Cartoon Autopsy

The Last Supper, Liberal Lunatics, and Storks

Once again, here is my occasional feature where I share some of my rejected cartoons and pick apart why I think they didn’t work. This time I’m also adding a new feature: at the end of the article, there is a poll where you can vote for which cartoon you think is the worst!

I think this one didn’t work because I was referencing biblical lines that aren’t well known enough to most people. At the last supper Jesus said something like, “Take this bread and eat of it, for this is my body… take this cup and drink of it, for this is my blood.” In Catholicism these lines are said every mass before communion, so Catholics might recognize it, but I think most people aren't as familiar with the specific wording. The idea of the cartoon was to think of what might have transpired after the last supper was over. Somebody needs to take away the dishes and wash them, and then after having a full belly, maybe Jesus would’ve needed a nap.

With the rise of right wing authoritarianism, I thought, what if there was a season of The Bachelor with the theme of fascism? Originally I tried a version where it was “white supremacist bachelor,” but when that was rejected I tried “fascist bachelor.” I still think it’s a decent premise, but then I was trying to add another layer on top of it, where, often on TV shows, there will be a token minority, which, in the fascist version, would be a left-leaning person, which I thought was a unique take. Maybe it was just too many things going on at once.

There’s a general rule I’ve heard people say that The New Yorker doesn’t publish cartoons about bodily fluids. I’m sure there have been exceptions, but in general, if a cartoon is about pee or poop or snot or pus or… period blood, it’s probably not gonna fly. And if it’s not going to fly at The New Yorker then it’s probably also not going to fly at most other magazines. There are exceptions though. I find that British magazines are willing to go more crude than American magazines, and occasionally Airmail will go a little provocative. Just the other day I actually sold a cartoon to Seven Days in Vermont that references “dog shit.” But maybe period blood is a bridge too far. I still think this is a decent premise. Storks deliver babies. If a woman isn’t pregnant, one way to be certain is if she has her period. So, logically, if, when women are pregnant, storks deliver babies, then when they’re not pregnant, the storks must deliver their periods.

So, which cartoon do you think is the worst? Let’s see which cartoon wins by failing.