Cartoon: The Getting Tough on Prison Cycle

Check out the timelapse drawing video for this one!

I drew a lot more of the big guy than ended up in the final cartoon:

 “Private prisons” is written both backwards and forwards on the middle version because I flipped the body partway through drawing it, to make the character fit better under the other panels.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

A large, shadowy, and vaguely monstrous businessman looms in the background, counting a wad of money, representing the private prison industry. Three smaller scenes play out in front of this menacing figure, each featuring a police officer interacting with Uncle Sam, who is seated behind a desk. Arrows lead from scene to scene.

• Panel 1 (Left): Uncle Sam looks frustrated, gesturing with his hand as if explaining a problem.  He says, “We have to reduce crime – which means being tough on crime! Put more people in jail!” A police officer listens.
• Panel 2 (Top): The cop reports back to Uncle Sam, “Good news! We’ve put way more people in prison than any other country!” Uncle Sam gleefully responds, “Excellent! So now we’ve got the lowest crime rates?”
• Panel 3 (Bottom): The cop says, “No, we’ve got much more violent crime than other rich countries.” Sam looks let down.

  An arrow leads from panel three back to panel one.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is ye olde cartoonists’ talk for unimportant details we put in for funsies.

PANEL 1: A mouse is peeking out from below the desk. A big jug marked “XXX” is on the desk. The circular design on the front of the desk says “Official seal of the United States,” and shows a head of a proud seal. Uncle’s Sam’s shirt has a pattern of Lisa Simpson heads.

PANEL 2 – The circular seal in front of the desk now has a drawing of a smiling Stephen Sondheim, and the words say “Sondheim the G.O.A.T.” Uncle Sam’s shirt is kind of incomprehensible this time – it’s a pattern of a straight razor crossing a rolling pin, a reference to Sondheim’s amazing musical Sweeney Todd.

PANEL 3 – Uncle Sam’s shirt has a pattern of Sally heads (Sally from “Peanuts”). The mug on his desk says “World’s Best Hegemon.” The magazine on his desk, in print way too tiny to read, is named “Exceptionalism Weekly.” The main story is “40 ways we’re better than everyone.” The secondary story is “We Want To Believe Our Murder Rate Isn’t Caused By Guns – and therefore it isn’t!” The magazine cover also has a photo of a grinning person waving a giant foam hand with “#1” printed on it.

BIG DUDE IN BACKGROUND – The tiny print on the money says “Feed Me Seymour.” The portrait on the front is a portrait of Groucho Marx.

The Getting Tough On Crime Cycle | Patreon