Robobot Fan Club

For those of you with Facebook accounts, F Minus fan Alexandre has created a Robobot Fan Club group for you to join. Thanks, Alexandre!

Dark Knight Tonight

I'm going to see The Dark Knight tonight so if you've seen it already, don't tell me anything about it except how awesome it is, which I already know. This picture of me as Two-Face was my Halloween costume from a few years ago. If anyone wants the other two sides of the suits I cut in half, you can have them for a reasonable price.

Return of the Arrow

If you've been watching the news, you've certainly noticed the outrage over this cartoon: It's the latest New Yorker cover, and it depicts Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife holding a machine gun doing a "terrorist fist bump" while the American flag burns in the fireplace.
When I first saw this, my brain made some immediate unconscious assessments which appear in my field of view as a stream of data, not unlike the Terminator assessing his target:
1. New Yorker = Satire
2. Political Cartoon = Satire
3. Conclusion: Avoid face value, look for hidden message
Therefore, I thought, "Ah, the New Yorker has satirized the preposterous claims by the media that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim, a terrorist, and a hater of the American flag by depicting them together in a cartoon." (Yes, I think in full sentences.) Regardless of whether or not you think this cartoon was done well, it was clearly supposed to be satire.
However, it seems most people (including all major TV news networks) are missing this assessment ability, because the result was public outrage! Without considering the source and medium of an idea, you are bound to misunderstand it.
Unfortunately this happens on a smaller scale all the time. Consider this cartoon I drew last year:Here is an email I received in response: "The cartoon with the two bears, one of them with a leg in a steel-hold trap, is highly offensive to those of us who champion animal rights and abhor the use of such barbaric, horrific contraptions."
Clearly this reader lacks the ability to assess the source and medium of this image. This is what I imagine transpired in the reader's brain as she read the morning funnies:
Ah, Mutts... what a delightful cartoon. That's just how my pets are! Now then, on to F Minus... no... NO... OH HEAVENS, NO! This cartoonist wants bears to be caught in steel traps! That's why he drew it! Why, why, why? I must write him an email and express my counterpoint that steel traps are NOT good!
I hate to do it, but it might be time to bring back The Big Red Arrow of Comedy.

Got F Minus?

A fan sent me this refrigerator photo. It makes me want cereal.

I've got my ticket

Do you have yours yet?

I'll take a free Bag-O-Anything!

While trolling the free section on Craigslist, I came across this little gem:

Womens Bag of Bras
Bag-O-Bras
Size 34B (4)
36B (1)
34A (1)
All are used, but some are in Like New Condition, ALL have been washed/cleaned
Will ONLY give to another women, no creepy men....my husband will run you off.(seriously)

I'm sorry, but I think giving away a bag of used bras on Craigslist qualifies you as being a little bit creepy, lady.

Hate mail!

Here's a message I received from an anonymous reader, just as they wrote it:
"Do you really think “F-Minus” is funny or cleaver? Is this all the better you can do?"

Read it again. Have you noticed that people that hate share another trait?

Cartooning Class

Hey, bored tweens! Don't miss your chance to sign up for my cartoon drawing class coming up next week at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. It's gonna be a lot of fun. If you're more of a teen than a tween, then sign up for the class in August. It will be less fun, but more awesome.

MONDAY, JULY 7th and 14th

• KIDS EVENT: COMIC BOOK DRAWING FOR TWEENS (AGES 7-11) WITH TONY CARRILLO, 2-3:30pm
  Learn how to draw basic cartoons with Tony Carrillo, whose nationally syndicated comic strip, F Minus, currently runs in more than 130 newspapers. Participants will create their own original comic characters. Come prepared with pencils, pens and drawing paper. Mondays, July 7 and 14.
• Call 480-730-0205 to sign up.
• Check out this article today in the AZ Republic about the class.