Two Liberal Cartoonists Will Slam Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

By: E&P Staff Liberal artists Ted Rall and Matt Bors are doing editorial cartoons lampooning two figures admired by many liberals: Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report."

The cartoons were issued Thursday night by Universal Press Syndicate (which distributes Rall's work) and United Media (Bors), according to a statement the two cartoonists e-mailed E&P. The cartoons were to be posted at TedRall.com and MattBors.com.

"Despite not making a deal with the striking Writers Guild of America, Stewart and Colbert have returned to their shows -- without writers -- in a move that has generated little to no criticism from the liberal press," the cartoonists said in their statement.

So Rall and Bors, who write and draw all their own material and aren't members of the Writers Guild, decided to team up to deliver what they call "a one-two punch" -- with each taking on one of the Comedy Central hosts.

"The stakes are too high, the issues too important, the hypocrisy too hypocritical for us to just put down our pens and tune in to their union-busting, albeit highly amusing, programs," said Rall and Bors.

Rall's cartoon imagines tough union members from 1938 traveling through a wormhole to encounter Stewart, whom they identify as a "scab." Rall writes in the drawing: "Stewart's wry, vaguely left-of-center wit fails to register with the visitors from a more straightforward time."

Bors' cartoon comments on Colbert via a parody of his popular segment "The Word." This time the word is "Scab," with Colbert remarking: "Writers may be able to hang out all day on their air-conditioned sidewalks, but I have a mouth to feed, folks!"

The two cartoonists also said they won't be available for appearances on either of the shows while the strike remains in effect. They stated: "We'd rather fight in Bush's wars than cross a picket line."

Bors is one of four people profiled in a January 2008 E&P print magazine story about young syndicated creators.
*
To comment, go to blog.