Shrubville

Someone needs to have a little chat with Stantis about the Alternative Minimum Tax. Bet lots of Republican families would be surprised to know that they're getting their taxes raised by good ol' W.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't we actually have a surplus seven years ago? Or maybe I imagined that, because we know that it's impossible for a democratic president to have a surplus on his watch.

I just love the bizarre logic Stantis/Carmen is using here. "The deficit is shrinking, therefore the tax cuts worked!" Um, you mean the deficit that exists because the debt is so outrageous BECAUSE of those tax cuts? It's like someone being proud that they paid $20 instead of the $15 that their Visa card monthly payment usually is - on a credit card where they owe $8 trillion.

How to reduce the deficit:
Step 1: Create the largest deficit in history.
Step 2: Run up another huge deficit, yet smaller than the one in Step 1.
Step 3: Gloat.

PS: Did anyone notice how monstrous Carmen looks in the first frame?

An Open Letter to Scott Stantis.

Dear Mr. Stantis,
Well, to be fair, you DO write your strips two weeks before they run, so how could you know that they would run shortly after that stock market plunge? (Still, that plunge was a sign that the American economy might be on a downward turn again.) You can't be blamed for that poorly timed strip.
You can, however, be blamed for your own bad drawing. This is probably the most overjoyed we've ever seen Carmen, and frankly due to your limited drawing ability combined with your refusal to accept it the result is something horrible. You aren't the only bad artist in the business, Stantis. "Pearls Before Swine" has Stephan Pastis; "Dilbert" has Scott Adams; "Unfit" (now defunct) had Mike Belkin; "Diesel Sweeties" has R. Stevens. And good writing is what makes up for the poor drawing in those strips. Except for "Diesel"... That one's bad no matter how you slice it.
So, Stantis, bottom line... ya don't need to pretend to be a master artiste when you're not one, you just need to learn to write better. Because good writing is almost always more important than good drawing, right?
For instance, this is a comic strip. It's not the editorial page, not a political cartoon. It's a comic strip, with recurring characters. More than anything -- commentary, opinion, etc. -- it's supposed to be funny. So instead of blasting arch-conservative ideas at us like you did in today's strip, make consistently funny jokes built around those ideas. I realize that you think you're already doing this, but trust me, you could be doing a lot better.
Start by adding more characters. Maybe Dio and Kevin the Lost Bunny of the Apocalypse didn't work out for you, I don't know. But don't retreat to the two-character format just because of that. Try again. Personally, I dislike "Garfield," but for the sake of having an example, take Lyman. He was Jon's room-mate from 1978-1983 before he inexplicably disappeared from the strip. Why? The character didn't work. In "Pearls," there was Leonard, briefly a boarder with Rat and Pig. He was killed off because, once again, the character didn't work.
And don't think that you're too far into the game to introduce new characters. You're less than three years in! Go for it! The 3/4/07 Sunday strip was the perfect example of a strip that needs a third character. Winslow's line in the last panel just isn't Winslow. But it's not Carmen either. I'm begging you, add another character or two. If they're well-thought out characters that fit with the strip, you won't be sorry. (Note: The Mexican immigrant coyote was a good character. Will he ever return? Also, I was wondering if the hooded Church of the Unquestionable Paradigm guy from last week will be a recurring character...)
It used to be funnier, in my opinion. You used to really write jokes, but now it's your viewpoints and viewpoints only. If I want that, I'll watch the news or read the paper. This is a comic strip, so don't forget to keep the comedic part of it strong. The best cartoonists will combine storylines involving their characters with commentary. (The desert hamsters storyline was a good example. So was the illegal immigrant coyote series. Also, the Coyote-PAC series.) But honestly, you aren't doing it enough. I'm sure you've read at least some "Bloom County." Although it's a liberal strip, it would be good for you to study because Breathed was a master of fusing his commentary with stories involving his characters.
Now, I don't agree with your politics, but I'm not writing this in response to your politics. I'm writing in response to your comic strip. I don't have the cartooning credentials that you do, of course, but then I'm only a 14-year-old, aspiring cartoonist. However, I'm very well-read in terms of comics and this is my honest critique of your work so far.
I've read "Prickly City" online from Day 1, despite my opposing liberal viewpoints, and I think it must be because I saw something quite promising in it. Now, 2.5 years later, it's time to start to develop it more. And that's my honest opinion.

R.I.P. Dio