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Neito
Feb 18, 2009

😌Finally, an avatar the describes my love of tech❤️‍💻, my love of anime💖🎎, and why I'll never see a real girl 🙆‍♀️naked😭.

Most Easily Reinterpreted: R-294
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy: TG-302, burn in hell Rall.
Most Willfully Dense: WD-317
Worst Overall: Wo-363

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Twelve by Pies
May 4, 2012

Again a very likpatous story
Hey real quick, I'm still going through the voting, but I wanted to ask a question. In the "Most Willfully Dense" section there's a McCoy with a guy saying "Dang I wish they hadn't blocked Biden's universal pre-K!" There's a few comments under it talking about Christopher Columbus/judging cultures based on their worst sides. There isn't a label there, so it isn't a simple missing image or the image not loading, whatever cartoon those comments referring to just doesn't seem to be there, unless they were mistakenly pasted in the wrong section or something.

e: After getting through all the nominees I'm guessing they're supposed to actually be attached to the Ramirez about Indigenous People's Day in the Worst Overall category, probably?

Twelve by Pies fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Apr 7, 2022

Twelve by Pies
May 4, 2012

Again a very likpatous story
Double post because my votes should be separate.

R-275

TG-302

WD-328

WO-356

The Most Easily Reinterpreted was a tough category. That one Garrison wins out narrowly, it was a really hard choice between that one and the "I am not a president" one because as the comment mentioned, it is literally impossible to interpret that one as anything other than the way Garrison doesn't want you to. Still, I think the Don Quixote one wins out because there are some people who think Nixon isn't a crook (always love that video of Ben Stein crying while he says Nixon was unfairly persecuted and was a saint) but everyone knows the windmills are not actually giants. Except Garrison apparently (though he claims otherwise). The Ramirez with the Wise Man on the Mountain saying "You're an idiot" was a really close contender too, as was the "Bill Gates will block out the sun" one. God, it was just so hard to choose.

For Worst Cartoon About a Tragedy I really wanted to nominate that Ramirez, purely because it's lazy as gently caress and I genuinely don't even remember what it's referring to, which is a sure sign it's a terrible cartoon about a tragedy. The one about Israel is also pretty disgusting too, but ultimately I had to give it to Rall due to the rant attached.

Worst Overall also hard. I didn't think anything could top the Garrison "I can't breathe" cartoon because holy gently caress is that awful, and yet, somehow, it feels like there's no real hatred or feeling in it. It's sterile, lifeless. It's also kind of just standard police worship, "The cops clearly did nothing wrong because they are heroes, it must have been that Floyd was a hulking superhuman who would have killed us all." But that Ramirez just feels full of hatred, and while conservatives were upset about Indigenous People's Day, the talking points were mostly about "but what about Italian heritage" and just bog standard reactionary "Thing different and new, therefore bad." Ramirez going "gently caress 'EM THEY WERE ALL SAVAGES" is just an insane level of hatred (and as others pointed out, self-loathing) that it has to be it as far as I'm concerned.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Twelve by Pies posted:

Hey real quick, I'm still going through the voting, but I wanted to ask a question. In the "Most Willfully Dense" section there's a McCoy with a guy saying "Dang I wish they hadn't blocked Biden's universal pre-K!" There's a few comments under it talking about Christopher Columbus/judging cultures based on their worst sides. There isn't a label there, so it isn't a simple missing image or the image not loading, whatever cartoon those comments referring to just doesn't seem to be there, unless they were mistakenly pasted in the wrong section or something.

e: After getting through all the nominees I'm guessing they're supposed to actually be attached to the Ramirez about Indigenous People's Day in the Worst Overall category, probably?

dangit, that one again? I'll go fix it. Among other bugs with the spreadsheet system, that one and Rall's WO contribution both somehow got their comments added to a number of other entries.

e: All right, fixed

e: hahaha, got my Ramirezes confused. There are so many nominations from him, you see...I believe it's corrected across all three posts, now.

Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Apr 7, 2022

ajkalan
Aug 17, 2011

Most Easily Reinterpreted: R-275
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy: TG-307
Most Willfully Dense: WD-321
Worst Overall: WO-342 (A. Wyatt Mann drew less racist caricatures/cartoons than this)

Skios
Oct 1, 2021
R-275
TG-307
WD-319
WO-356

I went back and forth between a bunch of cartoons for Worst Overall, mostly Branco/McCoy stuff. I ended up settling on the Ramirez because while Branco and McCoy were just as horrid and vile in their own way, they are very clearly cartoons by and for smooth-brained CHUDs. Ramirez still has the veneer of respectable 'mainstream conservatism', whatever the hell that means in 2022.

Technowolf
Nov 4, 2009




R-273
TG-307 So many Rittenhouse takes to chose from
WD-324
WO-356

barometz
Feb 14, 2010
Oops, I forgot to get in on the second round, so here's a whole bunch of rubbish and my terrible opinions thereof!

Worst gaslighting: G-129 – Ugh, I was originally trying to choose between the Ramirez at 113 or that Branco at 124 (though that Blower's a thing as well), but this one seems pretty universal.

Most hypocritical combo: HC-141 – As much as I'm tempted by Garrison's January 6th ramblings, I feel the Afghan refugee thing is probably more actively hypocritical, which I guess leaves the question of whether Branco's or Varvel's rendition is worse. While Branco seems like the easy option, it does feel a bit more to the point.

Laziest non-Gorrell: L-147 — What a category. While there are probably worse in the grand scheme of things, I feel like Bennett's laziness these days is really worth calling out. I opted for this one, because it seems lazy even beyond the art.

Worst label: LB-173 — Ramirez gets this one for the reason the comment says, although Branco at 184 is also doing well on the 'I don't know how labels work' stakes. Bonus mention for Ariail (188) for that 800 lbs shirt; I mean, how else would we know the gorilla's heavy?

Most incomprehensible: MI-206 — Is that Varvel (200) not an edit? Huh. Well, anyway, Leunig. He's a real one to watch on the incomprehensible gibberish front. Honourable(?) mention for Hagen (208), which manages to include almost nothing related to the subject that it's apparently about. …IMMANUEL.

Worst obituary: OB-210 — I was a bit torn based that Bob Dole one's laziness, but this one is… just kind of gross.

Best edit: P-218 — I particularly like 248 and 250 too, but while they're more relevant to the topic at hand, god knows it's this simple and silly Garfield one that's really doing it for me.

Most easily reinterpreted: R-273 — A strong field, but there really is no way to interpret this one how Garrison intends, at least without the accompanying rant, though he seems to have kind of half-arsed that too, like he was at least aware that it wasn't really working, but put it out anyway. (Well, I suppose people like Branco have done some on-again-off-again passes at rehabilitating Nixon's image in previous years, though it never really takes, not least because they still constantly use him to suggest a shifty president, so I doubt many people would make that connection… not that the cartoon really works as intended with this knowledge anyway). So, yeah, beating Garrison Windmill Cartoon #4026 or whichever number of windmill cartoon the one at R-275 is. I assume he's done many many more in the interim, but I can't be arsed to check. Others of note… Tinsley (256) was an initial contender, though Fishman's (279) is probably a better example of the cartoon saying pretty much the opposite of what it's seemingly meant to, so I guess that takes silver.

Worst cartoon about a tragedy: TG-307 — Initially I was going to say that Steve Benson (298), but, no, it's this thing, it really, really is. Elsewhere… that Rall is astoundingly tasteless.

Most wilfully dense: WD-324 — Another one brimming with choice. I don't remember if this was one of the many categories I nominated this for… but I guess someone did, so I'm votin' for it! God, I hate it. That concern trolling one about trees from Spooner is also a fun one, as is Varvel completely missing (or ignoring) the point of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Something about that Ratman too and his exciting war on straw too, but, no, that whole 'on balance' poo poo. Ugh. Of course, it also gets this, because I don't think I can put it down for worst overall, especially when…

Worst overall: WO-360 — Quite the smorgasbord of shite, but really this thing. It's just so staggeringly unpleasant in every way. I was going to talk a bit about the others, but they're all so nasty, I'd be here all day and also I don't have the mental fortitude.

100YrsofAttitude
Apr 29, 2013




Most Easily Reinterpreted
R-254 Chip Bok, 1/17/2021

Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy
TG-301 Scott Stantis, 9/29/2021

Most Willfully Dense
WD-328 Gary Varvel, 11/26/2021

Worst Overall
WO-355 Michael Leunig, 9/27/2021

twerking on the railroad
Jun 23, 2007

Get on my level
R-254
TG-306
WD-324
WO-334


Lots of outright lies in this one. I mean the reinterpreted one was just... 45 hitting the garbage disposal on himself... But the tragedy one was a complete misrepresentation of Rittenhouse, the willfully dense was a repeat of the old myth that Reagan caused the Soviet collapse (rather than say... Chernobyl for probably the most major cause), and the worst overall Garrison lie about how it was that nasty fentanyl, why someone who wasn't taking fentanyl could hop up fresh as a daisy after someone knelt down on their neck for ten minutes!

Dishonorable mention for the Rall suicide one

twerking on the railroad fucked around with this message at 12:40 on Apr 8, 2022

Kevino07
Oct 16, 2008
Most Easily Reinterpreted -R-254
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy - TG-308
Most Willfully Dense - WD-323 - So stupid it made me laugh
Worst Overall - WO-334, Struggled between this poo poo and WO-356 - awful, awful stuff

VitalSigns
Sep 3, 2011

Another missing sinfest image FYI

R-282 Tatsuya Ishida, 10/11/2021

Not that I'm complaining I could use less sinfest but I don't think it was intentional

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Okay. Here we loving go. I'm at work anyway so what's a little more suffering

Most Easily Reinterpreted: R-275 (Holy goddamn this category was loving stacked)
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy: TG-299 (Others are certainly more disgusting... but this is the lowest quality by far.)
Most Willfully Dense: WD-319 (Very close race between this and 311... and also a goddamned stacked category my loving god)
Worst Overall: WO-365 (340 was close... but I already voted for that exact loving cartoon in this category a year or two ago. 334 was a close third.)

Jesus dick this was quite a pile to get through.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

KennyMan666 posted:

Okay. Here we loving go. I'm at work anyway so what's a little more suffering

Most Easily Reinterpreted: R-275 (Holy goddamn this category was loving stacked)
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy: TG-299 (Others are certainly more disgusting... but this is the lowest quality by far.)
Most Willfully Dense: WD-319 (Very close race between this and 311... and also a goddamned stacked category my loving god)
Worst Overall: WO-365 (340 was close... but I already voted for that exact loving cartoon in this category a year or two ago. 334 was a close third.)

Jesus dick this was quite a pile to get through.

Let's figure out how to get things into the wiki in a timely fashion for this year; if we can identify any method of automation as part of the nominee processing, it will make things go much faster- and I suspect the text format, at least, can be automated pretty easily.

KennyMan666 posted:

I'll take a look, should be fairly simple.

Edit: So here's the code for the first section of the 2019 Gaybies (the 2020 Kellies were never uploaded apparently):

code:
===Worst Can't Let Hillary/Obama Go Cartoon===

For the second year running, Ben Garrison takes this category, with 37% of the vote (a full 50%, actually, if you count the votes for his runner-up cartoon) going to his grotesque hatred of Hillary Clinton.

[[File:2019_hillary1.png|600px]]

Runners-up: 

[[File:2019_hillary2.png|250px]]

[[File:2019_hillary3.png|250px]]
So just insert the proper filenames after [[File:, no need to think about image size because the wiki then generates thumbnails with the specified pixel width.

So the template if you want to follow the same format is

code:
===CATEGORY NAME===

<text>

[[File:WINNER.xxx|600px]]

Runners-up:

[[File:RUNNER-UP1.xxx|250px]]

[[File:RUNNER-UP2.xxx|250px]]
Mass-uploading images isn't possible in the wiki software, I have no idea if it'll work if I upload them manually.

Rampant Dwickery
Nov 12, 2011

Comfy and cozy.
R-275. I wanted to say 272, since without knowing it was a Fishman comic I'd think they were being sincere. Garrison's is such a loving troglodyte idiot piece with the "right" interpretation, though, that you have to default to what's blazingly obvious here.

TG-305. Theodore Rall gives it all he's got with that "good start" bit, but fuh-huh-huh-huuuck you Lester, there was only ever one way to see this. Dishonorable mention to McCoy for doing the same comic with a poo poo-ton more words.

WD-319 oh look he redeemed himself thrice

WO-340. Garrison was so, so close, but die in a loving fire, Ramirez.

Tevery Best
Oct 11, 2013

Hewlo Furriend
R-292, there's a lot of options, but I would not call it a stacked field. I think people are really trigger happy about nominating for this one.
TG-307, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuu, McCoy. The hits really don't stop coming in this category, but it saved the worst for last.
WD-322, but boy oh boy was it a hard call. Half the list could get an honourable mention.
WO-334. I was close to nominating Leunig or Rall based on terrible art alone, but I think this is not the year Worst Overall can be taken by atrocious crimes against cartooning. No, this one has to go to the single most racist cartoon since... probably earlier that year, I guess. It is a terrifyingly racist and sociopathic take, combined with a loving conspiracy theory rant and, as someone has pointed out, a lifeless, dull drawing. No redeeming features whatsoever. Worst Overall.

DalaranJ
Apr 15, 2008

Yosuke will now die for you.
Please note re: R-261, none of Ben's predicitons came true.

R-281
TG-307
WD-324 gently caress YOU, Stantis.
WO-340

Barrel Cactaur
Oct 6, 2021

R-282 Ishida's brain has finaly melted enough for print serialization
TG-308
WD-323 :wtc: How did this not get a nomination for worst concern trolling.
WO 336 somehow just how lazily you could make this makes it even more offensive.

Ambitious Spider
Feb 13, 2012



Lipstick Apathy
R-275
TG-308
WD-319
WO-334

the_steve
Nov 9, 2005

We're always hiring!

Worst "A Thing Happened" Cartoon: A7
Worst "Two Things Happened" Cartoon: AD16
Best AGC Interpretation: BAGC-20
Least Concealed Bigotry (general): BG-22
Least Concealed Bigotry (LGBT+): BLGBT-27
Best Overall: BO-48
Least Concealed Bigotry (race): BR-59
Worst Caricature: C-87
Worst Concern Trolling: CT-96
Worst Gaslighting: G-132
Most Hypocritical Combo: HC-139
Laziest Non-Gorrell: L-156
Worst Label : LB-169
Most Incomprehensible: MI-194
Worst Obituary: OB-210
Best Edit/Parody: P-240
Most Easily Reinterpreted: R-270
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy: TG-296
Most Willfully Dense: WD-311
Worst Overall: WO-340

I Am Just a Box
Jul 20, 2011
I belong here. I contain only inanimate objects. Nothing is amiss.

Worst Gaslighting: 113
Most Hypocritical Combo: 139
Laziest Non-Gorrell: 157
Worst Label: 183
Most Incomprehensible: 204
Worst Obituary: 210
Best Edit/Parody: 230

Most Easily Reinterpreted: 294
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy: 307
Most Willfully Dense: 318
Worst Overall: 340

Raised By Birds
May 5, 2013
R-273
TG-299
WD-322
WO-340

I could barely decide between 340 and 356 for Worst Overall.

Charlz Guybon
Nov 16, 2010
Worst Overall
WO-340

The Skeleton King
Jul 16, 2011

Right now undead are at the top of my shit list. Undead are complete fuckers. Those geists are fuckers. Necromancers are fuckers. Necrosavants are big time fuckers. Skeletons aren't too bad except when they bleed everyone in the company. Zombos are at least not too bad.


I don't often post in D&D, but I can definitely get behind shaming these assholes.

R-263

TG-307

WD 323-

WO-356- gently caress off, ramirez. Jesus christ.

The Skeleton King fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Apr 23, 2022

No.1 Special
Apr 4, 2011
Most Easily Reinterpreted R-270
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy TG-307
Most Willfully Dense WD-322
Worst Overall WO-340

What a loving mess. Thanks for all of the hard work Vox.

Captain France
Aug 3, 2013
Hope it's not too late. Although I guess it doesn't matter too much since it was so hard to choose.
R-275
TG-307
WD-319
WO-355

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Captain France posted:

Hope it's not too late. Although I guess it doesn't matter too much since it was so hard to choose.

You're good, voting is open until midnight tonight. Another 21 hours!

Dr. Arbitrary
Mar 15, 2006

Bleak Gremlin

Discendo Vox posted:

You're good, voting is open until midnight tonight. Another 21 hours!

The stakes are pretty low here, so I'm just having fun as a time obsessed weirdo, but midnight is the first minute of the day, not the last.

If you're ever setting a time limit for something that's really important, it's best to use 11:59 PM or 12:01 AM to avoid confusion.

ZeeToo
Feb 20, 2008

I'm a kitty!
Worst Gaslighting G-111
Most Hypocritical Combo HC-140
Laziest Non-Gorrell L-143
Worst Label LB-189
Most Incomprehensible MI-195
Worst Obituary OB-211
Best Edit/Parody P-213
Most Easily Reinterpreted R-275 (note: haha, gently caress, I'd forgotten "Don Quixote, the brave hero, fearlessly chasing down the monster windmill that's running away")
Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy TG-296 (I don't even know what this is about.)
Most Willfully Dense WD-323
Worst Overall WO-360

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.
Voting is now closed. I will compile votes and produce the results as soon as possible.

I still need information on Special Ks. Which cartoonists have passed away or retired in 2021?

Charlz Guybon
Nov 16, 2010
It's been more than two weeks, the results coming out soon?

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Charlz Guybon posted:

It's been more than two weeks, the results coming out soon?

This weekend. Just finishing some image reformatting and cartoonist profiles.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.
Thank you for your patience…


Before the awards begin, a quick note.
We had 182 nominees for the 2020 Kellies, which I struggled to manually sort in excel, producing significant delays in processing as I established a rough Kellies workflow. Then in 2021 we had 363 entries, which broke every manual component of my primitive workflow. As a result, a couple notes for the future.

First, I will largely limit nomination quotes to any statements made by the artist. Instead, I’ll be experimenting with linking each nominee directly to the original posting so that attentive voters can find the context on their own recognizance.

Second, I will begin working through the process of uploading past winners to Wiki Sours. This is a long-term project, and I encourage others interested in helping to contact Kennyman666. I can’t do this alone, and I also need help continuing to streamline the Kellies process as interest and nominations keep growing. There are already 167 nomination posts in the 2022 thread so far!

Worst "A thing happened" Cartoon
A tie this year, between:

Al Goodwyn, 6/25/2021


Rob Smith Jr., 7/28/2021

Worst "Two Things Happened" Cartoon

Steve Breen, 7/21/2021
Least concealed bigotry (gender)

Gary Varvel, 12/8/2021
Fun fact, Varvel also won in this category last year.

Least Concealed Bigotry (LGBT+)
A tie this year, between:

Ben Garrison, 2/28/2021

quote:

THERE ARE TWO GENDERS, MALE AND FEMALE. THAT IS ALL- CLAIMS OF ANYTHING ELSE IS MENTAL ILLNESS Senator Rand Paul questioned health nominee Rachel Levine on the process of gender ‘reassignment.’ Only there is no such thing as reassignment.

Wishful thinking and medical mutilation won’t change the fundamental DNA structure that resides in every cell of our bodies. Our sex is part of who we are—not an ‘assignment.’

One’s sex cannot be changed. Neither by means of surgery, nor hormones.

Yet for some reason we live in an age where the ’trans’ delusion is getting ’normalized.’ Wishful thinking is now considered science. We can’t debate the issue without being smeared as a hater or ’transphobic.’ Transgender people are the new sacred cows. One can no longer reasonably question the delusion. Government said so. Stooges representing science said so. Biden said so. Burly boys can claim to be girls and compete alongside them in sporting events—and they usually win. They also get to go into the girls’ locker rooms and we’re not supposed to question that, either.

As a libertarian I don’t care if men and women think they can transmogrify into the opposite sex. If they are adults and not hurting others, that’s their business. I do have a problem when it comes to minors wanting trans surgery and big government overruling parents who don’t want their kids mutilated. Teenagers aren’t mature enough to make such a life-changing and irreversible decision. It’s also why I don’t think children should be allowed to vote. They lack life experience and will usually vote for socialism and free stuff.

Senator Paul knows it’s impossible to ’transition’ from one sex to the opposite and he asked Levine simple and straightforward questions about whether we should allow children to make decisions that have permanent and major health implications—both mental and physical. Levine dithered. Paul finally stated it as clearly as he could:

“I’m alarmed that you’re not willing to say absolutely that minors shouldn’t be making decisions to amputate their breasts or to amputate their genitalia. For most of our history, we have believed that minors don’t have full rights and that parents need to be involved, so I’m alarmed that you won’t say with certainty that minors should not have the ability to make the decision to take hormones that will affect them for the rest of their life. Will you make a more firm decision on whether or not minors should be involved in these decisions?”

Levine still refused to answer the question and repeated “her” memorized statement:

“Senator, transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field. And if confirmed to the position of Assistant Secretary of Health, I would certainly be pleased to come to your office and talk with you and your staff about the standards of care and the complexity of this field.”

It’s not a complex and nuanced field. It’s not medicine. It’s doing harm to the bodies of children and doctors are supposed to do no harm. Why wouldn’t she answer the question? Her disingenuous response disqualifies her from office.

Paul was quickly attacked as being transphobic. We aren’t supposed to question the supposed science behind transgenderism because the trans people’s feelings might get hurt. To protect their feelings, any criticism of the transgender fad is labeled as ‘hate speech.’ Trans people have become a special caste and immune from any criticism whatsoever. A book that explained the transgender delusion was recently removed from Amazon. They said the book was ‘hate speech.’ This type of online book burning sets a very dangerous precedent.

We must be able to criticize government officials regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation. We must be able to debate and ask questions without fear of getting cancelled by identity politics.

—Ben Garrison


Tony Branco, 10/18/2021

quote:

New Teacher The Left wants to indoctrinate our kids with radical Ideas about sex and pornography.

Least Concealed Bigotry (race)

Michael Ramirez, 10/10/2021

Worst Caricaturel

Jeff Danziger, 4/11/2021
I’ve partially prepared a profile of Jeff Danziger to answer questions about how he’s so bad at this, and the feasibility of a lifetime achievement award in this category. I will post it in the main thread when it’s completed.

Worst Concern Trolling

Henry Payne, 10/2/2021

Worst Gaslighting

Michael Ramirez, 4/15/2021

Most Hypocritical Combo
,
Ben Garrison, 9/16/2021

Essays omitted for space reasons. Note that this award does not count for the nominations Kelly due to accounting issues.
Laziest Non-Gorrell

Kevin Necessary, 4/30/2021
Surprisingly not a Bennett (though he was nominated 6 times in this category).

Worst Label

Stuart Carlson, 4/8/2021

Most Incomprehensible

Roar Hagen, 10/15/2021

Worst Obituary

Gary Varvel, 12/14/2021

Most Easily Reinterpreted

Ben Garrison, 7/8/2021

Worst Cartoon about a Tragedy

Gary McCoy, 11/24/2021

Most Willfully Dense

Gary McCoy, 9/4/2021


Best AGC Interpretation

Michael Ramirez, 11/10/2021

” JeremoudCorbynejad“ posted:

U.S. Border security lets in anything white without an issue, showing it’s racial bias. AGC
Most Winning Nominator
the_steve, with 13 nominations.
Best Edit/Parody
A tie this year, between:

The Atomic Man-Boy, 4/2/2021

quote:

Parody of


SubG, 5/18/2021

All winners will receive a forums upgrade of your choice. JeremoudCorbynejad, the_steve, The Atomic Man-Boy, and SubG, please let me know!


Best Overall

Rob Rogers, 6/12/2021

Most Nominated
Michael Ramirez, with a gobsmacking 46 nominations! The nearest runner-up is Tony Branco, with 38, followed by Mike Lester with 21.
Worst Overall
Surprising absolutely no one, it’s…

Michael Ramirez, 4/15/2021

Yeesh. How many years will Ramirez snatch a win with this little girl gimmick?


Every year we should take the time to remember some of the cartoonists who are no longer with us. Here is one that I was able to identify; I welcome your words of memory or favorite cartoons, which I will add to this post. I also welcome submissions from threadgoers for other cartoonists who have passed on or retired in 2021.


Don Asmussen, 1962-2021
Don Asmussen has been a thread favorite for many years, and his death came as a real loss. I’m pleased to say that Don dictated his own obituary on the day of his passing, which appeared in the SF Chronicle. It is copied below.

quote:

Hi, this is Don Asmussen’s obit.
I’ve spent most of my career in New England or San Francisco, which means that I’m drawn to the chowder industry, and that’s how I’ve made my various career choices. I created the San Francisco Comic Strip, Bad Reporter comic strip and various other comic strips that have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle.

But mostly I’m proud of my daughters, Maxine and Tessa, who have kept me on the edge of sanity for the last 20 years. Whenever I needed an idea I inevitably went to them, and they kept supplying them. Hence, my productivity. So if there’s a joke that you’ve liked in the paper in the last few years, they probably wrote it. My wife, Kelly, also has written many of the jokes you’ve seen. So I’m basically just a hack.

But thank God my family had a sense of humor and could keep me on track through most of the past few years. Brain tumors are difficult to deal with, and I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by such clever and intelligent people. I want to thank my family for keeping me on course, especially my wife, Kelly, for telling me when I’m being inappropriate, although she failed 85% of the time.

I’d also like to thank my two cats for their generous contributions, and my former wife, Amy, for keeping my daughter Maxine from trying to change the comic strip’s title to Vegan Weekly. In the end, you are what you eat, and the contents of my comic strips have hopefully reflected that.

P.S. I’d also like to thank former Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein for his advice on the best seafood and on the direction of my work for the first 10 years of my comic strip.
— Don Asmussen
A parody video of the SF Chronicle’s Little Man, a production Don created for an internal event at the Chronicle during his illness. Here’s a similarly produced one from an internal awards ceremony.
A more complete bio blurb from the Chronicle is copied here.

quote:

Kelly Zito remembers the time a few years ago, when her husband Don Asmussen literally found some humor in the trash.

She had brushed one of their cats, and disposed of a giant ball of hair. Where the rest of us would have lifted the lid of that can and seen waste, Asmussen saw an opportunity for comedy.

“So he balled it up, and then put a couple of googly eyes on it, and then got a little tiny bowl of water, and just put it in the house,” Zito remembers, laughing. “I was like, ‘What the hell?’ and he was deadpan. ‘Oh, that’s our new cat.’”

Asmussen, who drew cartoons and illustrations for The San Francisco Chronicle, died on Thursday, Dec. 9 at age 59. He entertained audiences around the world with his syndicated Bad Reporter comic, San Francisco Comic Strip and other local and national projects.

Asmussen’s wit had no off switch. His explorations of humor, cartooning and design were a complete lifestyle, whether he was working on a strip about a Supreme Court ruling that might be seen by hundreds of thousands of readers, or designing an in-house goodbye card for a retiring Chronicle copy editor that might be viewed by 15 staff members. Visual art was his preferred method of communication, in work and in life. I shared an alcove office with him for eight years, and there was never a day I didn’t laugh.

Asmussen was born in Rhode Island, where he developed a love for the Boston Red Sox and a distrust for politicians and newsmakers who took themselves too seriously. He worked briefly on the East Coast in advertising and as a newspaper designer. Then he went on a search for a place that would nurture his offbeat humor, and — after stops in Detroit and San Diego — found it in San Francisco, where he spent the last 26 years of his career.

Former Chronicle Books Editor Oscar Villalon bonded with Asmussen over their interest in literature and popular culture — the more obscure the better. The cartoonist knew “The Love Boat” plots and was fascinated by comedians who ended up on “Hollywood Squares.” Asmussen loved to talk about the 1970s soft rock band Bread.

“Don is absolutely singular, as much as (iconic Chronicle columnist) Herb Caen,” said Villalon, now the managing editor of Zyzzyva Magazine. “Nobody does what Don does in any other part of the country. And it’s absolutely wacko in the best sense. We took Don for granted, because Don was one of the most self-effacing artists I’ve ever known. The guy had no ego.”

He was a legend to many colleagues before they walked in the door, and a subversive anomaly in the early internet age when corporate media, not viral social media, still drove most of the conversation.

Chronicle reporter Tara Duggan remembers socializing with Asmussen for the first time — their daughters were the same age — and feeling nervous.

“I felt like there was a celebrity in the house, even though he was a co-worker,” Duggan said. “He was a force.”

Asmussen was hired by the San Francisco Examiner in 1995 by editor Phil Bronstein, and while he didn’t relish confrontation, he was fearless when it came to the strip. Bronstein was a regular in Asmussen’s early comics — always with a Komodo dragon attached to his foot; a reference to a real-life lizard attack.

The humor was often in the smaller details — an absurd aside or juxtaposition — and his barbs were reserved for powerful figures. Zito said Asmussen developed an early hate for bullies, which she links to watching how people mistreated his older brother Dean, who had Down syndrome.

While Asmussen leaned progressive, his skewering was apolitical. He was dumbfounded by the rise of Donald Trump, but probably wrote a larger number of biting panels about Gavin Newsom — ramping up after Newsom and his wife Kimberly Guilfoyle posed in 2004 on the carpet of the Getty Mansion for a Harper’s Bazaar spread that dubbed the couple “The New Kennedys.”

“One thing that defines his work it’s a relentless attack on vanity,” Villalon said. “Nobody looks good in a Don Asmussen cartoon. I think that was something Don was trying to convey: ‘Don’t take yourself so seriously. What’s your sense of self that’s so inflated that you can’t see the humor in something, or the hypocrisy?’ ”

Asmussen was the most serious when he talked about his wife and his two beloved daughters, Maxine, 19, and Tessa, 11. The wit he used to mock those-who-needed-mocking became more gentle imagination. Duggan remembers seeing him act playfully with his older daughter and thinking, “Wow, what a lucky kid to have that.”

Zito said Asmussen loved the newsroom, and writing for the two Hearst newspapers, where he was able to create his offbeat strips in near-autonomy. He had illustration and cartooning gigs for the New Yorker and Time magazine early in his career, worked with animators for Mondo Media, helped with Henry Selick’s film “Monkeybone,” and once had a job offer to work in the New York Times design department.

But Asmussen didn’t come close to leaving. In San Francisco he had freedom to create, and the city had become a character in his life and his work.

“There was nothing he loved more than to find a coffee shop somewhere, sit with his books and his magazines, see the people walking by, and see the energy that was happening,” Zito said.

Asmussen’s struggle with cancer was long and had ups and downs, with which he rarely burdened others. When he first got sick in the mid-2010s, I didn’t realize he was taking interferon and chemotherapy until I went to grab our TV’s remote control and saw needles piling up on his desk. He told Zito that the interferon was like injecting concrete into his body. But he still went to work every day throughout that first illness.

“I literally don’t think he took a single sick day,” Zito said. “I was like, ‘Stay in bed, watch some TV, watch a “Twin Peaks” marathon.’ He believed so strongly in the work and moving ahead. I think it gave him purpose.”

(During the years he was sick, Asmussen made elaborate videos for an in-house Chronicle contest that were never seen outside the newsroom. When he died, dozens of co-workers shared personal art that he made for them, all as sharp as his published comics.)

The cancer returned in 2018, including a tumor in his brain. I thought it must be bad, not because he talked about it, but because he kept playing David Bowie’s final album-before-death “Blackstar” on repeat while he continued to work as hard as ever. (“Look up here, I'm in heaven/I've got scars that can't be seen/I've got drama, can't be stolen/Everybody knows me now.”)

The funny never waned. Asmussen made some of his best work late that year, finding laughs in everything from the ubiquitous Shen Yun performing arts exhibition to the growing garbage patch in the Pacific; humor that continued up until days before a very risky surgery at the end of 2018.

He shared with close friends and family the reality of that five-hour procedure — he wasn’t sure how he’d come back: his memory, his physical state and, just as crucially, his sense of humor. Zito remembers getting the answer after surgery.

“I walk into the recovery room, I’m super nervous, I’m near tears because I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Zito said. “He looks at me and he says, ‘Is Trump still president?’”

On his first day back in the newsroom in spring 2019, a receiving line of people came over to our alcove, brows furrowed and near tears, probably thinking (like me) that he would never return to work again. He listened patiently, gave that blank Don Asmussen grumpy cat look, then started making deadpan improv until they laughed and engaged with him. I remember thinking in the moment how heroic it was. The sickest person I knew wanted to make us feel better.

“When you get cancer people want to put you on a pedestal,” said writer Mary Ladd, whose blunt and humor-filled 2019 book about cancer, “The Wig Diaries,” Asmussen illustrated. “The same way he didn’t want his brother with Down syndrome to be thought of as simply inspirational, (he wanted people to see) the flaws. And the funny amazing stories that come from those flaws.”

Don Asmussen would be horrified at this appreciation, and the attention that it brings to him. He dictated his own humor-filled obituary for Zito to give to The Chronicle, asking for assurances that it wouldn’t be edited.

Asmussen died the day it was written, earning him that final word.

But I’ll say this: He was brilliant, a fearless artist, finding humor in places others wouldn’t think to look.

To the very end.




2021 saw another tragic loss of a different sort (I know, control yourself, it’s too obvious): three excellent political cartoonists were pointlessly and horribly ripped off by the Pulitzer committee, who decided to give no award in political cartooning rather than grant any of these less conventional artists their due reward (remember, Ramirez has two Pulitzers!). Jen Sorensen provided a decent response:
https://twitter.com/JenSorensen/status/1403490514142334977

The three robbed nominees were all thread favorites:
Ruben Bolling
Lalo Alcarez
Marty Two Bulls


I do have some semi-happy news as a follow-up. Ruben Bolling has since won the National Press Foundation’s Clifford K. & James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons (acceptance speech here), and Lalo won the coveted Herb Block prize (winner lecture here). Marty hasn’t gotten his justice yet (none of them has, really!) but I wanted to offer a lecture trifecta, so here he is doing an interview for the First Amendment Museum on “decolonizing through art”.

Each of these excellent cartoonists deserves a more complete biosketch, which I’ll provide in the main thread…eventually.


On a lighter note, some cartoons were nominated for categories that didn’t exist! But with the Kellies, everyone’s a winner! Please celebrate the greatest idiosyncratic hits of 2021!
Worst Cartoon about Terrorism
(Nomination by DalaranJ)

Bruce Tinsley, 1/25/2021

Actually Funny
(Nomination by DalaranJ)

Ruben Bolling, 1/25/2021

gently caress you... Just gently caress you
(Nomination by twerking on the railroad)

Michael Ramirez, 2/12/2021

Worst Cartoon about getting our hopes up
(Nomination by the_steve)

Bruce Tinsley, 3/22/2021

Best Cartoon About a Tragedy
(Nomination by CAT INTERCEPTOR)

Kevin Necessary, 3/23/2021

Best Thread Fanart
(Nomination by Teketeketeketeke)

D.N. Nation, 4/16/2021

Lifetime achievement: Least Concealed Bigotry
(Nomination by marathon Stairmaster sesh)

Tony Branco, 4/21/2021

gently caress you Branco!
(Nomination by An insane mind)

Tony Branco, 4/21/2021

Hopefully Most Likely to Die of Syphilis in the Next Six to Ten Months
(Nomination by Pilchenstein)

Tony Branco, 4/21/2021

Most Fragile
(Nomination by Discendo Vox)

Tony Branco, 4/22/2021

Whiniest Cartoonist
(Nomination by SneezeOfTheDecade)


Michael Leunig, 4/30/2021
Special K Least Concealed Bigotry (women)
(Nomination by the_steve)
https://twitter.com/GPrime85/status/1398289959296159747
George Alexopoulos, 5/28/2021

Special K Worst Overall
(Nomination by the_steve)
https://twitter.com/GPrime85/status/1398289959296159747
George Alexopoulos, 5/28/2021
As it’s a random twitter racist in the stonetoss vein, this artist is not eligible for a full Kelly.

Worst Geometry
(Nomination by JeremoudCorbynejad)

Ted Rall, 6/16/2021

Most Accidentally Sexual
(Nomination by Discendo Vox)

Dana Summers, 7/16/2021

Thinnest Skin Ever In a Political Cartoon Thread
(Nomination by Vincent Van Goatse)

quote:

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
Vincent Van Goatse, 7/27/2021

Lifetime achievement: Worst Caricature
(Nomination by Vincent Van Goatse)

Jeff Danziger, 8/6/2021

Most Idiotic
(Nomination by Discendo Vox)

Terry C Wise, 8/29/2021

Supidest fuckin thing I think I've ever seen lol
(Nomination by Pilchenstein)

Gary McCoy, 9/4/2021

gently caress You (Special Award)
(Nomination by Mikl)

Tony Branco, 9/9/2021

Most "Reprint from March 2020"
(Nomination by FFT)

Jeff Stahler, 9/23/2021

The goons shall scry its ignomious fate
When this toon doth lie 'mongst least-hidden hate

(Nomination by After The War)

Michael Ramirez, 10/10/2021

Ted Rall should go and gently caress a shark made of needles until the end of time
(Nomination by kartikeya)

Ted Rall, 10/11/2021

Best everything else
(Nomination by CAT INTERCEPTOR)

Pants Donkey, 10/24/2021

Ummm... honestly I have no idea what to nominate it for because LOLWTF
(Nomination by CAT INTERCEPTOR)
https://twitter.com/elivalley/status/1453480618600374274
Eli Valley, 10/27/2021

Most Ironic Comic
(Nomination by Hihohe)

Loren Fishman, 10/29/2021

Best CT reference
(Nomination by Discendo Vox)

quote:

Leave Nu alone! He's been getting his rear end kicked since the prehistoric era.
seiferguy, 11/30/2021

Worst Opposite of Reality
(Nomination by the_steve)

Dana Summers, 12/20/2021

Kellies Kredits
I want to end by giving my deepest thanks to Cloud Potato, By popular demand, Space Cadet Omoly, Raised By Birds, Alhazred, Apple Pie Hubbub, Trapezium Dave, Technowolf, 100YrsofAttitude, Pants Donkey, and all the other goons who relentlessly do the hard work of posting cartoons to the thread. We would not exist as one of the best threads in DnD, and on Something Awful, if it weren’t for you. Your effort is what makes SA a great place to be.

The Islamic Shock
Apr 8, 2021
Thank you for your service. Wiki Sours link since it's not all that obvious to find with Google.

Tevery Best
Oct 11, 2013

Hewlo Furriend
It's absolute baloney Kelly did not win Best Overall.

Also, I'm six to twelve this year. Not a good score.

100YrsofAttitude
Apr 29, 2013




Oh wow I got 9! I differed on a couple of key pieces but still.

Three cheers for Discendo Vox! That was incredible work to go through, and frankly the research you did for the bits is excellent. Thank you for getting this put together for us to enjoy.

Bravo!

ajkalan
Aug 17, 2011

Thanks for getting through this, I don't envy the task you've taken on.

I propose that "Laziest Non-Gorrell" be renamed "Laziest Non-Gorrell That Isn't a Blank Cartoon" so that the same drat white rectangle doesn't win every year.

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Skios
Oct 1, 2021
I don't envy the amount of work involved with this stuff. This was truly a garbage year.

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