Category: Spurious Signals Cartoons

“Pen Avenue” for Jan. 2025

Here’s this month’s “Pen Avenue,” my cartoon for Print, Pittsburgh’s East End newspaper:

Cartoon depicts four people holding string instruments and representing prominent Pennsylvania Democrats. To the right is a figure representing U.S. Sen. John Fetterman holding a bass drum with his initials on it. Fetterman is asking the other people, 'What?' Caption reads, Introducing the Pennsylvania Democratic String Ensemble

Print is not available online; you can only read it in (what else?) print. It’s available at Giant Eagle and other stores in Pittsburgh’s East End, or subscribe on the website.

Interestingly (or maybe not), I only started working in color recently. Most of my cartoons have been in black-and-white. This cartoon, I think, may work better in black-and-white (and that’s how I’m considering posting it at Tube City Almanac):

Rough sketches:

You’ll blow your ears out, kid

Excelsior!

Jean Shepherd, who wrote the articles on which “A Christmas Story” was based (and narrated the film), was a well-known amateur radio operator.

According to the website “Flick Lives,” Shep was fascinated by radio at an early age and got his first amateur radio license — W9QWN — when he was approximately 16.

In later years, Shepherd contributed articles to radio magazines such as “73,” appeared and spoke regularly at amateur radio conventions around the United States, and even narrated audio tapes and videos about the radio hobby.

So I thought it was fair to ask, why isn’t “A Christmas Story” about a kid who wants a ham radio for Christmas?

Cartoon from 2013 for the late, lamented Popular Communications Magazine (R.I.P.)

Merry Christmas and 73!

“Pen Avenue” cartoon for Dec. 2024

Here’s this month’s “Pen Avenue,” my cartoon for Print, Pittsburgh’s East End newspaper:

Cartoon depicts two adults looking at a toy train village while a small child observes. Adult one says, “I’m concerned these units above the toy shop won’t remain affordable!” Adult two says, “The manger is too far away from transit access!” Caption reads, “Inclusionary zoning comes to the Kowalskis’ Christmas village.”

Print is not available online; you can only read it in (what else?) print. It’s available at Giant Eagle and other stores in Pittsburgh’s East End, or subscribe on the website.

Rough sketches:

“Pen Avenue” cartoon for Nov. 2024

Here’s this month’s “Pen Avenue,” my cartoon for Print, Pittsburgh’s East End newspaper:

Print is not available online; you can only read it in (what else?) print. It’s available at Giant Eagle and other stores in Pittsburgh’s East End, or subscribe on the website.

This month’s cartoon is riffing off of this story, and other similar stories, about a plan by Pittsburgh Public Schools to merge or consolidate a number of buildings.

This is also one of the few occasions where an editor has asked me to change the wording slightly; here was the original version:

“Pen Avenue” cartoon for Aug. 2024

My humps, my humps, my lovely Gainey humps

Here’s this month’s “Pen Avenue,” my cartoon for Print, Pittsburgh’s East End newspaper:

I assume Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey got a great deal on speed humps, because it seems like they’re on every street in the East End now. Does Ollie’s sell speed humps?

Also, calling them “speed humps” rather than “speed bumps” makes me laugh. Because “hump.” Mentally, my age is Beavis and Butt-Head. Hump. Huh huh huh.

Did you know? In England, they call them “Sleeping Policemen.” Which is pretty damn morbid, when you think about it.

Print is not available online; you can only read it in (what else?) print. It’s available at Giant Eagle and other stores in Pittsburgh’s East End, or subscribe on the website.

Original rough sketch:

“Pen Avenue” for May 2024

Here’s this month’s “Pen Avenue” cartoon for “Print,” Pittsburgh’s East End newspaper. A few weeks ago, I asked followers on Facebook and Mastodon if they remembered a long-running ad campaign with the tag line, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”

Not only did an overwhelming number of people remember the slogan, they also remembered the product (Pantene shampoo) and the model who appeared in the original TV commercials (Kelly LeBrock). Not bad for an ad campaign that originally appeared in the 1980s and was last resurrected for a while in 2019.

(In fact, some of my male followers who grew up in the 1980s — and undoubtedly a few female ones as well — said that LeBrock left quite an impression on them during their teen-age years. I leave the details to your imagination.)

I thought I’d also show you the intermediate steps I used before sending the final cartoon. Here’s the rough sketch I sent to the editor of Print, Ann Belser:

“I don’t get it,” she said. “I like the dog, though.”

So I simplified the Scottish brogue to be closer to the original tag line, at which point Ann asked me if people would remember it, and get the joke. Hence the question I posted on social media.

Here’s the finished ink art, before being colorized and lettered in Photoshop:

Print is not available online; you can only read it in (what else?) print. It’s available at Giant Eagle and other stores in Pittsburgh’s East End, or subscribe on the website.