Q Toon: One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

This week's cartoon is for those queer readers who believe that marriage is an outdated social construct and who get upset with other gays and lesbians who want to buy into it. Some of those latter gays suggested last week that now that New York state sanctions same-sex marriage, it was time for Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie to make honest puppets of each other.

I was originally going to put Barbie's pal Ken into the cartoon -- an idea reinforced when my partner, Chris, ran across "Ken's Buddy, Allan" at a rummage sale last weekend.

Had I heard in time about Earring Magic Ken and Jewel Secrets Ken, I might have gone ahead with that plan. But it occurred to me that the folks at Mattel can be mighty protective of their trademarks, so I swapped out Ken for a fictional character who is half of a better known duo. Ken really isn't all that committed to Allan anyway, and is rarely seen with him in public any more.

And while Robin is a cartoon, not a puppet or doll, at least he lives in Gotham City, fairly near to Sesame Street -- unlike Ken, who lives way down in Malibu, I think.

So now I'm bracing for the blowback from DC Comics fans. I still remember getting an angry reaction from an "Laverne and Shirley" fan upset with a 1999 cartoon imagining that those two Milwaukeeans were still roommates nearly 40 years after the events of their TV show supposedly took place.