Sunday evening toons: And having once turned round walks on

And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

Coleridge wrote that, and Mary Shelly lifted it for the moment when Victor Frankenstein beheld his creation. We've featured a number of toons this spring that compared Trump to Frankenstein's creature, and the GOP establishment to its horrified creator. But now, as the Thunderdome that will be the GOP convention draws nearer, the party elite are realizing that, while Trump may be a dreadful nominee, there is another frightful fiend that doth tread close behind him as well. The thought that Ted Cruz would be their fallback guy if trump doesn't get the nomination doesn't seem to be making anyone but Cruz loyalists and Democratic oppo people happy. And the thought that his unfavorables are roughly the same as Clinton's and far better than Trump's doesn't seem to be providing much comfort. They still dislike the guy. Good.

Many people have used the phrase "the soundtrack of my life" to describe their sense of loss at Prince's death. I enjoyed his music, and certainly respected his creativity and the number of issues he came down on the right side of, but I just never had the connection. Different life, different times, different soundtrack. (It's why not many people want to hear what it was like to find out about John Lennon's assassination from Howard Cosell. I get it.) And I appreciate that, if Prince was your soundtrack, the pressure of deadline cartooning mixed with the difficulty of getting past the initial sense of shock and loss might not help you produce your best work. That being said, if you didn't get beyond rain that was purple or two doves that were white, you didn't make the cut today.

And congratulations to the GOP for elevating their fascination with the question of who pees where to a national issue. LGBTQ advocates couldn't have caught a luckier break from a more unsympathetic group of opponents.

Today's toons were selected from the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Brian McFadden, Jeff Danziger, Joel Pett, Drew Sheneman, Tom Toles, Dan Wasserman, Nick Anderson, and Matt Wuerker.

p3 Best of Show: Rob Rogers.

p3 Legion of Merit: Signe Wilkinson.

p3 "Perspective: Use It Or Lose It" Award: Darren Bell.

Ann Telnaes looks at Earth Day as a poltical football. Or beach ball. Or whatever. And as long as we're celebrating Earth Day this week, time to bring back this gem.

Mark Fiore flies the (un)friendly skies.

Delicate sensibilities! Trial by followers! Unrealized goals! Tom Tomorrow has all that, and more, including a brief yet welcome cameo by Sparky the Penguin and Chuckles the Sensible Woodchuck. And a shocking twist ending! (I had a conversation a couple of days ago with a friend who'd never watched the original Twilight Zone and, with perhaps a little nudging from me, was working her way through them. She was so excited to see "To Serve Man" for the first time – and it was such a delight listening to her explain the story. The passing of the TZ torch is a wonderful thing to see.)

Keith Knight has one word for you. Just one word. Are you listening?

Reuben Bolling presents God-Man vs Human-Man: Dawn of Justice.

Comic Strip of the Day goes on a tear: Facts cannot be "good" or "bad." In a bit of irony (I decline to call it a juxtaposition), not that long after his post I stumbled across this item from an otherwise-sensible site, which sets nearly the opposite challenge for itself: debating the facticity of something that everyone concedes up-front was made up. (Yes, it's a word. You can look it up.)

A rabbit's woik is never done! "Hare Conditioned," directed in 1945 by Chuck Jones from a story by Tedd Pierce, was the short feature before "Rocky Horror" at a campus theater back in the day, so there was a patch when I saw it every Friday night for a now-embarrassing length of time. Watch "Hare Conditioned" at eBaum's World.

The Right-Sized Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman – who as it happens just won a Pulitzer – pays tribute to Donald Trump, who as it happens is a very smart guy. Just ask him.

Documented Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen knows a frightful fiend when she sees one.

Matt Bors captures a feeling I've had ever since I got out of the classroom biz.

Jesse Springer asks: What have you hit when marijuana sales in the first two months of legalization doubles the projected annual revenue from the program? Well . . .

Test your toon-captioning magic at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.) And you can browse The New Yorker's cartoon gallery here.

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.

Sunday evening toons: Happy trails, Hans.

So the Sunday morning toon review is late. Sue me.

It was a bad week for beloved and gifted artists and at least one amazingly talented character actor. As a Facebook meme advises, let's all form a protective circle around Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. 

The David Bowie-Alan Rickman coincidence reminded me that the death of Elvis in August 1977 was followed three days later by the death of Groucho Marx, of the p3 pantheon of gods. In that pre-internet world, when the covers of two weekly news magazines could set the agenda for public discussion, coverage of Elvis's death pretty much bigfooted Groucho's – to the consternation of not a few. I'm not sure that Facebook and Twitter have given us a better world (see Matt Bors, below), but they guaranteed that Rickman's death wasn't overshadowed by Bowie's.

And, of course, Bowie remains immortalized in Rule 3b of the p3 Little Drummer Boy competition.

Bowie's death came as a surprise to everyone outside his innermost circle, so cartoonists had to wing it, but any tributes to Bowie that involved looking at the stars or St. Peter at the Pearly Gates almost certainly didn't make the cut – unless you're Clay Jones and you went magnificently meta, in which case you very likely got the p3 Best of Show Award.

And the best Alan Rickman tribute came not from the editorial page cartoonists, but from Ben Schwartz at The New Yorker. The good news, such as it is, is that Rickman will live forever in the hearts of a generation for whom this is the definitive Chrismas movie.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the militia/seditionist takeover of a federal bird sanctuary here in my adopted home state continues to walk the perilous tightrope between ridiculous and lethal. The good news is that the ridicule is becoming more focused on their preposterous legal and constitutional theories, and less on the argument that anybody besides white Christians pulling shit like this would have been dead a couple of weeks ago. So that's good. I guess.

And the President made a speech, as presidents shall from time to time. Several Republican tools didn't bother to show up.

And a generation of Americans who swore they didn't need algebra lined up to by Powerball tickets this week.

Today's toons were selected from the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Clay Bennett, Nick Anderson, Matt Davies, Walt Handlesman, Chan Lowe, Jeff Stahler, Gary Varvel, Tom Scott, Matt Wuerker, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Clay Jones.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Steve Benson, Stuart Carlson, and Randy Bish.

Ann Telnaes sketches last week's GOP presidential candidate debate.

Mark Fiore answers the question: What does it take to stop a bad guy with e. coli?

I am, for better or worse, old enough to remember when the Mattel toy company, following the zeitgeist, pivoted effortlessly from wild-west guns to secret agent guns in the early 1960s (and yes, that is a young Kurt Russel). Tom Tomorrow sees the next logical step.

Keith Knight pays tribute to the only white man he wanted to be when he grew up.

Reuben Bolling exposes Ikea as the terrorist front that it is.

Red Meat's Bug-Eyed Earl sees a better day ahead.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon's shot at sad, pathetic bargaining makes me think he's too young to remember when hand-drawn hook-up diagrams were the way people got over with multiple-unit home sound/video setups.

Comic Strip of the Day shares stories about the losing side of the fine line.

Be vewwy, vewwy quiet: "What's Opera, Doc?" was directed in 1957 by Chuck Jones from a story by Michael Maltese. It ranks at #1 on list of the 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected By 1,000 Animation Professionals, and rightly so. Via DailyMotion, here's the original, and a documentary about the making of it. The best 16 minutes you'll spend today. Promise.

The Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman has the view from the best seat in the House.

Maybe-Possibly Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen asks an awkward question. (For the record, I love la Bee and Amy Schumer had me at this.)

Matt Bors presents the five states of social media grief.

Jesse Springer points out that, even for militia/seditionists, the job's not over 'til the paperwork's done.

Test your toon captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.) And you can browse The New Yorker's cartoon gallery here.

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.

Saturday afternoon toons: Da-dum da-dum, da-dum, da-dum da-dum da-dum

Henry Mancini died twenty-one years ago tomorrow. There's no real upper boundary to the music he wrote.

But . . .

"Kurt is up in Heaven now."

Kurt Vonnegut died eight years ago today. p3 is proud to honor his final request.

I am, incidentally, Honorary President of the American Humanist Association, having succeeded the late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in that totally functionless capacity. We had a memorial service for Isaac a few years back, and I spoke and said at one point, "Isaac is up in heaven now." It was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, "Kurt is up in Heaven now." That's my favorite joke.

Kurt Vonnegut,

A Man Without a Country

Saturday afternoon tunes: We'll cry if we want to

Leslie Gore died this week, at age 68, of lung cancer.

She didn't smoke.

At sixteen – sixteen! – she recorded "It's My Party," produced by Quincy Jones, and she had many other charting hits, including "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows," written by Marvin Hamlish, and the anthem "You Don't Own Me," which spent three weeks at #2 because that was when the Beatles released "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

Saturday evening tunes: RIP Rod McKuen

It's arguably a bit thick for NPR's Scott Simon to call Rod McKuen's lyric works the cheeseburger to poetry's haute cuisine, although perhaps his point is fair: he (McKuen) was widely mocked, and also extremely popular (again, McKuen).

McKuen died last week at 81. He left behind a resume with over 30 books, close to 70 vocal and spoken-word albums, and over a dozen soundtracks on it. That's a lot of cheeseburgers. Somebody was buying.

Here's the title track from one of his soundtracks:

I'll even confess I wasn't a huge McKuen fan myself, although the sheer output has to be respected. Mostly I like him because of the fact that most people haven't a clue who his most vocal critics even were.  

So let it be with Mario Cuomo

The evil that men do lives after them:

He was rendered such a museum piece that the current governor of New York, who only is Mario Cuomo's son, is unrecognizable as his political heir. […]

Now Mario Cuomo is dead, and his absence from our national discussion is being used in some quarters as a cautionary tale to the rising progressive movement within the Democratic party. The same forces that worked to marginalize him will be brought to bear at some point against Elizabeth Warren. (Read Panchito Bruni's love letter to Wall Street Muppet Gina Raimondo in Rhode Island, if you don't believe me. Cut them pensions! "Reform" them entitlements! Third Way!) You can count on that. Now Mario Cuomo is dead, and that seems like little more than confirmation of something we all suspected for decades.

The good is oft interred with their bones:

Cuomo managed to squeak into office then, and continued to stand up for the old-fashioned lunch-bucket Democratic values that pretty much everyone else in his Party was abandoning for third-way, neoliberal bullshit. He wasn't perfect, but he was one of a very few prominent, powerful liberals in the 80s and 90s who hung tough and held the line against the rapid sell-out of the poor and middle-class to the rich. Look at Jacob Weisberg marveling in 1994, "Nor has Cuomo gotten into the spirit of deregulation... Nor has he tried to get rid of rent control..." Weisberg meant these as criticisms, but after decades of asset-stripping by armies of Lehrmans, I see them as badges of honor.

Saturday evening tunes: Deep in my heart

Two things happened last week and they cross over: We lost Pete Seeger (who did not name names) at 95, and we discovered – with less sense of surprise than one might wish – the record of the soon-to-be House Majority Whip (an apt job title, as it turns out) as an associate of Klan Grand Wizards, white supremacist organizations, and SPLC-certified hate groups.

Pete Seeger didn't write this song – we'll never know exactly who did – but he taught it to generations since taking it up in 1947, and it became the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. It's a song about outlasting the likes of the Majority Whip and his ilk. It is therefore a song of almost unlimited optimism. I like to think that every time someone sings it, Rep. Steve Scalise (R – of course, Louisiana – ditto) feels a sharp pain he can't quite locate. Click on the video again and again.

Seeger's the tall skinny fellow standing to your left.

Saturday late afternoon tunes: Accidentally the worst thing John Belushi ever did

Short of killing himself in that LA bungalo, I mean: He did an impression of Joe Cocker, developed for the 1973 National Lampoon stage show and cast album "Lemmings," that was spot-on, and captured Cocker's over-the-top-osity in a way that even Cocker liked it (they famously appeared together on SNL in 1976, which is part of the problem).

Don't get me wrong; Belushi's Cocker impression was great. The problem is that today there are one or two generations of music fans who don't remember, or never knew, the difference between Belushi's parody Cocker and Cocker's heart-and-soul Cocker.

It's like the current generation of readers who have read, or will watch, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and think they know about Jane Austen's original work. Or, if you're a Fox News viewer, it must be like the thought that, a generation from now, people might not remember which one was Bill O'Reilly and which one was Stephen Colbert. Or, for the classically minded, it's like the suitors who desired Penelope but settled for bedding her handmaidens.

And Belushi was, or became, a fair bluesman, and he certainly knew how to commit to the part, and he and Danny knew how to put together an album of great covers with an insanely good band behind them – all indubitable Cocker achievements.

But John was no Joe. There was only one, and we lost him last week.

Quoth Indiana University music history professor Glenn Gass:

He’s most famous for songs that aren’t his. My favorite Joe Cocker song is “Feelin’ Alright,” which isn’t his song either. He’s much more famous for songs he didn’t write. But Elvis never wrote a song, either. Joe Cocker’s great talent was taking a song and riding it off a cliff, into a direction you didn’t see coming. He was clearly not interested in a note-for-note copy of someone else’s song. He made it his own song, but he did it with love. With his arms flailing, he sang like he was a fan of the songs he was singing; at the same time, he was embodying it. It’s a weird paradox: he was sort of outside of the song and totally inside.

And addeth on Charlie Pierce:

I, too, mourn the passing of Joe Cocker. As much as people have praised his Woodstock breakthrough, I think the Mad Dogs and Englishman orchestra that he and Leon Russell put together and took on the road in 1970 was his career's peak. The band included two multi-keyboardists -- Russell and Chris Stainton -- the entire rhythm section from Derek and the Dominoes, some of the best backup singers of the time, including Claudia Lennear and Rita Coolidge, and featured Jim Price and Bobby Keys on the horns. The resulting album was one of the best live documents of the era, including Allman Brothers sets.

And lung cancer got him, at age 70. (Lung cancer got Warren Zevon, too. Joe took other writers' songs and ran with them; Warren wrote songs that other singers lined up to cover. And neither has gotten the lasting credit he deserved.)

Cry me a river.

Saturday morning tunes: The rain must never fall 'til after sundown

Ah, if only it worked that way in these parts.

I could have gone with AC/DC, who released "You Shook Me All Night Long" on this date in 1980, but I decided instead to go with this, by Richard Harris, who died on this date in 2002, and who was King of England before he was Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Sunday morning toons: Celebrate Banned Books Week – read a banned comic!

Banned Books Week, sponsored by the American Library Association, celebrates the freedom to read, paying tribute to books that have been challenged or banned (in libraries, the former is the first formal step on the road to accomplishing the latter). It's celebrated the last full week in September, beginning tomorrow. This year they're giving special attention to comic books and graphic novels that have triggered someone's censorious impulses.

You can join our Banned Books Week 2014 Online Read-Out at our Facebook site. Browse the ALA's list of banned or challened books, pick something that seems to call your name, get out your smart phone (or borrow a friend's), and read a passage to share.

Today's toons were selected from the list of those that the people I like least detest the most out of the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Scott Stantis, Tom Toles, Signe Wilkinson (and see this, too), Clay Bennett, Lisa Benson, Matt Wuerker (special chicken twofer), Tim Eagan, Chan Lowe, Ted Rall, John Darkow, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show(Cage Match Division): Jeff Danziger.

p3 Legion of Merit: Kevin Kallaugher.

p3 Founding Fathers Award: Clay Bennett.

p3 World Toon Review: Gary Clement (Canada), Ajit Ninan (India), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Yaser Abo (Australia),

With a tip of the p3 Bell Muni bike helmet to Comic Strip of the Day, we're instituting a new group-award category: the p3 Dismal Failures Award, given to the cartoons that did the best job of taking the exact same bad idea and beating it like a rented mule. This week, it may not be that surprising that many cartoons about the Scottish independence vote this week were hung – so to speak – on the American (and Italian!) curiosity about what's under those kilts. What's surprising is how many of them failed dismally, more by lack of quality than by presence of quantity. Close behind, but not finishing in the money because more of them seemed to show some originality, were bagpipes-sound-awful themed cartoons and Nessie themed cartoons. (And I already have a pretty good idea of what's going to win a Dismal Failures Award next week. Hey, this is fun!)

Like many of his fans, I wondered why Tony Auth's page at GoComics hadn't been updated in over two months. Now we know. Rest in peace to one of the political cartoonists I – and many other readers and most of his peers – always turned to first.

Mark Twain once wrote, "God created wars so Americans would learn geography. Marshall Ramsey has found the parallel principle.

And regarding the whole banned-books thing: As bad as challenging, banning, or burning may be, Pat Oliphant reminds us that there are other, arguably worse, things you can do to a book.

Ann Telnaes looks askance – yes, you read that right: askance! – at the latest news from Iowa. (Full disclosure: Seven years ago last week your humble narrator shook hands with Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and Governor Richardson at the 2007 Tom Harkin Steak Fry. If "having the softest hands" was the deal-making/breaking criterion in presidential elections, Bill Richardson would be raising money for his presidential library today.)

Mark Fiore suggests that, rather than all that tricky calculus about the enemies of our enemies, we should probably take a moment just to look at some of our <airquotes>friends.</airquotes>

Tom Tomorrow's Sparky the penguin talks to a citizen and finds out what his problem apparently is.

Keith Knight has a sign of the times.

He's back! Tom the Dancing Bug brings, among other treats, the further adventures of Percival Dunwoody, Idiot Time Traveler from 1909. Pray that he's not too early!

Red Meat's Ted Johnson faces the possibility of "complications," thanks to Papa Moai.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon takes a shot at an incidental character in Family Circus panel, and it hits a little close to home here at p3. (Full disclosure – Twice in one day? What's that about? – I often go out for Sunday breakfast at a nearby bar and grill. Perhaps I'm eating there right now as you read this. Think about that. And I always sit in the same booth by the front window, reading the ever-diminishing local paper and enjoying the sight of SUV drivers totally failing to parallel park successfully along a strip of open curb that's at least three car-lengths long, so they can run across the street to the bakery. And the entrance to a big off-street parking lot that's always empty on Sunday morning is just thirty feet farther down on the same side.)

Comic Strip of the Day begins with a rant-inspiring strip, and ends with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.

And I ain't no namby-pamby! "Bugs Bunny Rides Again" was produced in 1947 and released in June of 1948 (which becomes important; see below). Friz Freleng directed, from a story by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce. Portland's own Mel Blanc did the voices, and Carl Stalling was musical director – and both of them got credit this time (although narrator Robert C. Bruce didn't). Stalling is at his pilfering (or quoting) best, lifting from Rossini's William Tell Overture (nailing down the Bugs Bunny/Lone Ranger Rides Again gag from the title), as well as popular tunes "Cheyene" (the opening shoot-out) and "Navajo" (the piano music in the saloon) – oh, what the hell, you can read the whole playlist here, including several themes that Stalling did compose himself. 

According to Wikipedia, the swimsuit women were removed when the cartoon was shown in Islamic countries, a couple of gunplay gags were removed on grounds that children might play with guns because they saw Bugs Bunny do it but never simply because they saw Mommy or Daddy do it, and Sam's original entrance line – "And I ain't Mahatma Gandhi!"  – was redubbed for the re-release of the toon following Gandhi's assassination in January of 1948.

You can watch "Bugs Bunny Rides Again" at Vimeo.

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.

The Big, And Getting Bigger Since We Decided to Cheat and Welcomed Back The Departed, Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman views the fatigue factor.

Allegedly Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen brings us the guide to digital dipwads everywhere. Are they iJerks? Nope, but you're getting warm.

Matt Bors wonders exactly where we get off.

Jesse Springer points out that not all progress feels like progress.

Test your toon captioning superpowers at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.) And you can browse The New Yorker's cartoon gallery here.

Saturday afternoon toons: In my time of need

Forty-one years ago yesterday, morphine and tequila did to rock legend Gram Parsons what it will often tend to do to people who are subsequently referred to as "legends." Based on a drunken pact Parsons had made with his manager sometime earlier, the manager and a roadie borrowed a hearse with no plates, stole Parsons' body, drove it to Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert, doused it with five gallons of gasoline, and burned it. Because that's how rock worked in those days.

And if you followed that link to the end of the obituary, you'll know what this song is doing here:

Note: Thirty-six years ago tomorrow, Jeannie C. Reilly made pop music history by landing at Number 1 on both Billboard's Country chart and its Pop chart at the same time – the first time a female artist had done so – with "Harper Valley PTA." I thought about giving her a dedication today, but I realized I really can't stand that song.

That strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence -

- died on this day in 1890.

If only we could do this with all our heroes.

Honoring Ernest Borgnine's last request

He died July 8, 2012, at age 95. And at p3 we're proud to honor this request, made 14 years earlier:

I’m 81 years old and I like to speak my mind. As a legacy, on the day I die, I’d like to have a newspaper publish all the things that I find wrong in the United States today. And my first would be to get rid of the politicians.

Quoted in 25 Years of Celebrity Interviews from 

Vaudeville to Movies to TV, Reel to Real, edited by

David Fantle and Tom Johnson (pp. 106–113)

Rest in peace: Coley Trimble, Marty Pilette, Quinton McHale, Rogo, Dutch Engstrom, Dominic, the Cabbie, and Mermaid Man.

Sunday afternoon toons: Headlines

Millions of Americans Lose Interest in World Cup Because USA Lost to Germany

Immigrant Children Wait While Republicans and Democrats Decide Whose Fault It Is

Mandatory World Cup Blood Tests Now to Include Rabies

NeoCons Pick Up Exactly Where They Left Off 11 Years Ago: Meanwhile Pundits Expect Hillary to Get Free Ride from Media in 2016

Today's toons were found underneath a yellowed pile of Chicago Tribune back issues with the 72-point headline TRUMAN DEFEATS ROOSEVELT, buried in a trunk along with the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Kevin Kallaugher, Ted Rall, Rob Rogers, Ben Sargent, Paul Szep, Signe Wilkinson, Darrin Bell, Pat Bagley, Dave Granlund, John Darkow, David Fitzsimmons, Matt Wuerker, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Utterly, Absolutely Best of Show: Jim Morin.

p3 Legion of Merit: Tony Auth.

p3 Medal of Constancy (with Prunes) for Refusing to Give Up on Something Even Congressional Republicans Have Quietly Moved On From: Glenn McCoy.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Clay Bennett and Joe Heller,

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: I don't think there's much there there on this scandal wannabe. Perhaps the tie among Henry Payne, Robert Arial, and Steve Kelley proves there is, or perhaps the reverse. (Also note that Comic Strip of the Day beat me to another, better instance of HTC, below.)

p3 World Toon Review: Seah Leahy (Australia), Alan Moore (Australia), Tom Scott (New Zealand), Gado (Kenya), Tom Janssen (Netherlands), and Payam Boromand (Iran).

Ann Telnaes notes that Candidate Apparent Clinton will need to clean up her act.

Mark Fiore brings the good news: The band's back together! Can a concert film for PBS pledge week be far behind?

Good news for the Sage of Baltimore: H. L. Mencken wondered aloud, in 1936, if the political term "fat-cat" had what it took to go the distance in the American language. Thanks to Matt Wuerker, Mencken need worry no more.

Tom Tomorrow imagines a butterfly beating its wings in central Asia, and in a TV studio 13,000 miles away comes a faint "Bzapp!" followed by "Pop!"

Keith Knight presents what is either a cautionary tale for children or a metaphor for the bitter geopolitical realities of our time. One or the other.

Tom the Dancing Bug takes us two miles beneath the surface of the Arctic Ocean – and what's waiting there is every bit as horrible as you expected!

Red Meat's Bug-Eyed Earl faces what you might call a problem of religious liberty.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon discovers the Worst. Sexual euphemism. Ever.

Comic Strip of the Day pays tribute to political cartoonist Etta Hulme, who died this week at age 90. I only linked to Hulme twice at this blog; once in 2007 and once in 2009. Both links are now broken. The dearth of appearances here has much more to do with my methodology than my tastes, but in the end the result was the same. Shame on me. I will work harder.

It's our pleasure to be at your service! "We Aim to Please" was directed in 1934 by Dave Fleischer, with uncredited work by Billy Costello (Popeye and probably J. Wellington Wimpy), Mae Questel (The Slender One), and Sammy Timberg (musical direction and, most likely, composition of the title song). In glorious 2D monochrome.

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.

The Big, And Getting Bigger Since We Bent the Rules and Welcomed Back The Departed, Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman has some helpful suggestion for the NFL's current awkward problem. I'm torn between #3 and #5.

Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen hears the new conservative mantra. Really – if Chuck Colson could (profitably) get religion in prison, can this move be far behind?

Matt Bors chronicles the terrors of the Children's Crusade.

Jesse Springer notes the dangerous irony of bee colony die-offs – in Oregon, of all places, where flying with your own wings is celebrated – due to pesticide use.

Test your toon captioning mojo at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.) And you can browse The New Yorker's cartoon gallery here.

Sunday morning toons: Transitions

Iraq: Formerly the hated target of the NeoCons, now reluctant collaborator in cleaning up the mess the NeoCons left behind in Iraq.

Redskins: Formerly the controversial and increasingly unpopular trademarked name associated with DC's NFL franchise, now the controversial and increasingly unpopular untrademarked name associated with DC's NFL franchise and its political martyr multizillionaire owner. (Thought for the day: When Elliot Ness finally nailed Al Capone on income tax evasion instead of corruption, bootlegging, bribery, and murder, did the conservatives of the day describe that as "government over-reach?"

Dick Cheney: Formerly cheerleader for the failed Iraq war, now unindicted war criminal hiding in plain sight on television and the Wall Street Journal – still cheerleading for the failed Iraq war.

Children's Crusade: Formerly a thirteenth century low point in the attempt by European Christians to expel Muslims from the Holy Lands, now the twenty-first century low point in America's ongoing failure to agree on immigration policy reform.

And apparently there's some sort of professional sporting event going on somewhere in South America.

Today's toons were selected by a panel of self-deluding NeoCons who've never once been right about political cartooning, from the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Jeff Stahler, Signe Wilkinson, Jeff Danziger, Drew Sheneman, John Darkow, Joe Heller, Brian McFadden, Matt Wuerker, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Matt Davies.

p3 Legion of Merit: Tim Eagan.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Steve Benson and Mike Luckovich.

p3 Meteorology Merit Badge: Robert Ariail.

p3 Certificate for Harmonic Toon Convergence: Jimmy Margulies and Bob Englehart.

p3 World Toon Review: Brian Gable (Canada), Tom Scott (New Zealand), Sergei Tunin (Russia), Kevin Kallaugher (England), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Martin Sutovec (Slovenia), Ingrid Rice (Canada), and Tom Janssen (Netherlands).

Ann Telnaes presents Dick Cheney, Man of Many Hats.

Mark Fiore says, It's a good time to be in Iraq.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation traces the history of a DC institution currently under fire.

Cartoonist Ted Rall is seriously wondering if the government is gaslighting him.

Rest in Peace: famed New Yorker cartoonist Charles Barsotti died this week at age 80. The magazine featured several of Barsotti's best-liked pieces at their site.

Remember that time that the United Nations condemned Superman? (And it had nothing to do with "Man of Steel." Although it probably should have.)

Tom Tomorrow raises an interesting question from the the intersection of politics and theoretical physics: What happens if the Repubican Party and the physical universe ever come in contact?

Keith Knight examines the economic consequences of world-level sporting events.

Tom the Dancing Bug goes all what-iffy? on us. (Not quite as memorable as this, perhaps, but check out Comic Strip of the Day, below.)

Red Meat's Papa Moai explains to Billy: there's more than one way to prepare a delicious pâté on a water cracker.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon: Inventor of the term "nephewism."

Comic Strip of the Day has an interesting meditation on why Tom the Dancing Bug's piece this week (see above) is more than just a riff on an old Woody Allen gag; he titles it The Information Highway of Broken Dreams.

My, I'll bet you monsters lead IN-teresting lives! We featured "Hair-Raising Hare" here last fall, but it's getting a re-showing today because the photo at right – makeup artist Ben Nye working on David Hedison for "The Fly" in 1958 – turned up in my FB newsfeed this week via Dangerous Minds.(Click to enlarge. But you knew that.) It drew my memory irresistibly to the scene with Bugs and Gossamer (he's the monster) that starts at about the 4:40 mark. Plus, our original post needs a couple of corrections: "Sweet Dreams, Sweetheart" was sung by Joan Leslie, not Kitty Carlisle, and the film was "Hollywood Canteen," (also by WB), not "Stage Door Canteen." No idea how that got past me.

One other change: The changes to Blogger's default coding makes it much harder to embed videos that aren't on YouTube (conveniently also owned by Google), so you'll have to watch it here.

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.

The Big, And Getting Bigger Since We Bent the Rules and Welcomed Back The Departed, Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman says it all comes down to the meaning of "rarely."

Ex-Oregonian (Maybe, Possibly, Perhaps) Jen Sorensen shows that posh London neighborhoods may have a lot to teach us.

Matt Bors confuses the number of US troops being sent to guard the Xanadu-like US Embassy with the somewhat larger number who are being sent as <airquotes>advisors</airquotes>, but otherwise nicely captures the life-cycle of foreign military involvement.

Jesse Springer notes that, following the recent shooting incident in a Troutdale school (in which the 15-year-old shooter used "an AR-15 type of rifle, owned by his family, that he obtained after removing it from its secured storage place"), Oregon lawmaker Ginny Burdick received copious abuse – including a death threat – for proposing a law that would hold gun-owning adults responsible for crimes committed by a minor with their weapon(s).

Test your toon captioning kung fu at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.) And you can browse The New Yorker's cartoon gallery here.

Sunday morning toons: A lot of Americans died unexpectedly this week

Some – too many – one is too many – died from a lethal cocktail of rage and lax gun laws.

Maya Angelou died surrounded by her family at age 86, after a full and productive and inspiring life, and following a period of failing health.

Only one of those should be a source of pride.

Today's toons were selected from among the week's offerings at McClatchy DC, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, Politico's Cartoon Gallery, Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons, About.com, and other fine sources of toony goodness.

p3 Picks of the week: Mike Luckovich, Matt Davies, Clay Jones, Drew Litton, Jim Morin, Pat Oliphant, Tom Toles, Signe Wilkinson, Steve Sack, Dave Fitzsimmons, Rick McKee, Matt Wuerker, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Best of Show: Joel Pett.

p3 Legion of Extreme Honor: J. D. Crowe.

p3 Certificate of Harmonic Toon Convergence: Bill Day, Nate Beeler, Rick McKee, John Darkow, Taylor Jones, and Jeff Stahler. And probably others I didn't find.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Adam Zyglis.

p3 Mixed Metaphor Medal: Clay Bennett.

p3 World Toon Review: Kevin Kallaugher (England), Grahame Arnould (Canada), Michel Kichka (Israel), Martyn Turner (Ireland), and Makhmud Eshonkulov (Uzbekistan).

Ann Telnaes takes another look at American exceptionalism.

Mark Fiore updates the VA Hotline menu.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation blah

Tom Tomorrow presents the further adventures of Conservative Jones, Boy Detective. Oh, Moonbat . . . !

Keith Knight has a pop quiz. (And before you freak, they aren't drawn to the same scale!) And you know what, I like this one too, so I'm officially declaring this a Keef Two-fer.

Tom the Dancing Bug sez: You know the answer. And it isn't the one you wish it would be.

Red Meat's Bug-eyed Earl has an insight about the modern world.

The Comic Strip Curmudgeon calls – nay, prays – for the Rise of the Machines. (Actually I didn't realize at first that it was a machine. I thought it was a reel of 16mm film, or maybe the lid of of a big bucket of blue paint.)

Comic Strip of the Day looks at those things that don't kill people.

Kaamran Hafeez knows the secret to getting space on the p3 toon review. One word: Penguins.

Weekly animation: As the story goes, following the success of "Falling Hare," directed by Bob Clampett in 1943 and pitting Bugs Bunny against a gremlin (a little green imp who causes bombs to detonate prematurely and planes to crash), Clampett thought it might be fun to revive the gremlins. Thus, the following year, WB released "Gremlins in the Kremlin," also directed by Clampett. But his producer stepped in with a name change after it came to light that Disney was also producing a wartime film about gremlins. So the title was changed to "Russian Rhapsody," presumably on the grounds that confusion with a musical composition two pianos by Sergei Rachmaninoff would create less trouble for Warner Bros than confusion with a Disney film. Speaking of music, Portland's own Mel Blanc has a grand old time voicing Hitler and musical director Carl Stalling gives Blanc a chance to sing "We Are Gremlins in the Kremlin" to the music of two Russian pieces: "Dark Eyes," and "Song of the Volga Boatmen." The manic animation was handled by Robert Scribner and Robert McKinson – the big, sweeping, fill-the-screen movements of Hitler on the podium would return a few years later in the larger-than-life person of Foghorn Leghorn, whose cartoons were directed by McKimson.

You can watch the toon (and learn more about the background) at Dangerous Minds, since Blogger (owned by Google) doesn't make it easy to embed videos from anywhere but YouTube (also owned by Google).

The p3 Sunday Comics Read-Along: Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, Rhymes with Orange, Zits, Adam @ Home, Mutts, Over the Hedge, Get Fuzzy, Prince Valiant, Blondie, Bizarro, Mother Goose & Grimm, Rose is Rose, Luann, Hagar the Horrible, Pickles, Rubes, Grand Avenue, Freshly Squeezed, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, and Jumble.

The Big, And Getting Bigger Since We Bent the Rules and Welcomed Back The Departed, Oregon Toon Block:

Ex-Oregonian Jack Ohman acknowledges the latest epidemic.

Probable Ex-Oregonian Jen Sorensen invites you to pick your own doomsday scenario.

Matt Bors updates Margaret Atwood. Sadly, it's only a small update because things haven't really changed that much.

Jesse Springer forecasts another extreme weather event headed our way:

Test your toon captioning mojo at The New Yorker's weekly caption-the-cartoon contest. (Rules here.)