Now, if we can only get the political stuff to stop..................................
Or even slow it down to a snail's pace. As it now stands, it feels like we are under assault or drowning in a sickening, murky deluge.
One political parody a week wouldn't be so bad - providing the titles are not rushed and the humor is actually humorous and non-repetitive. (Come on, we really don't need a new Trump "checklist" parody week after week. And what really worries me is how many of next week's satires are going to be focused on FBI Director James Comey. Here's a novel idea: One title will suffice.) More importantly, the titles
must be products - actual products - not lists, memos, or nonexistent products, etc.. The name of the 50 year old series is "Wacky
Packages," yes? Products that come in packages? And real products, at that - a precedent that has been established by hundreds upon hundreds of Wackys over the years.
As an aside, when I was at the Allentown Show, I had the opportunity to view many original Wacky paintings, sketches, and roughs, courtesy of Smokin' Joe, Chad Scheres, George Wright, etc.. Many things stood out for me, however, one thing in particular was the
incredible amount of time, effort, thought, and concern that was obviously put into these pieces. You could see it in the artwork and hear it in the artists' explanations as to why they did this in such-and-such a way or why they opted for a particular kind of paint. It may sound corny, but each of these pieces was obviously a
labor of love for those who created them.
Everything was well thought out - from how a viewer might perceive a title on a subconscious level to what shade of pink would produce the best radiant "glow" in a bottle of mouthwash or how a character might be better received if rendered in more of a comic fashion. (All of these examples are from actual conversations with the artists.)
Since the show, I can better appreciate why personal sets by George Wright (Galactic Groceries,) Neil Camera (Pranky Products,) and Smokin' Joe (Wicked Packages) are seemingly always ongoing and take "forever" to produce. But do you know what, though? If time is what it takes to produce the kind of quality pieces that I've grown to expect, admire, and appreciate from such artists, then I'm willing to wait. That is one of the reasons why the suggestion posted earlier by SlamJim makes so much sense: In order to achieve quality, one must slow down the pace. There's a sound reason why the adage "haste makes waste" is part of our vocabulary. We are now seeing it happen right before our very eyes.
Lastly, like others have also so recently mentioned, I agree that the political humor doesn't always have to be so mean-spirited and have such a biting, sharp "edge." What's wrong with just "silly?" Or has plain, simple "silliness" now become weak and lackluster, a Norman Rockwellian "innocence" now consigned to a past era in our present society? (Hell, we all need to get together, buy up Topps' stock on the sly, and then appoint Richard Thomas, a.k.a. John-Boy Walton, as art director.)
Silly, but still funny: