Cartoons Of Note ...

I don’t know how widely published the Bizarro cartoon is; however, it does appear in the Sunday issue of the daily newspaper here in Knoxville. I read it because it really isn’t bizarre, as the name implies; rather, it often puts a type of unique, artistic focus on topics that would be hard to bring up in discussion. Well, that surely is one of the main purposes of the art forms ... I know, from my own experience, it is characteristic of music to express truths, even socially suppressed and/or repressed truths, that the artist feels need airing. The cartoonist, Dan Piraro, really is both clever and wise. This past Sunday’s strip shows a peaceful garden scene with a man and a woman and animals of several different species, against a peaceful tapestry of trees and foliage. From a cloud in the sky, the voice of God is heard speaking to the two people and it instructs them to eat fruit and to learn how to multiply and it explains that, in so doing, they would be healthy, would not negatively impact the planet with animal farming methods that would cause pollution or pain, and they would, by virtue of their math multiplying skills, know enough not to populate the earth with more people than the planet could sustain. In the next frame, the couple realizes that they should have written down the instructions ... they then sum up what they remember as ‘be fruitful and multiply’.

I’ve been aware for some time that no politician or industry wants to talk about overpopulation, (Al Gore mentions it briefly in his excellent book, "An Inconvenient Truth") even though our species has passed the 6-1/2 billion mark and is growing exponentially. Several years ago, a minister at a church I attended asked the congregation to submit their questions (on little pieces of paper) around which he would later prepare his answers and build a future kind of smorgasbord sermon. I remember carefully wording a question about the topic of human population growth and its impact on earth’s resources and the other species with which we share the planet. He later told me that he could not include my question because the topic is too controversial; I did notice, though, that there were several other questions in the smorgasbord sermon that were about very serious issues. Anyway, kudos to Mr Piraro, for his courage and artistry. The strip’s website URL is http://www.bizarro.com/.

Another comic strip I admire is entitled "Mutts". It is animal-friendly and always warm and fuzzy, even when conveying an important humanitarian message. The two main characters are a cutely-drawn cat and dog named Earl and Mooch; often included are their pals. They and their friends shine light on the concept of kindness to animals, adopting homeless animals, getting pets spayed or neutered, and taking good care of the earth that is home to all. Patrick McDonnell is the thoughtful and gifted cartoonist and the website URL is http://www.muttscomics.com./.