Warmup at the OK Corral

Happy Saturday, pardners. I reckon it's time for a roundup of this here week's cartoon pictures.

We started off with a bit of limbering up, and some cowboy lingo, an unbeatable combination. 

Tuesday's cartoon features rare appearances by both Quasimodo's American cousin and the sideways copyright notice. 

This gag involved more photo research than I'd anticipated.

Note: This cartoon contains no Secret Symbols.

A fable in one panel, offering lessons on greed, impatience, and learning from one's mistakes.

Take that, Aesop.

This gag baffled a few readers. It's a slightly different take on the familiar humorous device representing a person struggling with temptation by showing the "good" and "bad" personalities on their shoulders. In this case, it's recast with a credit card as the protagonist, a joker (wild card) as the devil, and an employee ID as the angel.

Okay, maybe it is a weird premise.

By way of commentary on Friday's Bizarro, let us revisit a favorite quote from the late Jay Kennedy:

“...in the fine arts, artists generally comment on the world only obliquely; and sadly, only those people who have the leisure to study art history can fully appreciate their comments. By contrast, cartoons are an art form accessible to all people. They can simply laugh at the jokes or look beyond them to see the artist’s view of the world. Cartoons are multi-leveled art accessible to everyone at whatever level they choose to enjoy.”

I once noticed a container of cookie-dough ice cream at the market, and it struck me as an odd concept. I obsessed about the idea, and couldn't let go of it until I put it into a cartoon. An early note in my sketchbook on this idea said "tomato paste sandwich," which I wisely crossed out.

For more insight and commentary on this week's comics, check out Dan Piraro's blog, and admire his latest magnificent Sunday page.

Bonus Track of the Week

"Blue Shadows on the Trail" Bing Crosby (1947)



I grew up in the era of the TV western, and my father tuned in to them all. My brothers and I had to play quietly while Dad watched his "shoot-em-ups." As a result, my musical DNA includes the popular culture's take on cowboy tunes, which has varying degrees of overlap with reality. I enjoy everything from Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores to the corniest hokum from movies and television.

This song was written in 1946 by Eliot Daniel and Johnny Lange, and was recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers (with and without Roy Rogers), Gene Autry, and others. Bing Crosby's take is a favorite.

Forty Years later, Randy Newman wrote a song titled "Blue Shadows on the Trail," for the John Landis film Three Amigos. Newman's (lesser) composition borrows the exact melody of the titular line from the 1946 song, but he apparently got full writing credit, without acknowledging the source material. 

My research is incomplete, and if Newman has in fact credited Daniel & Lange, reference to that would be greatly appreciated.