2010-12-30
Explanation
This comic offers a cut-out T. Rex illustration with instructions for "improving" editorial cartoons. The five-step process is: (1) cut out the T. Rex, (2) find a typical editorial cartoon (shown as a heavy-handed political cartoon about corporations and voting), (3) paste the T. Rex into the editorial cartoon, (4) the cartoon is now funny, and (5) the editorial cartoonist is now sad.
The comic is a meta-commentary on editorial cartooning, a genre often criticized for being heavy-handed, overly obvious, and relying on labeling everything rather than being genuinely clever or funny. By suggesting that any editorial cartoon can be improved by slapping a T. Rex into it, Weinersmith is poking fun at how predictable and humorless political cartoons tend to be -- the implication being that a random dinosaur adds more entertainment value than the cartoonist's intended message. The final step, noting that the editorial cartoonist is now sad, adds an extra layer of mean-spirited humor at the genre's expense.