The print version is actually sans caption, the theory being it should be obvious enough, especially what with all the constant baying about killing wolves. Turns out after following up the submission the editor totally missed the three little pigs aspect; sadly yet another victim of a deprived childhood. Not much you can do when the viewer just doesn't get it, and that unfortunately goes double for cartoonists if it's an editor.The Alaska Department of Fish & Game's mandate means anything can be justified as long as it's "consistent with the sustained yield principle." As a result, hunting in Alaska is aesthetically now about as managed as shooting animals at a game farm (okay well a really, really big one). Completing the homey cabin are portraits of the Quitter *wink wink* and the Commisioner.
Flipping the view around from outside-looking-in to inside-looking-out, here we have a snide commentary on another perennial debate in this community. Camps of homeless people are routinely flushed out so as to not offend the sensitivities of residents, and a very vocal segment of society relishes lording over the disadvantaged from their privileged perspective. Thus the pampered poodles are parroting patronizing platitudes that justify their lofty station in life.
A secondary irony here in that many non-Alaskans recoil in horror at the sight of mushing teams outside at temperatures of minus forty, when in fact the breed has long adapted to these conditions. Of course there is the controversial contingent which isn't happy about even having them tied up.
At the suggestion of the editor, the print version now has a sign stuck in the ground that says "Indigent Kennels." I was ambivalent about the inclusion, since my instinct is to never be condescending to the viewer, but that sometimes conflicts with the assumption that the average reader is basically clueless and one must hold their hand while gently leading them over to an issue before whacking them over the head with your point. We briefly discussed other options, such as a street sign for "2 Street," but that veered into racially insensitive stereotyping. As opposed to the sensitive kind.
"A joke is a very serious thing." - Winston Churchill*Update 9/26: here's a bonus screen-grab from the front page of the Alaska Report blog (which reminds me to start brushing up on Don Young caricatures). And also seen is a link to the Mudflats article sporting another of my panels, which along with the News-Miner + Ester Republic, makes this recent batch of editorials a brief exercise in media saturation:
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