stomach, I guess.

Looking forward to seeing the Bil Keane tribute.
posted by luser at 9:22 AM on September 24, 2001

Liberty Meadows has also added a tribute
posted by Lanternjmk at 10:12 AM on September 24, 2001

My guess is that Amend ramped up production time to get in a reaction as soon as possible, possibly delaying the original September 24 strip a day or a week, much in the same way Aaron Sorkin has written a new West Wing episode in time for it be produced for the season opener.
posted by sandor at 10:46 AM on September 24, 2001

I guess I just wasn't thinking. I thought Foxtrot today was about how lousy the fall TV season is.

It seems clear now that an abvantage of online cartoons is the ability to suddenly tackle breaking issues without deadtree/editorial lag.
posted by ilsa at 4:15 PM on September 24, 2001

luser, there's a beautiful thing about newspapers. You can turn the page. Trivial forum? For myself, having known the Foxtrot family for many, many years, I found it touching.

Let's not create a new fascism of grief. This morning a friend and I were engaging in jump-up-and-down silly sitcom exclamations based on the newspaper headline Taliban: We've Lost Bin Laden. "Gee, we don't know -- he was right here five minutes ago! Okay, bin Laden. Good boy. Sit! Stay! {walk away ... whip around} No! Bad boy! Stay!" We were having a ball on a street corner, and Lord did we need the comic relief. I'd have punched anyone who decided what we were doing was "inappropriate".

The economics of strip cartoons dictate that very rarely can they cover breaking news, or even tackle controversial subjects without years and years of loyalty. I don't think that's going to change much anytime soon, ilsa.
posted by dhartung at 4:43 PM on September 24, 2001

a funeral held at Chuck E. Cheese is inappropriate

I'd say that's a very biased statement based upon your particular set of normative cultural expectations. There are a number of cultures that mark the passing of their dead in a more festive, celebratory manner than we tend to in this country. What about a good old Irish wake, for example? I can imagine one fitting in at CEC...if they served whiskey, anyway!
posted by rushmc at 4:50 PM on September 24, 2001

I don't know that either of those Foxtrot or Boondocks strips are necessarily about 9.11. They're so vague as to be largely bereft of any meaning. In particular, Huey being pissed off and depressed is nothing special at all.
posted by aaron at 7:56 PM on September 24, 2001

Illiad drew a simply beautiful cartoon.
posted by flowerdale at 11:29 PM on September 24, 2001

“…turn the page.”

And you can scroll down, dhartung. By equating opinion/criticism with diktat, and threatening violence (figuratively, I guess) against those whose opinions differ from yours, you yourself propagate a fascism of intolerance. So there.
posted by luser at 6:37 AM on September 25, 2001

aaron, check out today's strip. There's no question that Amend is addressing 9.11. And he's able to gracefully inject some humor into the situation without being insensitive. In fact, it made me chortle out loud on the bus this morning, something the comics do about once every 6 months.
posted by sandor at 7:41 AM on September 25, 2001

aaron, check out today's strip.

ROTFL!!
posted by rushmc at 7:34 PM on September 25, 2001

If you haven't yet, you should check out Tom the Dancing Bug's strip today (Sep 27th). Probably one of the better treatments I've seen.
posted by silusGROK at 8:10 AM on September 27, 2001