{"id":27301,"date":"2024-03-23T13:08:26","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T20:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27301"},"modified":"2024-03-23T13:08:26","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T20:08:26","slug":"cartoon-hey-did-you-hear-biden-is-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27301","title":{"rendered":"Cartoon: Hey did you hear? Biden is old!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of my occasional non-evergreen cartoons.<\/p>\n

I’ve drawn “Media” as a guy with a TV for their head at least once before. But the design of the character is definitely evolving. And in this cartoon, a lot of that comes down to Frank Young<\/a>‘s coloring choices, which I love. I had no idea he was going to do any of these wacky things (the pop art color patterns in the backgrounds, the static behind the face on the TV screen, the grayscale body) until he sent me the finished work!<\/p>\n

Frank writes:<\/p>\n

As colorist for Barry\u2019s cartoons, I work with a set of stylistic expectations. Anything that might be dimensional in real life merits light and shadow; colors are a touch more subdued than often seen in comics. I am conscious not to repeat myself with each new cartoon, as I keep in mind the style that Barry and I have set, and which seems to work well.<\/p>\n

This cartoon presented me with three \u201ceasy\u201d panels: a literal talking head against an empty space. I felt the shrillness of the absurd message being hammered by the media influencer. That made me think of 1960s Pop Art and the cult 1980s TV series \u201cMax Headroom.\u201d Don\u2019t ask me how I jumped to those random parallels; I couldn\u2019t tell you. I have learned to trust these leaps-of-synapse; they\u2019re my brain doing a lightning-round of free association and they often have real meaning.<\/p>\n

To realize these two styles, I used Photoshop filters which I\u2019ve learned to adjust and control: Color Halftone and Mezzotint. Used as is, both effects look gaudy and unpleasant to my eyes. These effects can be toned down and made useful. Against a Pop Art background of zingy patterns and lurid colors, the speaker, who\u2019s in color on the TV screen, which has a background of bright signal noise, is monotone in the \u201creal life\u201d of these panels. This felt right to me to capture the brassy vibe media pundits often exude\u2014and the circus-like tenor of much news reporting and analysis.<\/p>\n

In the final panel, which takes place in a recognizable space\u2014a coffeeshop\u2014I decided the pundit should still be in monotone, to suggest his real personality was the media presence that gets into everyone\u2019s ears with its shouty, hey-looka-me style. Color can be an effective shorthand to impart a mood or feeling to the reader. If I have succeeded in making a visual analog to the clamorous din of news media, I\u2019m happy with my work here. And I always look forward to the next cartoon and its new set of challenges.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON<\/strong><\/p>\n

This cartoon has four panels, plus an additional “kicker’ panel under the bottom of the cartoon.<\/p>\n

Each panel features the same central character, who I’ll call “Media.” Media is a white man wearing a suit and tie, and carrying a microphone. But instead of a head, he has a flatscreen TV on top of his neck, and on the TV is a picture of a TV anchorman-type against a background of static.<\/p>\n

In the first three panels Media is standing against a background of abstract and colorful pop-art shapes.<\/p>\n

PANEL 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media is leaning forward a bit and has a concerned expression.<\/p>\n

MEDIA: Biden’s old. Biden’s old. Biden’s old. Biden is old. Biden’s old. Biden’s so old. Biden’s old. Biden is old.<\/p>\n

PANEL 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

A closer shot of Media, now with a cheerful, chatty manner.<\/p>\n

MEDIA: Biden’s old. Biden’s old. Biden is old old old. Biden’s old. Biden is old. Biden’s old. Biden’s old. Biden’s old. Biden is too old.<\/p>\n

MEDIA: Trump’s old too.<\/p>\n

PANEL 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media now looks a little panicked, spreading his arms and almost jumping up and down.<\/p>\n

MEDIA: Biden Biden Biden! OLD OLD OLD!<\/p>\n

PANEL 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scene now changes to a coffee shop. Media’s body is in casual clothes – slacks and a black polo shirt. (Although Media’s head and shoulders, on the tv screen, is still wearing a suit.) Media is sitting at a table, with a coffee mug in front of him, looking annoyed as he vents to a friend.<\/p>\n

MEDIA: How can these people call me biased? Didn’t they hear me call Trump old, too?<\/p>\n

TINY KICKER PANEL UNDER THE BOTTOM OF THE CARTOON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media is talking, a bit angrily, to Barry the Cartoonist.<\/p>\n

MEDIA: I’m pretending you said I shouldn’t report on Biden’s age at all. And I’m appalled you’d say that!<\/p>\n

CHICKEN FAT WATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Chicken Fat” is cartoonist slang for unimportant details the cartoonist sticks in for the fun of it. In this case, all the chicken fat is in panel four. First of all, on the shelves behind the counter in the background is the decapitated head of Charlie Brown from “Peanuts.” (Poor ol’ Charlie Brown.) Secondly, on the wall is a framed picture of Zoidberg from the TV show “Futurama.” (I’m a big fan of both Peanuts and Futurama).<\/p>\n

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Media: Biden is Old Old Old Oldy McOldface | Patreon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my occasional non-evergreen cartoons. I’ve drawn “Media” as a guy with a TV for their head at least once before. But the design of the character is definitely evolving. And in this cartoon, a lot of that comes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cartooning-comics","category-media-criticism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27303,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27301\/revisions\/27303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}