Sorry for the absence last week; I had my hands full with an illustration assignment. I'll be traveling soon, so posting may continue to be even more sporadic than usual.

Last week's strip introduced a new character, Mrs. Perkins.

Mr. and Mrs. Perkins Go Gift Shopping (Click to enlarge)



This week, I finally caved in and did a cartoon about the damned "War on Christmas," something I've been hesitant to do, since it's a distraction from real issues like, say, the impending annihilation of entire nations by rising sea levels. But what can you do?

Lesser-Known Culture Wars

Looks like I will be on the Ted Rall show tomorrow along with fellow cartoonist Matt Bors. That's 106.9 Free FM San Francisco, which apparently has a live stream now here. We should be on around 4pm Eastern Standard Time, 1pm Pacific.

While driving through the South over Thanksgiving, I saw a billboard emphatically stating "United We Stand. One Nation UNDER GOD." Such billboards are fairly commonplace along southern highways (as are billboards promoting topless bars to lonely truck drivers). I have no objections to people advertising their church, but the tone of this particular message struck me as militant. It got me thinking about driving through the Northeast while on the "Laugh While You Can" Tour earlier this year, and how there were no billboards saying "We do not stand behind Bush. One nation where you are free to believe whatever you want." Hence the origins of this week's cartoon about a marketing plan for the Enlightenment. My point is not to criticize religion, but the trend of rejecting science and reason and learning in general.

This cartoon may be the first ever to combine Mary Wollstonecraft and NASCAR racing. Her name is inscribed in tiny print on the side of the car; I wish I'd made it more legible. Some background on Mary:

Her A Vindication of the Rights of Man thus preceded Thomas Paine's Rights of Man in upholding Enlightenment principles of human rights. She immediately followed with A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, considered the first feminist document...

In her various writings Wollstonecraft stood firmly against slavery and monarchy and for children's rights, the value of breastfeeding, coeducational schools, animal rights, and other progressive ideas... For her controversial views, some derided her as a "hyena in petticoats."

Probably an ancestor of Bill O'Reilly.

If I do say so myself, you can't go wrong providing copies of "Slowpoke: America Gone Bonkers" to everyone you know this gift-bearing season. Not to toot my own horn, but this is a damned good book. I'm right proud of it. But if you want copies signed by me, inscribed to your giftee, you need to order here pronto! I can guarantee Christmas delivery for orders placed through Dec. 12.

Unsigned books are available through Amazon.com.

A friend of mine working in Qatar has taken some photos of American fast food chains there. See also the Chili's in this earlier post.