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Friday, May 25, 2007

East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Pt. 3: "Having Our Say: Black Women Discuss Imagery"

"Black Women Discuss Imagery": Cheryl Lynn and L.A. Banks
Cheryl Lynn Eaton (Digital Femme, The Ormes Society) and L.A. Banks (Vampire Huntress)

"Black Women Discuss Imagery" moderator Stephanie Brandford and panelist Cheryl Lynn Rashida Lewis discussing the cover of her Sand Storm comic book
Moderator Stephanie Brandford and Cheryl Lynn Eaton; Rashida Lewis "Sand Storm") talks about the cover of her book

In February of this year, comics writer Cheryl Lynn Eaton founded The Ormes Society to celebrate and promote the work of black women comics creators and professionals and to reach out to black women comics readers. The Society is named for pioneer Zelda "Jackie" Ormes, currently considered to be the first syndicated African-American woman cartoonist. The Society started with about 13 members but is now 20 strong and growing. As Cheryl Lynn explained in her blog:

Black women are out there creating, but unlike our peers, we have the tendency to create in a vacuum... . How can I have the nerve to be irritated by how sites devoted to black creators are dominated by men and books with superhero themes (and on occasion, "hot" black model threads) if I never add my own contributions? How can I be irked by the fact that none of the members of the sites devoted to women in comics commented on the dearth of brown-skinned girls as characters in the MINX line if I never registered on those boards to make a post about that topic in the first place?

The Ormes Society would be a bit of a stepping stone or gateway. It'd be a place where black female comic creators and fans could (1) find each other (2) share our creations (3) talk about topics that are important to us and (4) gain the courage needed to bring those thoughts and creations to the larger comic reading/creating audience. It would also be a place for editors, fans and fellow creators to find us and share their thoughts about our work and about topics that pertain to black women in comics (both in the pages and behind the scenes).

The above photos are from a May 19 panel at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention in Philly, "Having Our Say: Black Women Discuss Imagery." The discussion was steered by the fantastic Stephanie Brandford, who also moderates the Dwayne McDuffie VHive comics forum under the name mutate20. (Also note Stephanie's awesome "Invisible Universe" T-shirt). The below are some key quotes from my hand-scribbled notes on the panel:

1. So what's the problem?

Stephanie Brandford began the panel by showing a 8-minute series of video clips she had compiled of depictions of black women characters in speculative fiction movies, including Storm (X-Men), Gail (Sin City), Joy (Children of Men), Niobe (Matrix movies), Akasha (Queen of the Damned) and various others. Most of the characters were in minor or supporting roles, with a few exceptions.

Brandford then prefaced her first question by explaining that as someone with an engineering background, she would take a problem-solving approach in her role as moderator. She then asked the panelists to describe what they saw as the problem (with both the relative lack of substantial roles given to black women in both film and comics.):

  • Rashida Lewis said that black women characters were "too few, and too one-dimensional", adding "We can always use a few more sisters holding things down in comic books.
  • L.A. Banks referred to the film clips, saying that for the most part "either we died in the first 30 seconds of the flick, or we were in roles that were powerless." Said Banks: "I wanted to have some young heroes that look like my daughter."
  • Cheryl Lynn Eaton agreed: "It's black women as perpetual sidekick. We need to hear from more women's voices. And it would be nice to see some books geared toward us."

2. Solutions?

  • RL: "Write to the publishers!"
  • LAB: Banks strongly agreed. "One letter is considered to be like 100 responses." She emphasized that the bottoms line for publishers and the film industry is money. "You need to understand how this works economically... . The late great Octavia Butler never made the New York Times bestseller list. Vote at the box office!"
  • CLE: "Speak up with your pen, with your wallet. Write to the messageboards."

3. Root Cause?

  • SB: "How can creator be encouraged to improve the portrayals of black women?"
  • RL: "I think I see a movement, our own little Renaissance." She added that "There should be good characters on both ends of the spectrum" (Note: I believe she meant the spectrum of mainstream to independent comics publishing).
  • LAB: Banks emphasized economics again. She said racism was obviously a huge problem in the industry, but "the economics moves a lot of that stuff out of the way." She also encouraged readers who wanted to support black women creators and characters to buy across genres, from horror and science fiction to comics and mainstream literature, and not just to stick with their favorite genres. "If you don't buy across the board, you won't have [black] mysteries, [black] science fiction. Just urban lit and 'women's fiction.'"
  • CLE: Eaton addressed creators of all backgrounds with her answer. "When you create, think that no child want to pick up a book and feel that they are less than any other group, no child wants to feel left out." She also commented on the small but significant attempts at diversity being made by mainstream comics publishers. "The comics companies are scared so you see them making little tentative changes... They don't put the effort into them."

    She added that when a small attempt at adding characters of color failed to have huge success, publishers often used that as an excuse not to try again. ("Oh, we already tried that.") What was really needed was "characters of all races, all backgrounds. They really have to make the effort and the commitment."

  • LAB: Banks changed the topic slightly and talked about some of the tactics she has used to make her series of Vampire Huntress novels so successful. She mentioned that while she puts out a new book every six months, she also posts 10-20 page unique "in-between" stories for free on her website and MySpace to keep readers coming back. Her readers send the stories around and tell all their friends, which builds sales for the books when they eventually come out.

4. What would an ideal state look like?

  • RL: "There should be a gazillion small companies putting out what needs to be said, however they need to get the truth out. When you tell your own truth, people follow."
  • LAB: In an ideal world "every major publishing house would be giving Anne Rice dollars to people writing speculative fiction." She said that 60% of all paperback sales are romance novels, and that publishers tend to put all the money and promotions and good distribution deals into a few big authors. "They're all putting Danielle Steele in her Rolls Royce. There's a huge pay disparity."
  • CLE: "Utopia? I'm so used to just fighting for the most minute recognition. Just to walk into a comic book store and see a diverse range."
  • RL: Talked about how there is often a defensive backlash against comic book creators of color: "When you do start bringing things to the light, people get upset." She said she had gotten a lot of negative reactions to making the main characters in her Sand Storm comic books, which are set in ancient Egypt, black instead of fititng into the "Elizabeth Taylor" white Cleopatra that so many people are comfortable with.

5. Question from the audience: "What can you do as an artist to reverse stereotypes of black women as either video hos or asexual "mama" or "mammy" caricatures?"

  • RL and LAB both talked about how they had dealt with the sexuality of their characters, trying to avoid stereotypes and create a balance between their characters beauty, intelligence and sexuality--powerful women with moral codes who nonetheless owned their own sexuality.
  • CLE felt that black women aren't necessarily seen as very sexual in mainstream comics, and that they were often background characters while all kinds of male superheroes fought over white women characters. "You have to fight and say black women ARE desirable, black women are beautiful. [In the mainstream comics] We're like handmaidens to Kitty Pryde and Jean Grey, backdrops to Wonder Woman."

5. Question from the audience: "Who is your favorite character and why?"

  • RL "White Tiger." [Note: a Latina character in Marvel comics] She also mentioned how much she loved Sigourney Weaver in Aliens.
  • LAB Sin City's Gail, played by Rosario Dawson.
  • CLE "Misty Knight." [Note: Knight was one of the first substantial black women characters in mainstream comics. A few days after the panel, Eaton writes in her blog that she was horrified to see the latest cover of the comics series starring Misty Knight, which shows Knight and her friends drawn in a ridiculous porn style and being molested by tentacles. See PW Beat for more.]

6. Question from the audience from a white man who wanted to know if there were any special rules or guidelines for a white person depicting characters of color.

  • The panelists basically agreed that everyone in comics should be encouraged to create smart, sensitive and substantial characters of color, and that while there were no special rules or guidelines it was important to approach such characters respectfully and try to do proper research.
  • CLE Eaton added: "Fans are going to complain regardless. As long as you've done your research, don't worry about what they say."

7. Question from the audience from a librarian who works with a lot of young black women in the Bronx and wanted to know if there were any particular books she should try to acquire for her library.

  • The panelists had trouble coming up with books with black women characters appropriate for young girls, basically lamenting the serious lack of such books in comics. CLE suggested that one good choice might be Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie, a graphic novel based on Abouet's experience as a teenage girl growing up in the Ivory Coast in the 1970s.

That's all, folks. Don't forget to visit The Ormes Society and Digital Femme for more on this topic.

See "East Coast Black Age of Comics, Part 1: The Glyph Awards" and "ECBACC Photo Outtake" and Part 2: The Conventionfor more extensive commentary, photos and notes on ECBACC.

P.S. You know you want to buy Masheka's book. And mine. And see us on tour! Right? Thought so.

Labels: african-american, appearances, black, cartoons, comics, conventions, events, feminism, race and racism, women


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posted by Mikhaela at 11:54 AM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

New Toon: The Afterlife Adventures of Jerry Falwell

I thought long and hard about this. But, like Reagan and Strom Thurmond, this dude was just way too evil and hateful to deserve any respect. He spent his life fighting for segregation and the dismantling of public education in favor of fundamentalist religious education, and fighting against gay rights and women's rights. He was a first-class hate spewer. I don't actually believe in ghosts or Hell, but if there were a Hell...

Anyway, everything in this cartoon is true. Yes, Falwell is primarily known as a gay-hater and anti-feminist, but he got his start in pro-segregationist racism (see The Southern Poverty Law Center):

Falwell was plain enough about his views; in 1964, he told a local paper that the Civil Rights Act had been misnamed: "It should be considered civil wrongs rather than civil rights."

Falwell was later forced to change his stance on segregation, but if anything, he became more virulently anti-gay as time went on. One of his main goals was to completely replace the U.S. public school system with private Christian schools. And he did indeed blame 9/11 on feminists, gays, "secularists", and the ACLU (for which he technically apologized, but it hardly seemed sincere).

Labels: cartoons, falwell, LGBT, race and racism


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posted by Mikhaela at 10:50 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

East Coast Black Age of Comics, Part 2: Convention Photos

Cartoonists With Attitude + friend: Keith Knight, Masheka Wood, Mikhaela Reid, Ayo
Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles"), Masheka Wood ("Not Just Knee Deep"), Mikhaela Reid ("The Boiling Point") and Ayo ("Little Garden")

"Black Women Discuss Imagery": Cheryl Lynn and L.A. Banks Sandstorm comic book artist Rashida Lewis
Photos from "Having Our Say: Black Women Discuss Imagery": Cheryl Lynn Eaton (Digital Femme, The Ormes Society), L.A. Banks (Vampire Huntress) and Rashida Lewis ("Sand Storm")

Joseph Wheeler III, ready to sell comics Masheka Wood and Larry Fuller with Masheka's new book, Deep Doodle How to Draw Afrakan Superheroes
Joseph Wheeler III ("New Art Order"); Masheka Wood with underground comics pioneer Larry Fuller (Larry had just purchased Masheka's awesome new book, Deep Doodle); the cover of the excellent book "How to Draw Afrakan Superheroes"

Cool ECBACC T-shirts VIP Dwayne McDuffie


Stylish ECBACC apparel; Dwayne McDuffie ("Static Shock")

On May 19, Masheka and I made our second comics-fun-filled trip to the annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. Above are some more of the photos (click on any one for caption info and a slideshow). I'm embarrassed to say that Keith was the only one of us to remember his Cartoonists With Attitude T-shirt. Oops!

I already name-checked and reminisced about most of the fantastic cartoonists we got to hang out with, but I'd like to take a moment to spotlight one you're probably not familiar with, our table buddy, Brooklyn-based cartoonist Ayo (see top photo), who draws the mini-comic "Little Garden." I could try to describe his beautiful linework and wonderfully drawn characters (who tend to be adorable girls with lizard tails and extra eyes and Medusa snake hair) and excellent use of mood and setting and blah de blah, but instead I'm just going to show you:

Please check out Ayo's awesome art and leave some praise.

See "East Coast Black Age of Comics, Part 1: The Glyph Awards" and "ECBACC Photo Outtake" for more extensive commentary and notes on attendees. Coming up in Part 3, photos and commentary from the panel "Having Our Say: Black Women Discuss Imagery."

Labels: appearances, black, cartoonists, cartoons, events, photos, race and racism


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posted by Mikhaela at 9:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Monday, May 21, 2007

Mikhaela makes a cameo in a depressing Ted Rall cartoon

Cartoon by Ted Rall Society is a Carnivorous Flower
(click here to view)
Ted Rall
Universal Press Syndicate
May 19, 2007
EditorialCartoonists.com

A few weeks ago I had lunch with Ted Rall in Manhattan. We were walking down the sidewalk in the midst of a typical wonky political cartoonist conversation about Iraq or Alberto Gonzales or some such when I suddenly saw a woman lying under a wool blanket in broad sunlight. Our conversation became the Ted Rall cartoon for 5/19. Note: I don't actually have pink hair, but I do have a bright orange jacket.

Labels: cartoonists, cartoons


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posted by Mikhaela at 10:52 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

New Toon: War Marketeers!

Inspired by a quote from a recent New York Times piece, "Civilian Casualties Undermine Allies' War on Taliban":

The subject of civilian casualties was the source of intense discussion on Wednesday in Brussels when the NATO secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, met with the North Atlantic Council, the top representatives of the coalition. But the conversation was less about how to reduce casualties, according to participants, than about how to explain them to European governments.
And...
“If your mortars are not getting you out, you call in close air support and that will be less precise,” said one senior American official who follows the action in Afghanistan closely. “We know that the Taliban hide in villages. The job that we have not done as well is making it clear to European publics that it’s the Taliban who are exploiting the civilians.”

In other words: we don't need to try harder to avoid killing, torturing and bombing the crap out civilians, we just need to spin it better!

Labels: afghanistan, anti-war, cartoons, iraq, war


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posted by Mikhaela at 11:23 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Friday, May 11, 2007

New Toons: Closet Conservationist, Signs of Spring

I was listening to a debate on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC over compact fluorescents and I have to say I have them in every room and I like them (and my lower electric bill) just fine. Anyway, the point of this cartoon isn't that individual acts of conservation don't matter, only that voluntary individual conservation isn't enough to stave off global environmental disaster without serious regulation of business and industry. (Stephanie is all over this with her upcoming graphic novel As the World Burns, and Ruben Bolling had a great cartoon about it last week, "Carbon Offsets 'R' Us")

I knew it was finally spring when I squeezed onto a hot, crowded, un-air-conditioned subway car full of scantily clad New Yorkers and unidentifiable odors and promptly stepped into a puddle of gum so warm it had melted. It took me about six blocks of scraping my shoe to extricate myself. -----

Attention: NYC, I'll be doing a free cartoon slideshow and book launch bash for my first book, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela! on Tuesday June 12 at Bluestockings and you are cordially invited.

ATTACK BOOK TOUR | May 19: Philly at Temple U. ; June 9: Detroit at Green Brain Comics; June 12: NYC at Bluestockings. Soon to come: Boston, DC and more!

Labels: appearances, cartoons, environment, events, nyc


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posted by Mikhaela at 1:56 AM 5 Comments Links to this post   

Friday, May 04, 2007

New Toon: Here Comes the Overpriced Dress... (Same-Sex Marriage Cartoon)


Here Comes the Overpriced Dress... (Same-Sex Marriage Cartoon)
Originally uploaded by M1khaela.

    Inspired by:
  • New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's commendable attempt to get marriage equality legislation passed in New York State
  • Ariel Levy's awesome piece in New York magazine about her lesbian wedding/"Party About Love." I loved her story and her amazing dress, but I can't imagine paying that much, which brings me to...
  • My experience wedding dress shopping with my mom. Sticker shock overload! We went to a store that sold USED and SAMPLE wedding dresses, many of which were stained, torn, worn or needed alterations, but still cost at least $1,200 each. So I got a white lacy 50s-style knee-length cocktail dress for $100 on eBay.

Oh, and here's the amusing photo reference I used for this image, from an unsuccessful solo trip I took to David's Bridal.

    By the way, my point in this cartoon isn't that LGBT weddings aren't worth spending money on, far from it. Just that:
  • The whole wedding industry, especially in New York, is a scam in which cakes and dresses suddenly cost 100 times their normal value and...
  • Same-sex marriage needs to be legal, NOW.
----- © 2007 Mikhaela B. Reid. All rights reserved. If you'd like to run one of my cartoons on your website or in print, please email me at toons@mikhaela.net for rates and information. See my website www.mikhaela.net for more. My first book collection, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela!, goes on sale in just a few short weeks!

Labels: cartoons, LGBT, nyc


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posted by Mikhaela at 2:11 AM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Lively discussion of ridiculous Hillary in blackface cartoon at Pandagon...

August pointed me to a lively discussion of Chris Muir's latest ridiculous cartoon at Pandagon, and I chimed in with a few thoughts, to which August responded with some further thoughts, to which I had a response to his response, and he eventually had the last word on which we pretty much agreed. The end!

Labels: cartoons, racism


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:32 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

New Toons: Abstinence Education, Shock Prez + Apocalypse Bob

A new federal study shows that abstinence education has no effect whatsoever on delaying sexual activity. Shocking!

Also, there really is a (comedy) movie called Killer Condom: The Rubber That Rubs You Out, though I haven't seen it myself. OK, so maybe New York charging cars $8 to cut down on pollution and traffic and improve public transport won't stave off environmental apocalypse, but it's a start. (Personally, I'd rather see NO personal cars in the city—maybe then I'd be brave enough to take my bike into Manhattan!). A sequel to 2005's "Sick Confessions of a Serial Bomber!" I did it before I went away on vacation, and it already feels pretty dated. Ah well.

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

P.P.S. My first book collection, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela!, goes on sale in just a few short weeks!

Labels: abstinence, antiwar, bush, cartoons, environment, nyc, politics, sexuality, transportation, war


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posted by Mikhaela at 2:05 AM 3 Comments Links to this post   

Monday, April 23, 2007

Mikhaela (and Masheka) featured in press on Other Heroes

The Associated Press did a brief piece on the " OTHER HEROES: African American Comic Book Creators and Characters" show currently up at Jackson State University in Mississippi, and they called me today to ask for permission to use a photo of my cartoon from the exhibit.

(Just in case it's not already clear from my photos and self-portraits, I'm not black--I was included in the show because I frequently draw black characters, and the show was about black comics creators AND characters. I explained this to the photographer and suggested he might want to use a different image, but he said he wanted to use it anyway and he was also using images from two of the black cartoonists from the show, Kyle Baker and Mshindo Kuumba).

Anyway, here's the photo of my cartoon "Let Them Eat Toxic Sludge" on Yahoo News. Fun facts: I drew the cartoon at 3 a.m. after coming home from a 2005 Katrina benefit show featuring Dave Chappelle, Q-Tip, Dead Prez and Talib Kweli.

Update: The Freedom Gravy cartoon was also used to illustrate a more detailed story in the Jackson Free Press, and they fittingly discussed my work and Masheka's work (not to mention Keith Knight's work--go CWA!) in the same paragraph:

Almost every viewer should find something in the show that resonates. My favorites include a poster by Mikhaela Reid advertising “Freedom Gravy,” the Bush-family solution to the post-Katrina food shortage in New Orleans and coastal pollution problems all at once. “Let Them Eat Toxic Sludge!” the poster proclaims while a wrinkly, pearl-wearing Barbara Bush offers a green spoonful of Freedom Gravy to a young black girl, saying, “Open up dear—I’m sure this is much nicer than what you people are used to eating.” Also interesting is Masheka Wood’s “Ask CEOs” comic strip, where she asks hideous white male CEOs “How do you spend your $13,000 an hour?” Replies from the executives range from the hilarious—“Imported cashmere wipes for my delicate buttocks.”—to the disconcertingly realistic—“Oh ya know, buying politicians and whatnot.” By juxtaposing both types of answers, Wood asks a pointed question: “Which is more outrageous: Cashmere butt-wipes or buying out politicians who are supposed to represent our best interests?” Also noteworthy for his biting political and racial satire is Keith Knight, whose understated visual style allows his wry observational genius to shine through.

Labels: cartoons, events, masheka, media, press


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posted by Mikhaela at 6:20 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Saturday, April 14, 2007

New Toons: Operation Solar Freedom, Imus/Coulter, plus some thoughts on Imus

Bush no longer asks for war funding, he asks for "funding to protect our troops in harm's way." Otherwise known as "funding to KEEP our troops getting killed for no damn reason." War is peace, freedom is slavery, my head is spinning. I drew this several days ago, when it just looked like Imus would get a two-week suspension. His attempt to apologize on the Al Sharpton radio show was ridiculous, including the lovely phrase "you people." And yes, a while back he referred to black journalist Gwen Ifill as a "cleaning lady" (see her excellent Times Op-Ed on the matter). Some thoughts, in no particular order.
  • So yeah, nasty hate speech. Totally disgusting, worthy of outrage and protest and probation. But I don't know about firing, and not because I'm worried about Imus' right to get paid $10 million a year for hate speech. I'm worried about the right of left-wingers and progressives and feminists and anti-racists and LGBT people and humanists to push the envelope on the other side without being accused of, say "anti-Catholic" or "anti-Christian" bigotry.
  • I'm not crying for Imus, or for Ann Coulter for losing newspapers whose editors should have had the good judgment never to run her column. My concern is about these kind of instant massive firing mobilizations in general, which I worry can make it dangerous for left-wingers and progressives to try to make a living pushing the envelope in over-the-top art/comedy/commentary/satire without worrying the rightwing attack dogs will take some out-of-context comment or image they made and turn it into a “destroy him/her!” campaign. By using these same tactics, I think we might be justifying them. And provoking the righties into going after leftwing commentators for “revenge."
  • Sure we can clearly see the distinction between Imus’s hate speech and, for example, the firing of Bill Maher after 9/11 for making a comment that didn't fit the gung-ho patriotic Bush-can-do-no-wrong atmosphere at the time. But the rightwing attack dogs are all about playing the “gotcha” game, and they are happy to cry “hate speech” and “bigotry” at anyone who expresses anti-religious or “anti-Christian” views, for example. Or to cry “treason” at anyone expressing anti-Bush views. Think of the way rightwing Catholic groups launched a major smear campaign against the two feminist Edwards bloggers for their supposed history of “anti-Catholic bigotry” (i.e. feminist prochoice commentary), or the many campaigns that have been leveled against cartoonist Ted Rall. Many people who make a living from left-wing commentary and cartooning have been in fear for their livelihood due to massive campaigns of outrage based on words or images taken completely out of context or misinterpreted.
  • I completely support censuring the haters and raising voices against hate speech and making it loud and clear that it’s not acceptable. In fact, that's pretty much what I've dedicated my entire cartooning career to.
  • But there needs to be room for radical dissent and controversial content... and it'd be hypocritical of me to say that privilege only belongs to speech I agree with or don't find hateful or offensive.
  • Not that there isn't a line somewhere, or that people shouldn't be fired for being openly bigoted assholes, and not that Imus shouldn't have been fired. When Trent Lott revealed that he wanted to see a segregationist United States Strom Thurmond KKK style, he should have been out on his ass. Instead he's now Senate Minority Whip.
  • Sharpton said he wasn't trying to bring down Imus, he was trying to "lift decency up." But is emphasizing that all we want from our media is cleanliness and decency the way to make it more progressive? Or is just going to encourage editors to choose content based primarily on safety?
  • The market and advertisers played a big role in this, and I'm not going to celebrate that (scroll down for reference). These same market forces don't make supporting or backing marginal progressive forces or voices a priority and they haven't squat to diversify who gets precious TV and radio airtime and audience: the same old bunch of white guys. They were happy to support Imus for years of similar comments, and only bailed when it became a PR problem. Would these same advertisers bail from a gay program if targeted on a massive scale by rightwing Christian activists?
  • All that said, what I really want to see in the media is real race/gender diversity and some strong progressive voices, instead of a wall of hatemongers like Imus/Lou Dobbs/Limbaugh/Glenn Beck/Hannity/O’Reilly and a bunch of meaningless centrists.
  • Obviously Imus's departure hardly marks the End of All Things Sexist and Racist on the Radio. But do we really want to get out big scrubby erasers and start making lists of who needs to go? And why didn’t Media Matters mention Lou Dobbs on their list of other racist commenters still on the air? His crazed xenophobic rants about Mexican immigrants trying to destroy the white middle class certainly qualify as topnotch racism. I still hold that he is an Evil Martian Overlord.
  • End disorganized bundle of thoughts.
  • What do you think?

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Labels: cartoons, cartoons bush racism, coulter, freedom of speech, imus, LGBT


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posted by Mikhaela at 12:18 AM 3 Comments Links to this post   

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Three new toons: Trans workplace discrimination, NYPD spies & predatory credit-card lenders

My goodness, I don't know what I was thinking but I did three this week (four if you count one for Lambda Legal that will be up soon)! Yikes! Here we go:

This cartoon was inspired by the recent re-firing of longtime Largo, Florida City Manager Steve Stanton after Stanton announced he planned to transition to life as a woman and change his name to Susan. (I only say "he" because Stanton is, as I understand it, still using that pronoun for now.) I say "re-firing" because the Largo City Commission held a hearing after its initial discriminatory decision to fire Stanton, and made the same bad decision again despite testimony in his favor.

Stanton's firing is far from unusual, so I decided to make the cartoon about anti-transgender workplace discrimination in general, rather than focus on that case. I'm not sure how many people realize that in most places in this country, employers are legally permitted to fire transgender and gay employees on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation. We need a national ENDA (employment non-discrimination act) and now!

I haven't seen the new documentary "Maxed Out" yet, but I did just read a terrifying must-read investigative series in the Boston Globe, "Debtor's Hell: Preying on Red-Ink America", that takes a close look at unscrupulous debt collection practices.

Finally, it came out in the New York Times last week that the NYPD spent tons of time and money placing spies in non-violent peace groups around the country before the 2004 RNC. The cartoon was inspired by this bit:

Marco Ceglie, who performs as Monet Oliver dePlace in Billionaires for Bush, said he had suspected that the group was under surveillance by federal agents — not necessarily police officers — during weekly meetings in a downtown loft and at events around the country in the summer of 2004.

“It was a running joke that some of the new faces were 25- to 32-year-old males asking, ‘First name, last name?’ ” Mr. Ceglie said. “Some people didn’t care; it bothered me and a couple of other leaders, but we didn’t want to make a big stink because we didn’t want to look paranoid. We applied to the F.B.I. under the Freedom of Information Act to see if there’s a file, but the answer came back that ‘we cannot confirm or deny.’ ”

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Labels: cartoons, crafts, credit cards, debt, discrimination, knitting, LGBT, money, personal finance, police, transgender, war


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posted by Mikhaela at 1:14 AM   

Monday, March 26, 2007

New Toon: The Addict & the Enabler

I have nothing against Nancy Pelosi, but I totally disagree with her decision to push through that "anti-war" war funding bill. Congress has the power to stop this war right now if it wants to by refusing to fund it. It's nice that the spending bill includes a pullout date, but the pullout date is in September 2008, more than a year away. How many more Americans and Iraqis will be dead by then? How many more billions will we have spent on an unjust and evil war--billions that could have gone to education, health care, social services, fighting poverty, battling AIDS, you name it... ? Why are the supposedly anti-war Democrats giving Bush even that much more time to mess up Iraq, now that they finally admit how wrong this whole mess has been?

All of this seems to be wrapped up in the idea that sending more troops to die is the best way to support the troops. If you believe the war is wrong, that makes no sense. Refusing to fund the war isn't refusing to support the troops--a bill could be written that would fund only a pullout, no?

P.S. I know, I know. I realize I'm just angry and griping and idealistic, and Pelosi is just doing what she has to do, and they're aren't enough votes for an earlier pullout and Bush is most likely going to veto this thing anyway. But I'm still frustrated with the entire Congress--the vast majority of Americans have been against the war for some time now, but instead of a pullout all we've gotten is a surge.

P.P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

Labels: bush, cartoons, iraq, war


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:07 PM 8 Comments Links to this post   

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Welcome new CWA member Steve Notley!

A warm welcome to Cartoonist With Attitude's lucky 13th member, Steve Notley (of "Bob the Angry Flower" notoriety!). The infamous Mr. Notley will be hanging with the CWA crew at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco next month (April 21-22).

Labels: cartoons, cwa


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Monday, March 19, 2007

New Toon: Supporting the Troops, the Bush Way

For some of my older toons on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, see "Patriotism, Pentagon-Style" and "Letters of the Law". It's always struck me as particularly painful that under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, LGB service members can't communicate honestly and openly with their sweethearts for fear of being outed.

For another recent cartoon on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, see August, and for another one on the conditions at Walter Reed, see Matt.

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

Labels: cartoons, iraq, LGBT, war


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posted by Mikhaela at 11:11 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

New deadline and new prizes for Life Without Fair Courts Cartoon Contest

Please pass this around far and wide, especially to any cartoonists trying to get more exposure and recognition for their work. Aspiring, professional and college cartoonists 18 or older all welcome.

Lambda Legal’s Life Without Fair Courts
Editorial cartoon series and illustration contest

Deadline: April 16, 2007
Cartoons required: One 6" x 9" cartoon or illustration, in black & white or color, at least 300 dpi. Can be single-panel or multi-panel.
Send to: faircourtscontest@lambdalegal.org
Prizes: 1st prize is nationwide exposure in The Advocate; 2nd prize is a $150 gift certificate to the comic book store of your choice and 3rd prize is a $50 gift certificate to the comic book store of your choice.
Judges: Mikhaela Reid, Joan Hilty, Phil Jimenez, George Stoll

Details:
Without fair courts unmarried people might not be able to buy condoms.
Without fair courts gay and lesbian people could be prosecuted for having sex in their own homes.
Without fair courts America's schools could still be segregated by law.

Lambda Legal’s “Life Without Fair Courts” alternate reality editorial cartoon series by artist Mikhaela Reid depicts what life would be like if courts had not upheld the Constitution in past landmark cases. Check out the first four in the series on our site and in The Advocate.

Get involved by showing us what this country might be like without fair courts and landmark civil rights cases, or by depicting discrimination still going on today against LGBT people or other groups.

Lambda Legal has teamed up with Prism Comics and media sponsor, The Advocate, to present the Life Without Fair Courts Illustration Contest. Submit your entry between January 16 and April 16, 2007 to faircourtscontest@lambdalegal.org for a chance to win nationwide exposure of your work or gift certificates to the comic book store of your choice.

By the way, here are my two latest cartoons for Lambda Legal's Life Without Fair Courts series, "Brown v. Board of Ed" and Craig v. Boren. (Click images to enlarge for readability).

Labels: cartoons, contests, LGBT


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posted by Mikhaela at 9:24 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

New Toon: Sgt. Dobson's Boot Camp with Rudy and Mitt!

Otherwise known as "Formerly 'Moderate' Republicans Try to Court the Religious Right" James Dobson terrifies me. So far I believe Romney is the only candidate to have actually met with the Focus on the Family mastermind, but it remains to be seen whether Dobson will endorse him, as his Mormonism and former moderate views don't sit well with many right-wing evangelical family values types.

Giuliani is currently polling way ahead of Romney and McCain. But word is that he doesn't stand a chance with religious right voters due to his adultery, serial marriages/divorces and pro-choice/pro-gay views and history. Romney even claims Rudy is pro marriage equality, but there's no evidence for that. And Rudy's recently been emphasizing that he only believes in marriage between "a man and a woman".

I have a long history of both despising Mitt Romney and drawing cartoons about him--I started out as a cartoonist for the Boston Phoenix when Mitt was just a slimy gubernatorial candidate. I watched him get progressively more anti-gay and anti-choice and it saddens me to think he has even a chance at the White House. I think he's polling third, but he's now the most anti-choice, anti-gay candidate running.

As for Giuliani, I'm no fan.

P.S.Welcome to readers from Cagle.com!

P.P.S.I'm still going to do a cartoon about anti-transgender workplace discrimination, but it'll be for next week, folks.

P.P.P.S. I wish I had the time this week to do something extra about the Walter Reed hospital mess and problems in the VA system. My grandmother Melba was a disabled Korean war veteran, and it was something she was deeply passionate about. I did this 2003 cartoon back when she received a letter from the VA asking to give back part of her meager benefits check.

Labels: 2008, cartoons, feminism, giuliani, LGBT, romney


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posted by Mikhaela at 11:44 PM 10 Comments Links to this post   

Thursday, March 01, 2007

New Toons: Rats Gone Wild, HPV, Hate Report

This is a somewhat random assortment--the Rats Gone Wild and NYC Condoms cartoons were drawn for Chelsea Now, of course, and the other two are my usual weekly strip. The HPV/cervical cancer vaccine issue is complicated, and I'm not necessarily endorsing a mandatory vaccine, just registering my total disagreement with the whole "my precious little daughter won't EVER have sex so she doesn't need a vaccine" crowd.

And the brutal hate crime murder of 72-year out gay man Andrew Anthos is just incredibly depressing, which accounts for the total lack of sarcasm or humor or my usual artfulness in that cartoon.

P.S. Regarding NY Comic Con: suffice it to say I got to hang with Keith Knight, Alison Bechdel, David Rees, R. Stevens, Ted Rall and others, which made the whole business worthwhile.

Labels: cartoons, feminism, food, health, LGBT, women


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posted by Mikhaela at 10:08 PM 1 Comments Links to this post   

Friday, February 23, 2007

Reminder: NY Comic Con this weekend

New York Comic Con
Feb 23-25, 2007
Jacob Javitz Convention Center on 11th Avenue and 33rd Street, NYC

I'll be tabling all day Sunday with Prism comics to promote my cartoon series for Lambda Legal, Life Without Fair Courts, and the cartooning contest that goes along with it. I may also be around the NBM table with Ted Rall. And I'll have some booklets and whatnot to sell.

    I'll also be on a panel:
  • Sunday, Feb. 25 @ 1 p.m. "Attitude"-themed panel moderated by cartoonist extraordinaire Ted Rall, featuring Attitude cartoonists Neil Swaab ("Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles"), Mikhaela B. Reid ("The Boiling Point"), David Rees ("Get Your War On"), and Ward Sutton ("Sutton Impact").

Masheka won't be on a panel but he'll be around and about.

Labels: appearances, cartoons


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:39 PM 3 Comments Links to this post   

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

The Ormes Society

Speaking of the Glyph Awards...
The Ormes Society, named after the legendary pioneering cartoonist of color Jackie Ormes, is a new organization dedicated to supporting black female comic creators and promoting the inclusion of black women in the comics industry as creators, characters and consumers.

The Ormes Society just launched last week, and Society founder Cheryl Lynn will be on The African-American Panel at NY Comic Con this Saturday Febuary 24.

Labels: cartoons, organizations


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:10 AM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Thursday, February 15, 2007

New Toon: Ted Haggard's Ex-Gay Revolution

Have you heard? The Rev. Ted Haggard, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, was "cured" of his gay ways in just three weeks of intensive therapy!

By the way, this cartoon is the first I've done entirely digitally on the computer, so I'm playing around a lot with the inking style.

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

Labels: cartoons, LGBT


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:00 AM 3 Comments Links to this post   

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Enter the Life Without Fair Courts Cartoon Contest!

Please pass this around far and wide, especially to any cartoonists trying to get more exposure and recognition for their work. Aspiring, professional and college cartoonists 18 or older all welcome.

Lambda Legal’s Life Without Fair Courts
Editorial cartoon series and illustration contest

Deadline: March 15, 2007
Cartoons required: One 6" x 9" cartoon or illustration, in black & white or color, at least 300 dpi. Can be single-panel or multi-panel.
Send to: faircourtscontest@lambdalegal.org
Prizes: 1st prize is nationwide exposure in The Advocate; 2nd prize is a $150 gift certificate to the comic book store of your choice and 3rd prize is a $50 gift certificate to the comic book store of your choice.
Judges: Mikhaela Reid, Joan Hilty, Phil Jimenez, George Stoll

Details:
Without fair courts unmarried people might not be able to buy condoms.
Without fair courts gay and lesbian people could be prosecuted for having sex in their own homes.
Without fair courts America's schools could still be segregated by law.

Lambda Legal’s “Life Without Fair Courts” alternate reality editorial cartoon series by artist Mikhaela Reid depicts what life would be like if courts had not upheld the Constitution in past landmark cases. Check out the first four in the series on our site and in The Advocate.

Get involved by showing us what this country might be like without fair courts and landmark civil rights cases, or by depicting discrimination still going on today against LGBT people or other groups.

Lambda Legal has teamed up with Prism Comics and media sponsor, The Advocate, to present the Life Without Fair Courts Illustration Contest. Submit your entry between January 16 and March 15, 2007 to faircourtscontest@lambdalegal.org for a chance to win nationwide exposure of your work or gift certificates to the comic book store of your choice.

Labels: cartoons, contests, LGBT


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posted by Mikhaela at 9:00 AM 2 Comments Links to this post   

Thursday, February 08, 2007

New Toon: Personal Anti-Immigration Wall

Wouldn't it be awesome if all the nativist nutjobs like long-shot Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo were trapped in these things? They'd be too busy watching their own perimeters to waste our time with their racist claptrap.

By the way, have you heard that the KKK is making a big comeback? They still hate black people, but immigrants are their new #1 target.

P.S. I didn't need to draw a cartoon about Rudy running this week, cause I did it already (see "President Giuliani: The Early Years").

P.P.S. Next target: Ted "I'm 100% Straight After Just Three Weeks of Therapy" Haggard.

P.P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

Labels: cartoons, elections, immigration, LGBT, racism


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posted by Mikhaela at 12:53 AM 8 Comments Links to this post   

Saturday, February 03, 2007

New Toon: "Dick Cheney's Magic Universe"

Dick Cheney's bizarre insistence that the war is going well makes even less sense than the weird stories I used to tell my extensive collection of My Little Ponies as a child.

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

Labels: cartoons, iraq, LGBT, war


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posted by Mikhaela at 1:00 PM 1 Comments Links to this post   

Friday, January 26, 2007

New Toon: "Gold-Plated Health Insurance"

Bush is right--the biggest problem with American health care is that it's just too darn comprehensive and fancy and covered in gold and diamonds!

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

Labels: bush, cartoons, health, healthcare, SOTU


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posted by Mikhaela at 1:29 AM 4 Comments Links to this post   

Friday, January 19, 2007

My Life Without Fair Courts cartoon series launch


+ A cartoon contest I meant to post this a few days ago, but you can now check out the first two cartoons and info about the cases that inspired them in my Life Without Fair Courts cartoon series for Lambda Legal. You might have noticed I've been on the quiet side lately, and this is partly why. The series will contain 10-12 cartoons total (2 new cartoons per month).
LAMBDA LEGAL NEWS RELEASE, January 16, 2007
Contact: Mark Roy 212-809-8585 ext. 267; Cell: 347-512-3358

Lambda Legal Launches "Life Without Fair Courts" Cartoon Series and Contest

The Advocate features "Life Without Fair Courts" graphic art, artist and contest in its January 30th issue, on stands today.

(New York, January 16, 2007) --- Today, Lambda Legal, in conjunction with Prism Comics and media sponsor, The Advocate, launches its "Life Without Fair Courts" editorial cartoon series and "Life Without Fair Courts Contest," seeking to educate the public in a new way about the need for fair courts.

"We're thrilled to be able to have artist Mikhaela Reid on board to illustrate the need for judicial fairness in such a fresh way," said Hector Vargas, Deputy Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. "We look forward to seeing other artists display how courts affect their lives through the 'Life Without Fair Courts Contest'"

As part of its commitment to educating the public about the need for fair courts, Lambda Legal has commissioned graphic artist Mikhaela Reid to do a series of graphic art called "Lambda Legal's Life Without Fair Courts." The series is an alternate reality cartoon that depicts what life would be like if courts had not upheld the Constitution and individual rights --- but instead decided in favor of discrimination in past landmark court cases.

Paired with the art series, Lambda Legal has teamed up with Prism Comics (an organization for the LGBT graphic artist community), and media sponsor, The Advocate, to launch a nationwide contest to find the best representation of what the artists' own lives would look like without fair courts. First prize in the contest is exposure in The Advocate and on Advocate.com. Contest judges include Joan Hilty, Editor at DC Comics; Phil Jimenez, Freelance Illustrator and Comic Book Artist; Mikhaela Reid, creator of the original series, Life Without Fair Courts; and George Stoll, Art Director for The Advocate. Submissions to the contest will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. on March 15, 2007. All entries should be submitted to either Lambda Legal, c/o Fair Courts Contest, 120 Wall Street, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10005 or faircourtscontest@lambdalegal.org. For a complete list of contest rules visit www.lambdalegal.org/CourtingJustice

As part of the launch, The Advocate's January 30, 2007 issue, on stands today, includes a feature article with art by Mikhaela Reid and information about Lambda Legal's Courting Justice campaign to educate the public about the need for fair courts. The art can also be found at www.lambdalegal.org/courtingjustice. and Advocate.com.

Courting Justice is Lambda Legal's education campaign designed to add the organization's unique perspective to the fight to defend fair and impartial courts. The campaign seeks to ensure that LGBT and HIV-affected people know what's at stake and how to get involved in efforts to defend fair and impartial courts at the federal and state levels. As part of the Courting Justice campaign, Lambda Legal launched a special website to provide critical information about the role of the courts in protecting civil rights and current threats to that role. More information about Courting Justice can be found on its website at: www.lambdalegal.org/courtingjustice.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

Labels: cartoons, judiciary, LGBT, politics, projects


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posted by Mikhaela at 12:54 AM 0 Comments Links to this post   

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

New cartoons: Iraq Surge, Superhot 2007 Predictions, and more!

Escalate your war to the EXTREME with Iraq Surge! Same disaster, new name, bigger cost. Now jam-packed with even more flag-draped coffins!

The original version of this cartoon had Hillary running for president on the promise that she would pull out of Iraq and then "reinvade, rebomb and reoccupy it the RIGHT WAY", but it was competing with the Angelina panel, so I decided to dig at Romney instead.

Yet more upbeat financial advice from Susie Poorman, in her second appearance in the Boiling Point.

In case you live in a vault, yes, Dick Cheney's daughter Mary and her partner Heather are expecting a baby.

Labels: cartoons, politics


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posted by Mikhaela at 8:25 PM 0 Comments Links to this post   

"Mikhaela B. Reid is an insurgent cartoonist: smart, irrepressible and unpredictable. "
--Ted Rall

"Mikhaela Reid's cartoons are right *$%@ing on."
--Alison Bechdel

"Mikhaela Reid rocks!! She's where i steal most of my ideas from!!"
--Keith Knight

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