The inspiration for our first comic requires no explanation. We try to stay clear of politics these days, because the subject causes a lot of hatred and the complete inability to see the other side. Nonetheless we sent out our first comic of the week, “Vote” to everyone. No matter how you ended up voting, it was good you voted. We wondered, how can we get people to vote? And John said, “How about just using the word VOTE?” I said, “it’s clear but what’s funny about that? And he said, “We’ll make fun of Sam. We’ll say every vote counts, even his.” I thought, poor Sam, he gets the fewest frames and now, we’re making fun of the poor guy. But after all, he’s just a drawing, So we went with it.

Since we were in a political frame of mind, we thought about political correctness, Everyone is so careful these days. Stepping on eggshells. Back in my ad days I had a very straight, politically correct client and we were in Canada for casting. As an example, if we were casting a black person in a role, he’d refer to him as an African American. Accurate but stiff, formal and I think, shows that that person is uncomfortable. So there I was in Canada with my client and the casting agent asked why we weren't casting the lead role of a black woman in Canada. Putting on my best client hat, I replied “Oh do you have a strong African American talent pool here?” Without missing a beat, the casting director said, “No, we have a strong African-Canadian talent pool.” Served me right. So much for political correctness. In our second comic, Al and Joanne have dinner with their friends, two new characters in the strip. Their friends happen to be gay. And we handle that topic like we handle most everything. With a sense of humor. That’s something this country could use a little more of. No matter which side of the aisle you’re on.

Thanks for reading

The New 60