Launch
February 2002
Concept
With all the hooplah surrounding the "detainees," I knew that there
had to be some comment made about it. Originally, I had planned to make this
a "Mixed Messages" cartoon, with Bush explaining that 1) we don't
need to treat prisoners as war prisoners because we're NOT at war, but 2) we
need to give up our rights because we ARE at war. I'm all for treating prisoners
humanely, but I wish the news media would focus on own rights as much. Ultimately,
I thought presenting it this way was a little "cleaner."
Original Sketch
Obviously, I was trying to make a little bit
of similarity between the two panels.
Inking
I think I overdid the blacks on this. I was trying to get a three plane
effect: 1) the guard, 2) the people being frisked (and these should be the focus
of your eye), and 3) the people in the background. But it didn't quite turn
out like that. It's difficult to place black shapes on top of one another and
still have it be clear which plane the shape is on. I still need work on that.
Overall
I think that the lower panels should be more square--they
are a little too elongated. I also think that the wording needs work, it doesn't
quite have the punchline effect that I want it to. I do think that my Bush is
getting closer to what I want him to look like.