Sly's Political Cartoon #1

He did it! Here is Sly's first 'real' political cartoon. In the first frame, a terrorist sits happily munching popcorn while watching tv (with game controller by his side, for another form of entertainment should he get tired of tv and munchies) as a friendly American wearing an all-American baseball cap tells him to have a nice day (as opposed to interrogating him with EIT's such as waterboarding). In the second frame, terrorists are blowing up the Pentagon. He set the cartoon up as an 'if-then' scenario, with his point being "If the US doesn't use EIT's (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques) then the US might not know what to protect and when."
A couple of interesting side notes: When I gave Sly the assignment to draw a cartoon from scratch, his first idea he brainstormed was a great idea for a cartoon, but actually conveyed the opposite message from what he intended. I found that interesting. No, I didn't tell him to change his cartoon. I just asked him what he thought his first cartoon idea suggested, and he himself then realized it was the opposite message of what he wanted to say. Then he began excitedly working through variations of that same idea and issue. I offered the two-frame possibility, and then he quickly cemented his plan.

Second, he has noted frequently of late that he's not good at drawing people yet. He's been working on that little by little, but chose not to worry about his people drawing skills for his cartoon. He figured he could still make his point with stick figures, and I agreed. And we both think he succeeded.

Finally, Sly had finished his drawing and was working on "BOOM!!" when he asked me about labeling. He hadn't labeled anything yet, and wondered if maybe he should label the terrorist in front of the tv so the reader would better understand what the picture was. I told him great idea and that political cartoonists do that all the time. He was delighted to glance briefly at another half dozen or more cartoons online that demonstrated the tags and labels that political cartoonists use. He then went back and added in his own labels, including the 'if-then.'

I tell you what--the boy may just have the makings of a professional political cartoonist in his future!