Finally, a Tax Rebate for NJ Homeowners

2008 New Jersey Presidential Primary

Well, New Jersey has voted to move up with the pack and have their Presidential Primary on February 5, 2008. According to Wikipedia, there are 22 states that are either holding or considering to hold their primary on the same date. And Florida and Michigan are seeking to move up from there! So I'm not too sure what New Jersey is trying to accomplish by lumping itself with the pack.

Despite this, there are two people that will actually benefit from this move - Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani. They are New York-based candidates that emjoy a strong following in New Jersey (one of which has the Governor's endorsement), and knowing New Jersey is in their pocket while other states may be a bit more competitive means having to spend less money here to secure the vote.

Here's the sketch:

Photo Referencing: The Debate Continues

Over on Comic Book Resources, Stuart Immonen has recently written an article on the use of tool and reference material to help make the process of drawing comics as efficient as it can be. And in response to people who think he is "cheating," he says:

"Picasso (a macho artist if there ever was one) said, “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”"

Check out the article for yourself. Read it here.

Tip of the hat to Drawn.

Illustration for at the Shore

Sorry for the delay in posting. This week has been really busy for me. Between everything that's going on with the Delaware Art Museum, the Delaware Press Association, plus all of my normal free-lance stuff, I'm fortunate that my head hasn't exploded!

So I thought I'd post something different. I've had a lot of illustration work recently that I'll get around to posting one of these days. This particular one is a cover for At the Shore, a New Jersey magazine around Atlantic and Ocean City. They wanted me to come up with a "New Yorker" style cover for their Spring issue, so here are some of my initial sketches.

My initial thought was to have a funny cover to show spring, like a bear that has just woken up from hibernation just chilling on the beach. I also thought of a Robin, and how funny it might be to have a family of them on the beach, since they're not beach dwellers. This led to the intial sketch that the editor liked, an out-of-place Robin on the beach with a bunch of shorebirds

I finalized the idea, which ended up being the Robin sitting on a shovel to help out the composition. The editor liked it, so I did a color rough...

...and finished it up for him. Below is the final artwork with the logo for the magazine. Let me know what you think.

Check out the Delaware Art Museum

Hey everyone! For those of you that are going to be in the Wilmington area the night of May 4, I'll be giving a tour of the Art in the ‘Toon Age exhibit currently displayed at the Delaware Art Museum at 6 p.m.

In addition, some of my work will be on display in conjunction with the exhibit in the Bank of America Education Wing from April 16-May 13.

So go check it out!

In New Jersey, there is a mass exodus of people leaving the state for lower property taxes. That exodus is now being joined by state Senators leaving office. Eleven out of the 40-member upper chamber have now said they will not seek re-election in November. This ensures the biggest turnover in the Senate since the Watergate era, when voters swept 13 Republicans from office.

In a story from the Star-Ledger by Mark Muller and Joe Donohue, they quote Rider University political science professor David Rebovich as saying, "I can't recall this ever happening in modern times. It's unprecedented that there would be so many voluntary retirements."

There are lots of possible reasons why the Senators are leaving office, which include aging lawmakers, political infighting and a chance in media scrutiny. But I think the biggest reason is the fact that the U.S. Attorney, Chris Christie, is actually holding the legislature accountable for its misdeeds.

Regardless, it should be an exciting election this November.

Here's the sketch:

Wayne Bryant FINALLY indicted

I wonder how fast news gets to Mexico.

Hy Eisman's Birthday

For all you Kubies out there, Lettering Instructor extrodnaire Hy Eisman turned 80 on March 27th! The NJ NCS chapter threw a surprise party for the old do-gooder, and has pictures and more on their blog. I still use my B-6 and Ames Guide to this day!

I'll have to post the sketch later that Irwin Hasen drew after Hy fell down the front steps of the Kubert School. Compasionate.

Tip of the hat to Mike Lynch.

Gonzales aide pleades the fifth

Monica Goodling, a Justice Department official involved in the firings of federal prosecutors, will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings, citing Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer said Monday.

"The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real," said the lawyer, John Dowd.

Which is interesting, because I didn't realize the 5th amendment protected an individual from the possibility of perjury! It's an interesting analysis of the 5th amendment she must have picked up at Regent University, which of course is Pat Robertson's law school.


Here's the sketch:

Sunshine Week in Delaware

I know it's a bit late, but the Delaware Press Association's newsletter only comes out quarterly, and one of their main topics is Sunshine Week and its effect (or non-effect) on open government in Delaware.

Here's the sketch:

Performing miracles in New Jersey

Chris Christie suddenly holds a lot of clout among New Jersey taxpayers, and politicians are quick to catch on to this. According to the Star-Ledger, the Assembly Budget Committee invited Christie to discuss the efforts he has undertaken with the state to stem gang violence and fight terrorism.

Of course, he could have just prosecuted one corrupt politician, and New Jersey taxpayers would have loved him (Although in recent weeks we’ve found that for U.S. Attorneys, the fewer democrats you’re able to prosecute, the weaker your job security seems to be).

Bob Ingle mentioned on his blog that the state Attorney General's Office has been MIA for most of the McGreevey era forward. As a result, it seems there is a giant queue of brazenly corrupt politicians waiting for Christie to take them up the river. Some are even attempting to retire to secure what they've already been able to steal from the taxpayers, worried about Christie continued subpoenas and investigations. All the more reason for the legislature to remove the ability of corrupt politicians to secure pensions from their position(s).

But for now, the people of New Jersey are listening. And believing.

Here's the sketch:

Corzine and his personal privacy

Corzine, who came in to office vowing to change the tone of previous administrations, still refuses to answer questions about whether he had something to do with Carla Katz’s purchase of a $1.1 million condo in the same building he lives in!! On a $100,000 salary!!

There’s also the question of whether Corzine is paying for the union president’s kids to go to private school in Pennsylvania, yet another aspect of this developing story that he claims is a matter of personal privacy, even though he was responsible with negotiating the new contract with the labor union that Katz manages.

And what about the fact that in a time of such financial crisis, the state workers were able to negotiate a 13% raise in wages in that negotiation, when most people in struggling private sector jobs would be lucky to see anything close to that .

Is there a confluence of interest there? Maybe Chris Christe can smell it out.

Here's the sketch:

Free speech wins the day

Sorry, no time to expand on the cartoon today, which is probably for the best.

Here's the sketch:

Chris Ware Animates!

Add animated cartoons to the list of things that Chris Ware does. This short segment apparently was done for Showtime’s new series This American Life, based on the public radio program of the same name which interviews ordinary Americans about events in their lives.

To check out the cartoon, either click on the picture or click here.

Thanks to Joseph

Sanjaya...the newest tool in the war on terror

I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but while in school up in North Jersey, I was addicted to American Idol. I had to cut it off, not because I like the show any less, but it just sucked up too much of my time. Each episode was a couple of hours long, and there were three a week. Long story short, I haven't been following this year's contest.

However, I've read a lot about Sanjaya Malakar, the first person of Indian descent to make it to the top 12 on the show. Apparently, there is a website, Vote for the Worst, devoted to keeping him on the show. The founder of the website, Dave Della Terza even called in to the Howard Stern Show to discuss his and Howard's joint effort to encourage the public to vote for Sanjaya, strengthening the cause.

But I haven't heard Sanjaya sing...until last night. Needless to say, his rendition of "You Really Got Me” by The Kinks is what inspired me to do this cartoon.

Here's the sketch:

Hillary 1984

This is that 1984 political ad for Barak Obama that has been zooming around the Internet the last couple of days.

One thing that stands out to me- Hillary's voice! If she does become President, I would recommend recording that ghastly excuse for communication and playing it across the Iraq countryside. The insurgents would be paralyzed!

In the Lobby

A new client of mine, In the Lobby, has begun posting my cartoons on their website. In the Lobby is a great one-stop shop for New Jersey political junkies. They have links to the top news stories of the day, political tidbits, Statehouse skullduggery and everything else that makes Trenton work -- or not.

Check out In the Lobby here.

Rove is finally being dragged down

Here's the sketch:

Christie still on the job

The blog Blue Jersey has a great post about Chris Christie, the US Attorney for New Jersey, and how he kept his job as other US Attorneys were fired for not doing the Bush administration's bidding. I'd try to regurgitate it here, but it's Sunday morning, and I need to eat.

Read their story here.

Here's the sketch:

McGreevey back again

Well, former Governor James McGreevey is back in the news again. According to Josh Margolin of the Star-Ledger, Mcgreevey seeks to gain custody of his 5-year-old daughter, as well as child support from his estranged wife.

Is anyone really surprised by this? Aristotle claimed that everything rotated around Earth, which was at center of the universe. Replace the Earth with McGreevey, and I think you'll have a clearer interpretation of what the former Governor feels is his place in the universe.