Leftist Cartoon Brainstorming, etc.

[Tacos and Beer]

A friend and myself are thinking about making some flash cartoons with leftist ideals, comical in nature. We're just curious as to what some of you out there may have for ideas - anything, be they anarchist, communist, socialist in mind.

If there are any ideas out there that aren't necessarily political, those are welcome as well.

PS: If you would like to donate 10$ to the American Red Cross for the tragic earthquake crisis in Haiti, text "Haiti" to 90900.

[superwiiwii]

well maybe you can make something up a primitive sort. Like example you could make a couple of snowmen nazi chilling by there little igloo or something. Then you could have a couple of black masked primatist run in with base ball bats and molitavs and fuck up the nazis lol i dunno just a idea anyone else?... common dont leave me hanging

Oh haha and in response to that haiti thing thats fucking hillarious thats all over the t.v. whats up with that second world country that we dont care about ever gets a giant earthquake and bam USA is all over it. You know them non profitable organizations are banking off that. asides the fact cartoons! people common lol :D

leftist wiiwii

[Jimmie Higgins]

1. I was thinking about doing a comic called: "Law and Order... Pigs!" which would be a parody of the "Law and Order" format but instead of cops running around trying to solve a crime, it would be black panther-ish radicals who investigate a case of police brutality or cover-up. The cases could be based on real examples of police corruption and violence and then the second half of the story could be a Brecht-like "people's court" where the crooked cops are put on trial by poor people who are normally victimized by the police.

I was planning to do the comic using modified images of real back panthers and real cops and hand-drawn backgrounds... or possibly photos I would take of neighborhoods here in Oakland.

2. I've always joked that I was going to do a comic with cute cat characters and their band of fellow ally-cats and it would be called: "The Adventures of Anarcat and Trotskitty". If you can think of something to do with that title and concept, go for it.

[CELMX]

2. I've always joked that I was going to do a comic with cute cat characters and their band of fellow ally-cats and it would be called: "The Adventures of Anarcat and Trotskitty". If you can think of something to do with that title and concept, go for it.

i vote this!! i love cute kitties!:wub:
Hmmm...what about the lenin cats?
The cappies can be evil pigs, and the fascists the pitbulls.
http://www.babybloc.org/owie%20to%20one.gif

[Jimmie Higgins]

http://www.babybloc.org/owie%20to%20one.gif
:laugh:Holy shit, where did you get this? I really want this button.

[Tyrlop]

Hey i'm allready doing a couple of flash cartoons.
My current one is a antifascist music animation. with this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javrU2r8_AU
the Style is somewhat like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPKH4GHiihg
(friend of mine made the World Republic Song)
I could really use a hand, i havn't worked on the cartoon since last summer. But im willing to start working again if i get a help.
Lets start a Media group that creates cartoons? I got lots of ideas! :)
Lets go! anyone got msn? Or get on Irc!

[superwiiwii]

i think you should go more comedy then the seriousness of leftist ideals. Like that guy kinda has a cool idea but we need something with a plot but yet still funny and twisted a little bit. anyone got any ideas?

[Ben Seattle]

A friend and myself are thinking about making some flash cartoons with leftist ideals, comical in nature.
I believe in the power of cartoons and graphic images in general.
Click the image below to see a series I created called:
"Business as Usual: A cartoon guide to the Left in Seattle"
http://struggle.net/ben/2005/cartoon/5-clip.jpg (http://struggle.net/ben/2005/cartoon.htm)
(Click on the image above to see more of Ben's cartoons)

My series was inspired by this cartoon from "Troubletown", by Lloyd Dangle (http://troubletown.com/)
http://struggle.net/ben/2010/images/troubletown-2005-global_econ-50.GIF (http://struggle.net/ben/2010/images/troubletown-2005-global_econ.gif)
(Click on image to see full-size)

I found the troubletown series to be good for two reasons:

(1) The cartooning style was relatively simple and easy to emulate
(2) A lot of good information can be conveyed

The humor in the series (both Dangle's and my own) comes from life--a sober (and brutal) examination of the contradictions in our world and the raging gap between what we are conditioned to believe and reality.

In my opinion, Dangle's work is one of the best sources to study for leftist cartoons.

There are two parts to creating such a cartoon or series:

(1) developing the ideas which your series will convey and
(2) actually drawing the cartoons.

The hardest and most important part of the work is probably the first. If you have good ideas which you believe readers can relate to--you will be inspired to do the drawing. Talent in drawing is not really required. You just force yourself to draw no matter how crappy your stuff looks. You can probably get better with practice and by copying cartoons you see in the paper. The beauty of Dangle's simplistic style is that the crappy quality of the cartoons is part of the charm

[Tacos and Beer]

2. I've always joked that I was going to do a comic with cute cat characters and their band of fellow ally-cats and it would be called: "The Adventures of Anarcat and Trotskitty". If you can think of something to do with that title and concept, go for it.Okay, the word is definitely over used, but that is fuckin' epic. A few friends and I were laughing pretty good at that.

The two videos posted by Tyrlop are nice, but to be honest, seem more like propaganda pieces more than anything. And, I suppose to an extent any work of leftist-leaning flash is going to be part propaganda, but at the same time I'd like to tackle issues more than party promotion.

@Ben Seattle, thanks for posting the comics. I definitely agree with most of what was conveyed in them, and I agree with you that the cartoons don't have to be complex stylistically to get a message across. The comics are definitely a nice reference point to start from.

However, I myself appreciate when good art is used to convey issues that plague society, the political world, and the human mind itself. I plan on refining my own drawings and, while they may not be incredibly detailed or spectacular, I do want them to look nice. That's not to say I don't think the idea and motivation behind the drawings is not of importance, I just think that both should be worked on.

Another thing that Superwiiwii sort of touched on, is just how politically motivated these cartoons might be. These aren't research papers or essays where there is a source cited page in the back. Thus, most of the messages conveyed will appear as opinion - not fact. So, I think being overly political could be a pitfall that would undermine the idea because people would view the movies as complete propaganda.

Then again, using a platform like Anarcat and Trotskitty could be perfect for conveying leftist ideals and issues. I guess in a way I feel more inclined to hit on social issues, but I would love to hit on more leftists beliefs as well. In any case, this is something really early in the making so I do appreciate everyone's input and would appreciate more! And, I hope I don't come across as taking a fat shit on everyone's ideas - that's not my goal. I'm just concerned with how everything *might* turn out.

[Guerrilla22]

communist cat. A cartoon about a cat that fights against the bourgeoisie.