Two Minutes Hate

Esteem for New Yorker Cartoons

I like The New Yoker. I think it has some good essays and a lot of interesting content. However, I have never been a huge fan of their cartoons. There are about 20 per issue/week. I usually find 3 or 4 funny, 5 or 6 vaguely ironic, and the rest pretty idiotic. Normally, I would not care about something like that, I would just be "It's good or it's not." The 3 or 4 each issue that ARE funny and witty, just prove how bad and irrelevant the others are. My problem is that I have met several people who seem to think New Yorker cartoons are the wittiest of all social commentary (and saying I met several people means a large percentage, since in Iowa I don't know a lot of people who read The New Yorker). When having a conversation with these people, they tend to take on that attitude that I don't find it funny because I don't understand it. Their vastly superior intelligence is able to grasp the essence of the comic while my mere mortal brain cannot comprehend the intricacies that make it humorous. Umm, wrong. I usually understand them fine, it just that they are not funny to me. One example - the "green vehicle" made out of a giant banana? Dumb...not even original, I'm pretty sure I saw similar drawings from grade school kids (but then again, I am a simpleton). I just don't get why some people must defend the New Yorker comics as a whole instead of admitting that a few are just not good comics. Oh right, they're stuck up pricks.

I will stick with The Far Side to get my fix of single panel humor. Gary Larson, I wish you were still publishing regularly. I miss you. I can read and re-read The Far Side and it is always funny.

Amendment - I think in the past few years, the New Yorker has been using a greater selection of artists with a wider variety of humor. I think this has helped improve the comics selection over all, although there are still a few complete dogs each issue.

End Hate