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Steve Brodner and “The Naked Campaign”
January 3, 2008 9:01 am
There may not be a whole lot that’s funny about the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto, but illustrator Steve Brodner managed to create this political cartoon that works in references to both Pluto and Bluto:
Speaking of Brodner, he not only has a blog that features his latest work, but also a fun new video series on the NewYorker.com—“The Naked Campaign”—where he does ‘chalk talks’ about the presidential candidates and places them in context of earlier presidents and cultural figures. The Obama/Lincoln transformation is particularly entertaining. The After Effects animation in these pieces is provided by NY commercial studio Asterisk Animation. (Thanks, Jakob Schuh) 6 comments posted in Cartoon Culture, Illustration 
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With all due respect to Brodner, (He’s probably the best caricature/editorial artist of our generation) this cartoon is basically a liberal’s “pollack joke” with no depth whatsoever. It’s not worthy of a Leno monologue. What a shame.
That aside, welcome back to the Brew, Amid. We haven’t had anything to controversial to argue about for a few days.
JESUS GAWD that’s some ugly art.
This is a quick sketch for his ‘Person of the Day’ blog and if you want to see some outstanding finished paintings and drawings, Steve Brodner is definitely someone that deserves checking out. He has tended to cover more politics than Hollywood, but his artwork is astounding, IMO.
As for the content, I don’t find it’s that far off: I tried to find serious coverage of the Bhutto assassination on TV the day it happened but the “news” media was too busy covering Britney Spears’ pregnant sister.
Will: I think Brodner is accusing our commander-in-chief of not knowing who Bhutto was. (I’m basing that on the size of the ears.) That’s far different than saying that the media panders to a public with little interest in foreign affairs which, as you contend, is no great stretch.
As far as art goes, I couldn’t agree with you more. Brodner manages to channel the best traits of Auerbach-Levy, Hirschfeld, and Steadman into his own personal style. I love him best when he gets real simple and cartoony. The Uncle Sam logo for “the Naked Campaign” is a great example. And no-one draws hands better than Steve Brodner.
Chuck R: point taken, it’s a pretty easy joke, but it still isn’t the cheapest shot i’ve ever seen in a political cartoon. and in fairness Brodner used to puncture Bill Clinton with the same range of hit-and-miss facility (but he drew him brilliantly every time). i don’t envy anybody who has to produce political cartoons on a daily basis for years on end.
The William Auerbach-Levy connection is very astute, i hadn’t considered it before but now that you mention it, I see exactly what you mean.
The killing of Benazir Bhutto was a terrible event, not only for Pakistan but the world as a whole.
I can’t help thinking that this is a typical example of a desensitized, casual and uninformed attitude that many of us in the affluent Western world hold towards international politics.
Similar to the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed this is neither clever, funny nor positive to any debate. It’s a pun pretending to be something deeper…