First of two syndicated cartoons this week

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been a busy week with the holidays and all.

Here's my first syndicated cartoon this week. Have a GREAT Thanksgiving, and see you on Friday!

Cheers,

Ed

Squeezin' one more in...

Sometimes I'll get an idea, even after I've filled my weekly quota. When that happens, I usually just wait and ink it on Monday. This one couldn't wait.

We're saving so many soldiers from physical injuries in Iraq, but help for the mental injuries that they bring home with them (post-traumatic stress disorders), seems to be lacking. Many combat veterans are said to skip therapy because it doesn't fit the tough guy persona, or because they think they can deal with it on their own, and that's a shame. These types of injuries more times than not, end up manifesting themselves in alcoholism and abuse. We should be helping these soldiers get through their trauma. They served and went through this so we wouldn't have to.

Military mental health professionals should be number one on our government's hiring list. We cleaned up our bedside treatment of these men and women at Walter Reed Medical Center, now let's make sure that they all get the therapeutic help they deserve to re acclimate themselves to civilian life. Sorry about the sermon, but I feel strongly about this.

Last week's cartoon project

It went to press yesterday, so I guess it's OK to post it now.

I hope I caught the mood of the country. I especially like the folded flag and the empty pockets of "Joe America."

It's weird how cartooning stuff comes in waves. I had been drawing elephants and donkeys in several of my daily cartoons just prior to coming up with this idea.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Cheers,
Ed

Twist of fate

As luck might have it, because I was soooo busy last week, I'm getting my syndicated cartoons done early this week (BTW, I promise in the next couple of days I'll post that project I was working on - it's pretty cool).

Here's the first one, which has been sitting on my desk for nearly three weeks waiting to be inked. Right after she started mincing words on the immigrant driver's license issue, I got this idea.

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And the second one (hot off the drawing board) which hit me like a laser as I was dragging my tired ass out of bed this morning. We've had a couple outbreaks of this MRSA stuff at the High Schools around here, so the staff has taken to disinfecting everything once a week. I was reading an article about how bugs have now become resistant to just about all of our antibiotics, and because many doctors have taken the easy way out and over-prescribed antibiotics, the bugs have learned how to beat said antibiotics almost as fast as new ones are developed - scary stuff.

Final cartoon of the week

Well, as promised, here it is. I woke up on Monday knowing that I wanted to do something on Benazir Bhutto's request to Musharraf to "take off your uniform..." It took a while to come up with this, but after I heard Bush make the same request on Wednesday, my idea became crystal clear.

Enjoy, and, Happy Weekend!

-Ed

Unfrozen Tundra

I read an article earlier this week, about how people are scrambling to visit the quickly defrosting frozen tundra to see the polar bears before they go extinct. That made this a fairly obvious direction to go in. You'll notice I made a few type modifications from the rough version. I also added a guy (driver?) jumping from the front cab. The bear was also previously just sitting there, but I thought to add some action, I'd show him either climbing in or getting ready to climb down. I always try to show "some" action in my cartoons if possible. I like to motivate the viewer's eye to move around.

Here's the rough:

I'll probably post one more syndicate cartoon later today.

Stay tooned!

-Ed

And, here's a syndicate toon...

I did this one earlier in the week - just getting around to posting it now. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Enjoy.

I'll be posting a couple more national issue cartoons tomorrow and Friday. As usual, I'll probably save the most pissy for last. Stay tooned!

Cheers,

-Ed

A local cartoon for this week

I've been slammed with projects at the beginning of this week (more on that later), so I'm just now getting around to posting some cartoons. Here's one on a story that I just found downright funny. Seems that parents at a local High School are having so much trouble keeping up with their kid's online shenanigans, that they've had to create a new class for said parents to get them up to speed on the difference between MySpace and FaceBook.

I know it's a gag, but I've actually seen my own parents staring blindly at a cord before, so it has some historical & familial legitimacy.

New Book - "Bush Leaguers"

There is a new book out entitled, "Bush Leaguers" which is a collection of cartoons covering the foibles of the Bush Administration over the past several years. It accompanies a traveling show of cartoons by the same name, in which I have a cartoon exhibited. So, for that reason alone you should buy this book! (Just kidding).

I received my copy last week, and, even after having seen the show, I think that this book will be a "must-have" collectors item. So buy one. No, I'm serious this time. You'd better buy one. I know where you live, and I will track you down like Dick Cheney on a bad hunting trip...

The "Bush Leaguers" show was curated by my buddy & fellow cartoonist, Rob Rogers. He also put the book together. To get a copy of "Bush Leaguers" send a check in the amount of $15.00 to: Rob Rogers, 3460 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15201. I think the money will help Rob recoup printing costs as it's a non-profit situation. If you want to ask Rob any questions about it, or to let him know you're sending him a check, email him at Rob@robrogers.com.

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The book is also available online at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists website: http://editorialcartoonists.com/bush_leaguer.cfm

Final syndicate cartoon of the week

Whew!
Finished! Finally!

And, just in case you're wondering...

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pil-lory vt. to lay open to public ridicule, scorn or abuse

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I couldn't resist.

I had also forgotten how much I love to draw elephants and donkeys. Note the cheesey Rush Limbaugh tie on the first elephant!

Have a great weekend. I know I will. I just got some GREAT news, but I'll wait until Monday to share.

First of two syndicated cartoons today

I'll post the other one a little later.

Enjoy, and, Happy Weekend!

-Ed