Featured Cartoonist: Dale Rawlings!

Comic strip: "G.O.P. Nuts" with commentary by the artist

Jan 06, 2023

DR: This was the one that started it all. Seeing as this strip is a send up of the GOP drawn in the style of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, I thought I would riff off of Schulz’s very first Peanuts strip for the very first G.O.P. Nuts strip.

DR: I published this 1776 strip the morning of the first January 6 commission televised hearing and is in my eyes- an evergreen strip. It was also the first strip I published in color

DR: Mike Lindell is the Anti-Linus of the strip. Instead of a security blanket, he has a series of My Security Pillows he always carries. And is always sporting bunny slippers. Lauren Boebert, who is always depicted wearing a holstered gun, and Marjorie Taylor Greene are my most frequently appearing characters, after Donald Trump of course. This remains one of my favorites with all three.

CHATTING WITH DALE

DWIGHTMESS: First off Dale, you are undeniably a political cartoonist - yet your comics have a tendency to render fantastically elaborate jokes onto your subjects, who all exist in real life, who respond to national policy in a public sphere where their interests must be constantly decoded by a vigilant press.

To dwell on your own political affiliation would be moot, as that is nearly fully communicated in your work. Instead, I'm more curious as to how would you describe the state of partisan-gag-creation in cartoons today. Could you describe where you feel your comics fall in the contemporary landscape of political cartooning?

DALE RAWLINGS: I think G.O.P. Nuts fits with political strips like This Modern World and Tom the Dancing Bug which came out of the alt weekly papers. They are more satirical and longer form than the editorial cartoons in the Letters to the Editor page. However, the market for those strips has gotten smaller and smaller over the years as the alt weeklies have cut their comics to trim their budgets. Since the market collapsed for alt comics, they have largely gravitated to online sites like The Nib and Daily Kos. I don’t really see G.O.P. Nuts fitting in with a daily newspaper due to the underground comics sensibilities behind it but that kind of audience would be nice. But I can only imagine the letters to the editor the strip would generate. Plus, I think editorial cartoons are facing a similar situation with shrinking markets. It’s a tough time for political cartoonists in general.

In addition to the strip, I would like to make G.O.P. Nuts comic books as I find myself drawing longer stories in the strip (such as MAGA Mystery Theater) as opposed to the gag a day and think that medium would be better for the longer form stories I have to tell. Recently, I made a G.O.P. Nuts comic for SPX that has Steve Bannon launching a MAGA line of comics seeing it as a perfect vehicle for propaganda for the MAGA movement. I also used it to roast the entire Comicsgate movement and depicted some of their more notable creators falling all over themselves (some drunkenly) to work with them. I have several ideas for future G.O.P. Nuts comic books but that is down the line.

DWIGHTMESS: If "G.O.P. Nuts" were traditionally syndicated and I looked it up on a search engine, we both know that the strip would be identified/tagged by which politically-affiliated audience could appreciate its humor. Who would you like to be reading "G.O.P. Nuts?"

DR: Ideally, I would like to appeal to a broader audience but that’s unlikely as it’s tailored for a left leaning audience. Even the title of the strip is deeply partisan (while simultaneously identifying the artistic influence) and tells potential readers what the strip is about. I hope that anyone who enjoys political satire with a dash of underground comics humor gives the strip a shot, but it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

DWIGHTMESS: Thanks Dale! We’ll be continuing this chat over the course of Dale’s tenure as featured artist, so tune in for next week’s newsletter!

EXHIBITION ANNOUNCEMENT

Art Hondros: CHIMERA POLITICK

: :: examines creativity through the symbolic language of #comics & #cartooning when the same artist makes both political and surreal narratives for publication ::

Opening Reception: FRIDAY THE 13th at the gallery in Silver Spring, 6-8pm, light refreshments [Address listed on map below, entrance on Ripley St.]

Gallery hours: Tuesday & Friday 11-7pm, Saturday 11-3pm or by appointment, through January 31st

The original art for this 5-pager “Zero Hero!” can be seen in the exhibition, and a limited edition of 50 comics were printed for the show: Get yours here!