Submersible SCOTUS

A friend of mine made a comment on Facebook yesterday that I had not drawn a cartoon on the Oceangate Submersible that imploded while sightseeing the Titanic. I told him that I had drawn a cartoon on it but he just hadn’t seen it yet.

And today, some people will say it’s “too soon” to do this cartoon, but it’s not. If it’s “too soon” today, then it will always be “too soon.” I don’t normally worry about drawing a cartoon “too soon” after an event, especially after mass shootings.

I drew this last Thursday and upon seeing it, one of my proofers said, “You just can’t.” She had two points to make, one being that it was human lives being lost (and this was a few hours before it was official they were lost) and that the cartoon was wishing death on people (the judges).

I had shown the idea the day before to a colleague who has a full-time salary job with a daily newspaper, so he has to deal with editors telling him no all the time. I showed him the rough of this cartoon and he said that he wouldn’t have “second thoughts” about doing it if his editors would let him. But after hearing my proofer’s concerns, I asked him again, and then he had second thoughts. So, I shelved it.

I shelved it because it was too soon. I hate that. But, I told my proofer that I would publish it in a few days. I quickly came up with an alternative cartoon on Alito which probably did better than this one will with reprints. An editor saw it last Friday and said it was “brilliant” but “too cruel” for his publication. And after putting about five hours into it, I knew I had to publish it.

This morning, I added a few more fish, colored the cartoon, and sent it to my clients. I immediately heard from one editor who wrote that it was “bad,” but a “good bad.” I don’t expect him to publish it in his newspaper.

I don’t have any concerns about “wishing death” on the justices. It’s a cartoon and not everything is to be taken literally. It’s a joke. But, I had concerns about doing something funny after lives were lost. I do feel bad for those lives, especially the 19-year-old who reportedly was afraid of going but was pressured into it by his father. One of the founders of Oceangate, Stockton Rush, was one of those on board and the only explorer among the five. The other four were tourists who paid $250,00 to see the Titanic.

Rush boasted about being a rulebreaker, but his rulebreaking is a contributing factor in the deaths of the five on Titan, the submersible. He gambled with other people’s lives.

The Titanic is a graveyard and it shouldn’t be a tourist attraction for the rich. My cartoon isn’t nearly as disrespectful as Oceangate is for making a tourism business off the Titanic.

I’m OK with readers having a problem with this cartoon. I won’t argue with you over it. But it goes after two things I’m not OK with, making the Titanic a playground for the rich and Supreme Court justices allowing themselves to receive gifts from the rich.

Don’t yell at me. Go yell at some rich people.

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 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. 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.

Watch me draw: