Second City is still second...

February 19, 2007 9:24 PM

Politcal cartoons... not quite ready for prime time.
posted by Huplescat (39 comments total)

No guarantees.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:53 PM on February 19, 2007

Nice.
posted by brundlefly at 9:59 PM on February 19, 2007

Those Harpers cartoons are appalling. Makes me realise how good mnftiu is, even now when the joke ran our years ago.
posted by mr. strange at 10:09 PM on February 19, 2007

I dunno, I think the Hilary one in that 'prime' link is a total hoot.
posted by mediareport at 10:15 PM on February 19, 2007

[You Know What]: Bringing a fresh charisma to doomsday.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:16 PM on February 19, 2007

ah. sad and true.
posted by pointilist at 10:32 PM on February 19, 2007

This is by far my mother's worst nightmare.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:37 PM on February 19, 2007

This one is chilling.
posted by owhydididoit at 10:52 PM on February 19, 2007

I like Mr. Fish's work, but it can be a bit too harsh and cynical sometimes. But when he's on, he's really on.
posted by mathowie at 11:28 PM on February 19, 2007

But David Rees, of GYWO and MNFTIU (which was genius -which was one of those all-too-rare moments when I stopped, mesmerized and muttered, 'fuck, that's beautiful.'),
Is more than ready for 'Prime Time.' Christ if "Get Your War On" isn't the embodiment of Political Cartooning then - uh, dude, what up?

And let's take a moment to look at that kind of insipid phrase "Prime Time".

I thought the links were going to be to crappy, lame-ass political cartoons (Imagine Link to "Mullard Phillmor" here - I won't dignify it with spell check or actual hypertext), and you bring us to these two?

Like the best political cartooning, they are amply ready for "Prime Time," it's just that they might sit on the side of the opposition.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:56 AM on February 20, 2007

Or is it that prime time is not ready for them...
posted by dinsdale at 1:01 AM on February 20, 2007

You can have your prime time. All I care about is hammer time.
posted by srboisvert at 1:18 AM on February 20, 2007

For a second, I thought she was holding on to Mandingo at the prime time.
posted by sluglicker at 2:23 AM on February 20, 2007

Mr Fish might not be ready for prime time on Fox, but you can be sure that the impression you got is precisely the impression intended. It's not only making fun of its subject matter, but also of the world of political cartoonists at the same time. Calling it "A Cartoon by Mr Fish" should have tipped you off.

(Seriously, though: published in Harpers and the LA Weekly for years, and not ready for prime time? What?)
posted by mendel at 4:23 AM on February 20, 2007

Grim political cartoons for grim times.

Seems pretty spot on to me.
posted by psmealey at 4:38 AM on February 20, 2007

Those Harpers cartoons are appalling.

yes ... and i think that's the point ... appalling times need appalling cartoons
posted by pyramid termite at 4:42 AM on February 20, 2007

GYWO has had many highlights over the years (the one equating the War on Terror to the War on Drugs was particularly good) but will never top the clenched-fist despair at the top of this page.
posted by Hogshead at 4:45 AM on February 20, 2007

This cartoon makes me both depressed and filled with laughter at the same time.

I must say, I like this Mr Fish fellow.
posted by secret about box at 4:55 AM on February 20, 2007

I've been subscribing to Harper's for 14 years, and this is the first I've ever seen or heard of Mr Fish. It must be just on their website.

BTW I love the political cartoons they've started to run in the Onion.
posted by Flashman at 5:53 AM on February 20, 2007

This one makes no sense, right? Ahmadinejad is deciding between a target and nuclear weapons. The two are the same choice. (Is that the point? That no matter what Iran does our government will fight them anyway? If so, it still doesn't make sense.)

Somebody help me out here.
posted by AgentRocket at 6:12 AM on February 20, 2007

Wow. Dude got the Israel-Lebanon conflict last year. Generally really good stuff.
posted by graymouser at 6:14 AM on February 20, 2007

This one makes no sense, right? Ahmadinejad is deciding between a target and nuclear weapons. The two are the same choice. (Is that the point? That no matter what Iran does our government will fight them anyway? If so, it still doesn't make sense.)

No the point is that he thinks we wont attack him if we think he can fight back...
posted by delmoi at 6:31 AM on February 20, 2007

Hilarious. The Obama one, as much as I am inclined to like him in comparison to the alternatives, rings a little too true unfortunately.
posted by bhouston at 6:40 AM on February 20, 2007

Look, seriously, mnftiu.cc is the shit. Because haven't we all asked ourselves: "Am I fucking being baptized by Voltron?"
posted by GuyZero at 7:02 AM on February 20, 2007

The Obama one, as much as I am inclined to like him in comparison to the alternatives, rings a little too true unfortunately.

Indeed. I want a shirt of that.

And te Hillary one is awesome too.

I like this Mr. Fish.
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:07 AM on February 20, 2007

Darn it, Flashman already mentioned the Onion cartoons. I'm always wondering who actually draws them, because they're so unbelievably ignorant, offensive and politicallly incorrect. It's like they're channeling Limbaugh and Coulter's bastard child.
posted by fungible at 8:12 AM on February 20, 2007

Oh forgot to add that I love them. Yes, I do get it.
posted by fungible at 8:13 AM on February 20, 2007

Goddamn I like this Mr Fish. Just check out this cartoon of the other Clinton.
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:14 AM on February 20, 2007

these already are my prime time -- maybe you should change your daily reading habits :)

thx for sharing them with mefi though...
posted by Señor Pantalones at 8:46 AM on February 20, 2007

Wow. Totally not ready for prime time, and that, in a nutshell, is the problem with prime time.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:27 AM on February 20, 2007

Some other favourites from the Onion
posted by Flashman at 9:34 AM on February 20, 2007

Those Onion political cartoons are very funny. The constantly bawling Statue of Liberty is a nice touch.
posted by furiousthought at 12:39 PM on February 20, 2007

I loved the Mr. Fish cartoons.
They bring a refreshingly stark opinion which I agree with (mostly through confirmation/identification, but at least I recognize when I'm being pandered to).

More please. I hope they continue to skewer everything they can.
posted by daq at 1:08 PM on February 20, 2007

The average American newspaper's political cartoons are way past the point of being in a rut. They're in a vertiable trench. Mr. Fish's stuff is incredibly fresh and different. Thanks for posting this.

And MNFTIU is the same as it ever was. Awesome. Voltron awesome.
posted by Western Infidels at 1:17 PM on February 20, 2007

Most of those Harper's cartoons look like photo traces.

Especially the Hillary one, which looks like he traced her head and a man's body.
posted by Target Practice at 1:53 PM on February 20, 2007

Yeah...and MNFTIU just looks like a bunch of crappy old clip art.
posted by Flashman at 2:11 PM on February 20, 2007

I want that Hillary one on a T-shirt, except without the text.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:16 PM on February 20, 2007

Ahmadinejad is deciding between a target and nuclear weapons. The two are the same choice.

Think Mutually Assured Destruction.

Without WMDs of some sort, Iran could be topped just like Iraq, with no serious consequence to the West. (Admit it, we don't care about our dead soldiers. They're just the cost of doing business.)

With WMDs and good delivery systems, Iran could ensure that an attack on them would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of our allies. And *that* is good deterrance.

Saddam Hussein must be kicking himself for actually obeying the WMD restrictions.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 11:35 PM on February 20, 2007

Saddam Hussein must be kicking himself for actually obeying the WMD restrictions.

I suspect that if he's doing anything, Iraq is the least of his worries.
posted by eustacescrubb at 5:49 AM on February 21, 2007