"Jump Start" in Sunday comics (Palin reference)

comics.com ^ | 12/27/2009 | Robb Armstrong

[hemogoblin]

Read the comic ... What's your take?

[hemogoblin]

This was in my Sunday paper today and my family was trying to figure out what it means ... very ambiguous, but to me it seemed positive. Only posting because such a positive shout-out in the dead-tree comics is noteworthy.

[Carley]

It’s positive.

[BushCountry]

My take is not that positive... It seems they are basically saying since the earth believes in Fairy Tales it would enjoy reading Sarah Palin’s book.

[hemogoblin]

... or that the Earth is full of hope and would enjoy reading it? (I got the book from my son for Christmas and am enjoying it a lot).

[alloysteel]

Maybe Robb Armstrong (the series’ creator) is a crypto-Palinist, and he has just finished the book himself....

[ProtectOurFreedom]

This one is just as unfunny as any of the others in this strip. Never worth reading, IMHO.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

“My take is not that positive... It seems they are basically saying since the earth believes in Fairy Tales it would enjoy reading Sarah Palin’s book.”

Yes—that’s why this is an ambiguous cartoon. You could also take it as the person is positive and hopeful and needs to connect with Sarah P.

My take is that the comic is positive about Palin and she is the person to whom optimistic people should look. I think the comic author was very clever to present Sarah in such a way as to avoid offending the left or the right. I think the author intended for people to read into it what they wished.

[samtheman]

Of course it’s massively negative.

A list of impossibles and then, here, take my copy of the Palin book... if you’re going to believe fairy tales, here’s the Palin book.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

“This one is just as unfunny as any of the others in this strip. Never worth reading, IMHO.”

Yes, this is definitely not funny, even if you are anti-Palin and see this as an insult. I have not heard of this comic before.

[ansel12]

Very positive, very casually positive, as though we can take for granted that everyone likes her.

[ansel12]

A list of impossibles and then, here, take my copy of the Palin book... if you’re going to believe fairy tales, here’s the Palin book.

Darn, now I'm not so sure, maybe I was still feeling to Christmasy when i thought it was positive.

[rfp1234]

Negative, as expected from this comic. Earth’s naive wish for its “natural resources” (oil, gas, and atmosphere) to be spared from “commercial exploitation” is dashed by the Moon’s sarcasm about (the environmental destroyer) Palin’s book.

[I see my hands]

hemogoblin

Clearly neg. The implication is that the Earth character will believe anything. The Moon was offering a new take on: "There is this bridge in Brooklyn..."

[Navy Patriot]

Perusing through several of Robb Armstrong's strips, it seems he has an envirowacko and animal rights bent, so I suspect lefty spin, omission and innuendo are part of the storyline

[dsc]

He’s saying that none of those good things are going to happen so long as people like Sarah Palin are around.

When a world-view is that twisted, it can be difficult to figure out what a leftard is trying to imply.

[samtheman]

When in doubt assume the media is against Palin. You won’t be disappointed.

[pjd]

My take was, as others have noted, that Earth believes in fairy tales. Where I differ from other interpretations is that I thought Moon was offering Sarah’s book as a way to give Earth a taste of reality and common sense.

[unseen1]

ok...my take for what its worth. negative. It is saying that if the earth thinks that it will get natural resources, economic recovery and an end to wars it should read Palin’s books because she is against all that. Basically it is saying that Palin is the anti-earth. I guess if Gaia is your God you need a anti-Gaia. And to those that pray to Gaia Palin is. After all she wants to use the natural resources for the betterment of mankind, she wants to destroy the terrorist threat, and the Gaia worshippers think tax cuts and limted government led to the economic recession.

So the comic is pro-gaia, anti-Palin

[jocon307]

I don’t get it. Therefore I’d rate it as positive, since if it was intended as negative the meaning was not conveyed.

[hemogoblin]

Thanks for all the great responses. I am starting to think that it was negative, too, although I note the following:

The "artist" bent over backward to make sure that no matter how you took it, he could plead that he was really saying the opposite. So whatever his intended point, he's pretty spineless.