Tim Kreider
The year was 2005. I was a young lass, either coming towards the end of freshman year or near the beginning of my sophomore year, I can't remember which. I do remember, though, that my liberal tendencies had just been planted at the time, my political thoughts and motives not having taken root yet, instead just vague ideas and uncertainities. All I knew was I hated Bush, I supported gay marriage, and I was unsure about abortion. I had no real, concrete reasons why I supported or did not support these things.
One day, I was randomly surfing the Internets, and I stumbled across a certain comic via Google. I am still not sure how I got there, but it changed my life.
...Okay, it didn't change my life. At least, not yet. I was amused by the comic, and by the Artist's Statement especially. It gave me a strange feeling of vindication.
Anyway, I sent a link to my friend Bonner, thinking she would appreciate it. She did, and we browsed the rest of the site. Then my life changed.
Tim Kreider is, quite simply, a genius. His comics are bizarre and cut-throat, saying things in single panels that it could take one hours to explain to somebody. He mocks the Right mercilessly, sometimes violently, exposing things for what they are -- shoving them right in your face, bloodied and dripping and contorted. His Artist's Statements articulate exactly why you are frustrated, what is wrong with this country, why these things are wrong, and makes you think deeply about the things you were too afraid to think about before.
It was exactly what me and my friend needed at the time. We laughed at Kreider's sarcastic depictions of Bush as a man-child, only wanting to please that mean ol' Mr. Cheney. We shook our heads solemnly at some of his comics that, while not exactly funny, were simply just true. We cheered on his Artist's Statements, we printed out his comics, we wrote quotes from the site on our binders and folders. We eagerly anticipated new strips every week, frequently refreshing the site until a new comic showed up on the main page.
Simply speaking, we pretty much worshipped him.
And we still do -- only he does not really draw new comics anymore ever since he left the Baltimore City Paper, which is where his comics were printed. He has updated within the past couple of weeks, but that was months after he initially announced he was no longer with the paper, but he would still try to update as much as he could.
It's the end of an era, but all things must come to an end. It was because of Tim Kreider I was able to form my political ideas, my arguments, my reasons. It was because of Tim Kreider I grew more outraged at the injustice in the world, I became more involved in what was going on, and I became more interested. And he's also just really, really funny and brilliant.
This is the part where I implore you to visit the site. I must warn you, however, it is only for the Very Liberal, or the Quite Liberal But Willing To Become At Least Rather Liberal. Conservatives will hate the comics, hate the site, and most of all hate Tim Kreider. Extremely Moderate people will not always agree with him but will probably at least find him amusing. But, even if you do not agree with him politically, he has earlier stuff that has no real political slant, but are frankly even more bizarre than his political cartoons. There's something for everyone!
The Pain Comics
And if you like what you see, for the love of God, buy one of this man's books!
One day, I was randomly surfing the Internets, and I stumbled across a certain comic via Google. I am still not sure how I got there, but it changed my life.
...Okay, it didn't change my life. At least, not yet. I was amused by the comic, and by the Artist's Statement especially. It gave me a strange feeling of vindication.
Anyway, I sent a link to my friend Bonner, thinking she would appreciate it. She did, and we browsed the rest of the site. Then my life changed.
Tim Kreider is, quite simply, a genius. His comics are bizarre and cut-throat, saying things in single panels that it could take one hours to explain to somebody. He mocks the Right mercilessly, sometimes violently, exposing things for what they are -- shoving them right in your face, bloodied and dripping and contorted. His Artist's Statements articulate exactly why you are frustrated, what is wrong with this country, why these things are wrong, and makes you think deeply about the things you were too afraid to think about before.
It was exactly what me and my friend needed at the time. We laughed at Kreider's sarcastic depictions of Bush as a man-child, only wanting to please that mean ol' Mr. Cheney. We shook our heads solemnly at some of his comics that, while not exactly funny, were simply just true. We cheered on his Artist's Statements, we printed out his comics, we wrote quotes from the site on our binders and folders. We eagerly anticipated new strips every week, frequently refreshing the site until a new comic showed up on the main page.
Simply speaking, we pretty much worshipped him.
And we still do -- only he does not really draw new comics anymore ever since he left the Baltimore City Paper, which is where his comics were printed. He has updated within the past couple of weeks, but that was months after he initially announced he was no longer with the paper, but he would still try to update as much as he could.
It's the end of an era, but all things must come to an end. It was because of Tim Kreider I was able to form my political ideas, my arguments, my reasons. It was because of Tim Kreider I grew more outraged at the injustice in the world, I became more involved in what was going on, and I became more interested. And he's also just really, really funny and brilliant.
This is the part where I implore you to visit the site. I must warn you, however, it is only for the Very Liberal, or the Quite Liberal But Willing To Become At Least Rather Liberal. Conservatives will hate the comics, hate the site, and most of all hate Tim Kreider. Extremely Moderate people will not always agree with him but will probably at least find him amusing. But, even if you do not agree with him politically, he has earlier stuff that has no real political slant, but are frankly even more bizarre than his political cartoons. There's something for everyone!
The Pain Comics
And if you like what you see, for the love of God, buy one of this man's books!