Posted on 02/21/2005 8:52:06 AM PST by Pikamax
Much ado about a duck By Christine Chinlund | February 21, 2005
IF A RECENT "Mallard Fillmore" comic strip hadn't raised the issue of The Duck's longevity, maybe, just maybe, I could have avoided another column about the comics. But in a Feb. 11 "Mallentine" day message, Bruce Tinsley, creator of the conservative duck commentator, thanked his fans and told readers that without their calls and letters of support, "Mallard wouldn't last an hour."
Perhaps he should have put it another way.
"Does this mean if I e-mail saying how unfunny this foul fowl is, you'll get rid of this propaganda strip? Let me be more direct: Remove this stupid comic from the paper!!" e-mailed reader Thomas Garside. "Let me add my opinion to the mix in the clearest way possible," wrote J.J.E. McManus. "get rid of Mallard Fillmore . . . !"
Point taken.
Mallard is, of course, not just a comic strip. He's a conservative standard-bearer. The strip is as much about politics as comics.
For 10 years Mallard has run in the Globe, and for 10 years he's perturbed readers -- most recently by using tragic events (prison torture and a beheading in Iraq) as comic constructs, and by building a strip around a quickly disproven rumor about John Kerry and an intern. Personal digs at Ted Kennedy have also sparked protest. But some say the The Duck has a more fatal flaw: "It's just not funny," said reader Michael LaVigne. "He can have his opinion, fine, but it needs to be funny, too."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Exactly my take on Doonesbury.
It isn't very funny. Once in awhile it is, but not very often. Of course, Doonesbury isn't funny, either.
I hate to say it, but Mallard Fillmore is NOT funny.
Well-drawn? Definitely?
On the correct side of the issues? Pretty much.
But funny? It is way too ham-handed and utterly lacking in in finesse to be funny. The cartoon has all the subtlety of a punch in the nose, and suffers for it, IMHO.
If Mallard Fillmore was subtle, the Liberals wouldn't get it.
And as far as "funny" goes: when was the last time Doonesbury was funny?
Or Dagwood, for that matter?
Since when do comics need to be funny? Many are not. I like laughing at liberals so it's funny to me.
Everything in this article goes double for "Boondocks", yet no one seems to be complaining to the Globe about that one.
Point 1: The Boston Glop has several 'cartoons' that are nothing more than leftist hate/propaganda - The Boondocks, Doonesbury are just two of the worst offenders.
Point 2: Following Eric Alterman's (and the BG's)logic is there any reason why ANYONE has to endure all of the left's treasured and sancrosanct whining about every little 'atrocity' they can dig up or imagine? I mean EVERYONE has been on the receiving end of something bad at some point in their history - so why should ANYONE have to acknowledge ANYONE elses pain or suffering.
Personally, I thought Cathy Young had made an excellent point. ALterman is demonstrably exactly what she labeled him. Believe me, I have seen plenty of them in mASSachusetts, Connecticut and New York.
"He can have his opinion, fine, but it needs to be funny, too."
Yeah, like Boondocks. I suppose that one is a laugh-a-minute.....if you happen to be a whitey-hating liberal.
Brenda Star?
I loved old Mallard and was incensed when the local Gannett rag removed him from their pages. I always thought Mallard was a great counterpoint to that leftist idiot Trudeau. Now, we still have Trudeau and no more Mallard. The Commie media rules! (except on the net).
I love it for the very reasons you dislike it.
PING
I think you have to go all the way back to when Duke was Hunter S. Thompson.
Mallard F. would be truly great if Tinsley would draw, and let Freepers caption...Anyone for a campaign?
Of course it isn't funny.
I haven't laughed once reading it.
But, it is not meant to be funny, but to make you think.
Who says a cartoon has to be funny? Doonesbury sure isn't.
Send them a letter.
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