{"id":27924,"date":"2026-10-19T12:18:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27924"},"modified":"2026-10-19T12:18:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:18:50","slug":"the-implications-have-become-the-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27924","title":{"rendered":"The Implications Have Become The Monster"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is just an in-joke for me (and for you folks), but I’m pleased by the store sign in panel one, which is blocked by both a telephone pole and a word balloon. It says “Obscured Signs Inc.”<\/p>\n

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In real life, I love urban environments and am seldom in nature – or even in a park. But city scenes are much harder to draw, which is why so many of my cartoons feature park walks. Although it’s time-consuming, it’s also fun. It still feels like magic to me that I can lay down a perspective grid and then \u2014 abracadabra! \u2014 draw a scene that just looks right<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(And it also looks just awful. It’s an old story for me \u2014 I love my drawings, and<\/em> I’m constantly frustrated by my inability to draw nearly as well as I’d like. I often wonder if the people whose drawing skills blow me away have these same feelings. Bill Watterson, if you’re reading this, please let me know!)<\/p>\n

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The “victims to monsters” trope made the news in November 2025, when an old quote from Zohran Mamdani’s father, Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, surfaced: \u201cThe survivors of the Holocaust in Israel: yesterday\u2019s victims turned today\u2019s perpetrators.\u201d He said that in 2002, but I’ve heard that sentiment recently expressed in quite a few internet discussions.<\/p>\n

I’ve said that many of Israel’s defenders and groups like the Zionist Organization of America have been far too quick to call criticism of Israel antisemitism<\/a>. I still believe that.<\/p>\n

So is it hypocritical for me to create this cartoon? I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

“The victims are now the monsters,” when said about Jews or Israel, has long been a pet peeve of mine. I think people are drawn to this trope because it suggests a clear and comprehensible storyline \u2014 oh, the irony!<\/em> \u2014 which is more appealing than the foggy reality.<\/p>\n

I’m very much a critic of Israel. But it’s true that some critics of Israel do<\/em> conflate Israel and Jews in a way that’s antisemitic, sometimes purposely, and sometimes just thoughtlessly (both kinds are bad).<\/p>\n

It’s possible to oppose the genocide in Gaza and<\/em> oppose rhetoric that criticizes Jews in general rather than the state of Israel. (I put the black-haired woman in this cartoon in a “Free Gaza” t-shirt to make this point.)<\/p>\n

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TRANSCRIPT<\/h2>\n

A four-panel cartoon. Two women walk along a city sidewalk. One woman is fat, with black hair in a bun, hoop earrings, a flower tattoo on her upper arm, and a T-shirt reading \u201cFREE GAZA.\u201d The other is thin, with curly reddish-pink hair, large round glasses, and a black sleeveless top over a blue top.<\/p>\n

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

The redhead strides along with both arms thrown dramatically upward. The black-haired woman walks beside her, looking unimpressed.<\/p>\n

REDHEAD: What gets me about Israel and Gaza is the irony! The people who were once the victims have become the monsters!<\/p>\n

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

A closer view. The black-haired woman turns toward her companion, who listens with a wary expression.<\/p>\n

BLACK-HAIRED WOMAN: You know, only about 1% of Israelis are Holocaust survivors, and they\u2019re all at least eighty years old. Netanyahu was born after the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

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

The two continue walking. The black-haired woman gestures as she talks. The redhead raises both hands defensively.<\/p>\n

BLACK-HAIRED WOMAN: So why blame Gaza on Holocaust survivors?<\/p>\n

REDHEAD: I didn\u2019t mean Holocaust survivors.<\/p>\n

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

The black-haired woman facepalms. The redhead stands with her arms folded, annoyed.<\/p>\n

BLACK-HAIRED WOMAN: Please tell me you aren\u2019t saying Jews are the monsters?<\/p>\n

REDHEAD: Stop asking me to think about the implications of what I say!<\/p>\n

CHICKEN FAT WATCH<\/h2>\n

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

The store is called (unreadably) “Obscured Signs Inc.”<\/p>\n

A historical plaque reads: \u201cOn this site in 1987 a plaque maker got like soooo stoned.\u201d<\/p>\n

A poster on a utility pole says: \u201cGod is watching. For God\u2019s sake at least try to be more interesting.\u201d Another says, “Graphic that has nothing to do with my band,” with a sort of splitting eggshell cartoon face. Another says “No Import.” A rat dressed like an arteest is painting a rat Mona Lisa on the bottom of the utility pole.<\/p>\n

A dental-office sign reads: \u201cDental office \/ You show \u2019em we\u2019ll pull \u2019em \/ Every ninth one pulled is free!\u201d<\/p>\n

A homeless man slumps next to a sign reading: \u201cPlease help \/ I\u2019m drawn completely out of scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez Addams (as he was originally drawn in Charles Addams’ cartoons) is looking out a window. At the upper right, a man in a distant tiny window is grinning and making a thumbs up.<\/p>\n

A bumper sticker on a car at the far right says: \u201cMy other car is also a drawing.\u201d A spilled bottle on the sidewalk is labeled “Whoa Baby! Booze.”<\/p>\n

Graffiti includes “JETS” with “Sharks” written over it; “BG” for background (that one’s also in panels 3 and 4); “Hey look! Graffiti!”; and a couple of onomatopoeias (whoosh, zap).<\/p>\n

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

More graffiti! It’s almost all more onomatopoeia: Bang, achoo, awooga, mwah, tick tock, cuckoo, honk, hoot, buzz, bamf, bebop. Also, a tiny mouse lounges against the wall reading a smartphone.<\/p>\n

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

A store poster advertises: \u201cSale! All your hopes! Buy 2 hopes get 1 dream free!\u201d Fine print adds, \u201cNo returns once dreams turn sour.\u201d Even finer print says, “See terms and conditions in your soul.” Another says, “Cry for me Argentina.” A poster for “Boom Soda” boasts “93% sugar!” Another poster says “WOW great prices!” and in small print “is what you’d say if our prices were much lower.”<\/p>\n

A utility pole includes a pedestrian crossing sign where the little figure is a devil, a flyer that says “Guitar For Sale – turns out I’m less talented than I had hoped” and a “Roommate Wanted” flyer with a picture of Ernie from Sesame Street.<\/p>\n

Graffiti says (in a high spot) “I Own A Ladder!”; “But what the graffiti says is changing from panel to panel, what gives?”; “Hi there”; a cartoon face waving and saying “Arf”; and the ubiquitous “BG.”<\/p>\n

The building has a little cutaway at sidewalk height, with a pair of eyes staring out.<\/p>\n

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

The pedestrian crossing sign now has the pedestrian walking the wrong way. Ernie on the “Roommate Wanted” sign is now wearing sunglasses. A flyer with little paper tabs at the bottom says “FREE: Little paper tabs. Take one. Useful in all sorts of common applications.”<\/p>\n

Graffiti includes “It must be AI!”; “sigh”; “Vroom”; the cartoon face is now unhappy and says “I am not AI”; a cartoon Frankenstein’s monster; and some cartoon bugs.<\/p>\n

At the far right edge, a sad-looking Bert from Sesame Street peeks around the corner of the building.<\/p>\n

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The Implications Have Become The Monster | Barry Deutsch on Patreon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is just an in-joke for me (and for you folks), but I’m pleased by the store sign in panel one, which is blocked by both a telephone pole and a word balloon. It says “Obscured Signs Inc.” In real … 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":[17,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cartooning-comics","category-palestine-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27924","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=27924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27927,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27924\/revisions\/27927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}