"Todd's A Whore..."

This last Sunday I went and visited George the Neo-Con about helping him with a series of syndicated Op-Ed-style cartoons that he'd like to bind and shop around to various papers and magazines. He even called into the talk shows of such luminaries of intellectual thought as Michael Savidge and Shaun Hannity to see what they thought of the idea. They thought it was a great idea that they'd like to read themselves.

The only problem is that they all have an obvious Neo-Con bent to them. So much so that it's becoming difficult for me to finish them in good conscience.

Although some of the ideas are genuinely funny, they are the exact opposite of what I think as a Liberal. It would be interesting for people to find out that a Liberal artist drew the ideas of a Neo-Con, though... I imagine that I'd be mocked by artists that I respect for being a "sell-out" or a "mouth-piece".

In essence, I'd be called a whore.

So, as a way of solving this little problem I'm going to do the five that I have promised to work on and break it off with George.

Here's the reason why:

George met me a while back and told about his idea -that we're working on again, a Syndicated Cartoon with a Neo-Con spin- but it wasn't the idea that I thought would actually sell, which was my idea. Most comic nerds like me know what a "Prestige Format" Graphic Novel is; it's a series of six to twelve issues bound under one cover so that you can cheaply and easily follow the story-line from it's beginning to it's conclusion.

My idea was to make a graphic novel of the two of us speaking honestly about what we felt about certain subjects, from Abortion and Welfare to Race and Religion. Both of us would have one page each to give a little monologue on the subject agreed to, that I would illustrate. We would then have seven to ten pages of both of us talking about the subject. We also were going to throw little site gags and recurring characters into the mix to lighten the mood if it got too heated.

Sounds like a good idea, right? Neo-Cons and Liberals both would love it, since both of their opinions are being voiced, and by the two characters talking about it, it could clear some stuff up that isn't getting addressed in the media. To me, it seemed like an honest way to get both points across without it turning into a political debate version of The Jerry Springer Show, which is what passes for political debate nowadays.

With my idea eventually trashed, George decided to go back to the original, which to me was and is a talking-points version of a cartoon that doesn't really say anything new. I kind of feel bad for George, since he's not an artist, so he can't draw his own ideas on paper for himself, and has to rely on someone else to do it for him. The biggest problem with him finding an artist to do this kind of series for him is that around 90% of artists are Liberals, and are typically open-minded on most social issues, which creates problems.

When I get the five done that I'm working on, I'll put them up on this Blog so everyone can see what I'm talking about, but until then, I'll see you guys later...