It's good to be back blogging in place for Jon. This shall be an interesting warm up to the publishing of a collaborative blog between Jon, myself, and fellow MCV contributor Bill Benz, which is not far from launch. I hope I can once again manage to maintain the level of integrity and biting political commentary that litters the pages of MCV on a regular basis.
Well, I would have liked to do another update this week but it's been busy with packing and the holidays, etc. I am headed to Israel for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah right now with my family.
In the meantime, MCV friend Peter Shadzik will be keeping up this blog. Expect some sharp, witty commentary on the current political scene and how it relates to Marmaduke interfering with his family's Christmas plans (the topic of the last two weeks of the real Marmaduke strips if you haven't noticed).
And don't forget about that contest I announced a few weeks ago. Entries have been coming in already, but it isn't too late. A winner will be announced in January. Who can come up with the best political caption for the strip below:
Have a great holiday season and a happy new year. I'll see you all in 2007, just in time for Marmaduke to decide whether or not he's entering the presidential race...
I just received word that in a field of contenders such as James Baker, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Kim Jong Il, Time Magazine chose me as its Person Of The Year!
Time journalist Lev Grossman writes:
For seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, Time's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.
Couldn't have said it better myself, Lev. Yes, with this blog I have in fact beaten the pros at their own game. I'd like to thank my many readers, my girlfriend Anjuli, all of those who have supported me over the years, my manager, and my agent.
Expect regular postings again all this week and thank you, Bill, for filling in while I was gone.
Hey kids, especially newcomers linked from Joe Mathlete. I'm Bill, I'm not the founder of this site. Jon, the man responsible for all this is currently heading across our glorious nation (America) seeing the sites. His last checkpoint was the Grand Canyon.
I'll be guest blogging here for as long as he's gone. Enjoy!
I am leaving Hollywood today for home (Richboro, PA). My roommates and I are taking the Southern route. Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Mentone TX, San Antonio, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Greensboro NC, Washington DC along the way.
I'll be back in Richboro on December 17th. Until that time, our old friend Bill Benz will be blogging. Check out his blog Heads On Sticks & Ventriloquists.
A week or so after that, I'll be heading to Israel for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah. We'll have another guest blogger while I'm gone then. Who will it be? Patience...
I will be back here and blogging on a regular basis again around January 3rd. But in order to drum up enthusiasm while I'm gone, I am now announcing the very first Marmaduke Can Vote Submit Your Own Caption Sweepstakes !!!!!!
Here is the picture to work with:
Anyone who reads this blog is eligible whether you have guest posted here in the past or not. Just submit your politically-themed caption in the comments here, email it to me, or whatever you gotta do. Just don't be anonymous so you can, you know, win...
Thanks everyone. Have a happy Hanukkah and I'll be back in on December 18th. Don't forget to submit something to my contest. Otherwise I'm gonna look really dumb.
Enjoy the music of William Benz in the meantime...
My name is Jon Katz, formerly of Kick The Leftist. And for the last eight years, I have read nearly every Marmaduke comic strip that has been published. I have not done this because I think it is a funny strip. In fact, it is not. For further explanation of this, I suggest you read my close friend Bill Benz's article So Much To See In One Panel. In it, he describes in great detail the long-standing struggle we have had with Marmaduke and his creator, Brad Anderson.
At first, I was satisfied with Bill's dissertation of the beloved Great Dane which has frustrated us for all these years. Then I came across this website, which demonstrates that the popular yet terrible comic strip Garfield is actually funny when you remove Garfield's thought bubbles. Doing this shows what life would actually be like for his owner, Jon. He does not have a witty cat, he has a regular cat. Jon is just insane.
So I got to thinking... what could make Marmaduke funny? Unlike Garfield, Marmaduke does not talk to us (though he can apparently talk to taxi cab drivers enough to tell them where he lives). Then it hit me. What if instead of being written by Brad Anderson, whose only background in comedy lies in the fact that he, too, owns a Great Dane, it was written by Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, who has incorporated politics into his comic strip since 1970. In other words... what if Marmaduke went political??
What follows, therefore, is my attempt to answer this question. I will continue to read Marmaduke every day and, when applicable, I will update this blog with a new strip re-interpreted with a new tagline. I will preface this blog by acknowledging that I am a liberal, but I promise to be fair and balanced in my dog-based politics. Just like Fox News.
"Marmaduke Can Vote" is an unauthorized parody of the works of Brad Anderson. It is in no way affiliated with Mr. Anderson, the Marmaduke comic strip, or United Features Syndicate. But anyway, hey Brad, now that I have your attention, it's a joke. C'mon dontcha get it?
Hey, feel free to email me and tell me what you think of the strip directly. T M B Jon at gmail dot com. ;P