In case you miss the Jeff Koterba criticism that used to be so regular on this site, The Bad Cartoonist has taken up the cross. Koterba sent Bad Cartoonist virtually the same cease-and-desist letter he sent me (though much more polite; he didn’t accuse BC of being creepy and obsessed).
But BC articulates the irony quite well.
I am very surprised that cartoonists are not more aware of copyright law. Heck, we rip off copyrights all the time but, heaven forbid, someone posts a sub-par cartoon and makes some comments concerning one’s ability to draw or execute a decent joke and they want to call out the cavalry. This might be news to some of you but parody isn’t ours alone.I think we’re all just a little sensitive. Sure, it’s ok to rip people to shreds day-in and day-out from behind our comfortable drawing desks. But as soon as someone else does it to us, we have to get our pantaloons in a bunch.
Koterba definitely isn’t the only one to get defensive. Justin Bilicki, one of my very favorite cartoonists out there, recently put up a cartoon response to BC. As evidenced by the comments, I disagree with the point of the cartoon but still think it’s fantastic.
The comments on BadCartoonist.com are the most entertaining source of reaction (as one would probably expect). It’s there that you can find choice exchanges like this:
ANONYMOUS COMMENTER: At least Jeff Stahler has the balls to sign his commentary and not hide behind anonymity.NICK ANDERSON: Hey Einstein, Why the hell would you post an anonymous comment criticizing anonymity? Are you irony-impaired?