Happy Halloween!

I didn’t draw too many roughs last week and only about half of these became actual cartoons. That’s mostly because another idea on the same subject was chosen.

This was the first idea I had after the January 6 Committee voted to refer criminal charges for white nationalist fascist Trump goon Steve Bannon. I really did like this cartoon but I had another idea and a good cartoonist should be picky about his shots with Klansmen. No, I’m not talking about drinks at the bar. What I mean is, when you draw the KKK, make sure your cartoon is very good because publications are afraid of KKK cartoons or any depictions of the hoods. If you do a bunch of them, you may eventually be cut from appearing in that paper ever again. With that said, I still draw a lot of cartoons with klansmen in them…and klansfish, klansdogs, klanscats, klansmice, klansbirds, etc, etc…

My editor at CNN said this was a possibility but we didn’t choose it. I’m glad we didn’t because we picked something better. I was trying something different with Kyrsten Sinema’s caricature but it didn’t work. If we had gone with this cartoon, this caricature would not have been in it. But this is what you get to do with roughs, go wild, throw the Hail Mary, take a shot ten feet behind the 3-point line, throw a pitch at the batter’s head…oh, wait. You shouldn’t do that.

On another note: Colleagues, ENOUGH with the Sinema/Cinema cartoons. Really.

One of my friends, his name is Robert and he operates a newspaper in Florida that runs my work (I think it was him), suggested I do a Great Pumpkin cartoon on Trump. This was a few months ago so I said no. I have probably done a Great Pumpkin cartoon every year since Trump first occupied the White House with his Nazi buddies and help from Russian fascists. I even did an animation last year that centered around the Great Pumpkin. But I decided for this Halloween, screw it. I LOVE the Great Pumpkin. I may do it every year Trump is still alive.

My colleagues love them too. Probably half of all American political cartoonists drew a Great Pumpkin cartoon this year…and we’re probably at a 90 percent ratio throughout the Trump administration. And…so what? We all have fun with it.

But, I didn’t go with this version.

Instead, I went with this version. And I waited a few days after I got the idea to draw it. I wanted to draw it close to Halloween but not too close because I wanted my clients to get it in time to put it into their newspapers, including my alt-weeklies which usually publish on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Most cartoonists don’t think about that. Hell, I saw a brand new Halloween cartoon yesterday that was drawn yesterday, which means no publication is going to run it.

Rant time: I have a pet peeve with holiday cartoons that are drawn the day before, the day of, or the day after the holiday. It’s amateurish. When I get a holiday cartoon idea the day before, I think, “Too late.” And it is too late. When you draw a cartoon that has zero chance of being published, then you’re just drawing for social media. You’re drawing for Mark Zuckerberg. I predict we’re going to see a few Halloween cartoons drawn after Halloween. I predict each one will annoy the crap out of me.

This was just an OK idea. I liked the premise of Bannon leaving a trail of ooze.

I sketched this out about an hour before they found Brian Laundrie’s body. That corpse killed this cartoon. I also knew we’d move on pretty quickly from the subject.

This was the cartoon CNN picked and I had a lot of fun with the caricatures. My editor told me the Bannon caricature was going to induce nightmares which would be a refreshing change. Usually, the only person my cartoons give nightmares to is me.

This kinda sucked and I knew someone would do a Steve Bannon Halloween mask cartoon. I think someone did. I did draw a couple of trick-or-treating cartoons over the past two weeks, but none with Bannon. One of them was even plagiarized, but I didn’t care since he’s an amateur.

I took a shot with a Squid Games cartoon even though I haven’t actually watched Squid Games. Not yet anyway. Ya’ know, it might come back when President Biden returns from Europe. There’s no telling what bullshit Sinema will come up with to oppose next.

I did this cartoon and I liked it very much. I love making a point with this like this. I went to a party last Sunday in Washington, and one of the attendees complimented me on it. I really appreciated that.

Meh. Byt you know this cartoon is true. Republicans do that with EVERYTHING.

Which of these are your faves?

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are ZERO copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. A new shipment will arrive in early November. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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