Strange Brew by John Deering for September 23, 2009

And this is supposed to be funny how, exactly?

Not anymore.

I guess you had to be there.

the joke is that there is no such thing anymore as someone who tries to report what is really is happening now. all they do is copy from the major news sources.

Now that last explanation I don’t get at all. Is all that in the comic and I’m missing it?

jtpozenel: I think that explanation was an attempt at political commentary. The strip really is not up to its standards today.

Thanks for the comments. I was just trying to show a literal depiction of a very old saying. We all know what ” The press is having a field day ” means. The last time I heard someone actually use it was in the summer of ‘73 during the Watergate hearings - whew! Long time ago.

Anyway, I draw Strange Brew, so I appreciate Ray C giving me the benefit of the doubt there in his comment above.

This one (along with a few others including last Saturday’s) will go into what cartoonist George Fisher called his ” salon de refuse’”.

Hey, Marcus, thanks for the backup, but honestly, if someone doesn’t “get” a Strange Brew i’ve done, i’ve been doing this long enough that i look at that panel again and figure out where ( or if ) I went wrong.

Actually it’s more accurate to say I do that if more than a couple of people tell me that about the same cartoon.

When I really am off track is when I draw an idea that relies too heavily on the reader to “read my mind”. That’s the type of cartoon idea , in other words, that expresses something that’s funny probably to me only, and usually doesn’t contain enough common ground for enough readers to set foot on.

Mr Deering… your comix always rock way more than they sink… you have a great batting average… to use a sucky sports comparison…

I still don’t get last Saturday’s strip but appreciated the work that went into the drawing of it. I do get today’s strip… old saying and all… and my old ears and all. But a difficulty might be… how do you even draw the press these days? What do they look like? When it was Rosalind Russell as Hildy or Mel Gibson as Guy Hamilton or Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent they were recognizable but part of that was also because it was within the context of the screen story. These days, the press just look like the dudes I ride the bus with everyday.

And what is a field day? I assume it is that one day each year when we used to get the day off classes to go off and compete against other schools in a track and field series of events (I won the 100 yard dash one year). Do they even do that anymore?

Thanx, detour ,the way the “media” (whatever one considers that to be now) is fragmented, I honestly have no idea how the new cliche’ would be represented! Is a current equivalent of Hildy even possible?

Marcus, it’s not that we didn’t get it. It’s more like, well, it wasn’t up to its usual high standards, that’s all. I can’t imagine how John Deering, Scott Adams, Jerry Scott (“Zits”) Teresa D. and the other cartoonists can keep producing quality stuff day after day, year after year. But even “Dilbert” blows one now and then. And Tim Tebow fumbled on the goal line last Saturday, too.

I guess it is what it is. Meantime,very well said on your observation about producing and the challenge of trying to maintain a certain level of quality, Ray C.

The process is definitley a marathon as opposed to a sprint.