Q Toon: Last Man Standing

Adding Matt Lauer and Garrison Keillor to the list of disgraced sexual shenanigangsters, I believe we're getting dangerously close to witnessing any more allegations just becoming so much background noise.

Either that, or unless women suddenly decide to adopt the chador or habit as everyday dress, men are going to be forced to wear thick woolen mittens at all times. And pants which sound an alarm whenever dropped below the waist.

No, I'm pretty sure this will all blow over and everything will go back to status quo ante.

You don't think so?

I caught part of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor celebration of David Letterman on PBS last week. Senator Al Franken had been the first presenter in the ceremony, but because of the recent accusations against him of sexually improper behavior, the telecast edited out his appearance and the part of Letterman's acceptance speech in which he paid tribute to Franken. Franken is also missing from the list on the Kennedy Center's web site of the evening's featured speakers.

I couldn't help thinking how ironic it was that Letterman was publicly humiliated by a sexual impropriety scandal of his own only eight years ago.

Dick Locher's Presidents

Dick Locher, a long-time editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, passed away this past Sunday at his home in Naperville, Illinois, at the age of 88. In a career stretching from 1972 to 2013, he won the Pulitzer Prize (1983), Fischetti Award (1987), Overseas Press Club Thomas Nast Award (1982 and 1983) and Sigma Delta Chi Award (1982).

"Shhhh! ... I Think I Hear Someone Coming" by Dick Locher in Chicago Tribune, May 13, 1974

In honor of Mr. Locher, here is a quick sampling of his cartoons of American presidents during his career.

"Bug Spray" by Dick Locher in Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1974

I had wanted to share here a September, 1974 cartoon showing a Chicago road crew filling potholes on the expressway with "marshmallow fluff." It is what I'm referring to with the term "pothole cartoon," meaning an evergreen idea that a cartoonist could leave with an editor for release during the cartoonist's vacation or family emergency. It's a hilarious image that I used to have on my bedroom wall before moving it into a scrapbook. Unfortunately, when I did so, I used rubber cement, which has since seeped through the newsprint, creating dark brown stains that I just can't Photoshop out.

"After All Those Promises You Made" by Dick Locher in Chicago Tribune, February, 1978

Instead of any of Locher's editorial cartoons from the Reagan era, here is an episode of Dick Tracy in which the Gipper makes an appearance. Locher worked as an assistant to Dick Tracy's creator, Chet Gould, from 1957 to 1961, and returned after the death of Rick Fletcher to draw the strip with Max Collins from 1981 to 2009.

"Dick Tracy" by Dick Locher and Max Collins, 1983

Locher's son John also assisted in the drawing of Dick Tracy until the younger Locher's untimely death in 1986 at the age of 25. For the next 30 years, Dick Locher and his wife, Mary, have been at the helm of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists' John Locher Memorial Award for college cartoonists. Eligibility for the award was expanded in 2015 to include graphic journalists and web cartoonists age 17-25.

"But His Lips Aren't Moving" by Dick Locher in Chicago Tribune, May 14, 1990

If you ever find yourself in Naperville, look for the statue of Dick Tracy, down by the river at South Webster Street.

"I'm Here to Arrest Mumbles" by Dick Locher in Chicago Tribune, 1993

Current Chicago Tribune cartoonist Scott Stantis writes:

"In this world of snapchat vulgarity Dick was that rare breed: a courtly gentleman. When I was lucky enough to be named editorial cartoonist here at the Chicago Tribune one of the very first people to reach out and congratulate me was Dick Locher. I first met Dick years earlier at an Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention. As a wet-behind-the-ears cartoonist I was in awe of this giant of our industry but, like a true gentleman, he put me at ease and we became fast friends. Dick has always been a font of encouragement, advice and good humor."

Read more encomiums of Dick Locher from his fellow cartoonists here. Then look up the word "encomium."

"We're Going to Hand Him His Lunch" by Dick Locher in Chicago Tribune, 2002

Parkinson's disease persuaded Locher to retire from cartooning in 2013. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary; a daughter, Jan Evans; a son, Stephen, a brother, Bob; a sister, Carolyn Holubar; five grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

"Obama Care" by Dick Locher for Tribune Media Services, 2012

P.S.: Totally by coincidence, I've got more Dick Tracy coming here this Saturday. Do tune in.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Late Night

Tonight is David Letterman's last Late Show, so I thought I'd dredge up the one cartoon I ever drew of him.

This was in May of 1997. Ellen DeGeneres's "Yep, I'm Gay" Time magazine cover story was still making waves when Bruce Willis came on Dave's show promising to make a groundbreaking personal announcement. "Yep," he proclaimed at length, "I'm straight!"

I've been watching Letterman since his very first Late Night with David Letterman on NBC in 1982 -- well, not every show; I had a job where I sometimes worked third shift at one point, and some nights I even had a social life. Then he moved to an earlier time slot on CBS and there were some nights there was a reason to watch Leno instead. And then Stephen Colbert's show spun off of The Daily Show and the choice had to be made between Letterman and Colbert.

Well, now that choice has been made for us. (Coming soon: What will it be this evening: Colbert or Wilmore?)

Letterman's comedic style brought back to television the inventive zanyness of Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs. Who can forget Larry "Bud" Melman, the Library Lady, the Guy Under the Stairs, Stupid Pet Tricks, dropping things off a five-story-tower, the Top Ten List, Oprah transcripts, or the sneezing monkey that made you laugh no matter how many times they ran that clip? And how great was it for all those kids who got their moment in the late-night sun bringing their classroom science experiments onto the show -- or performing their award-winning bird calls -- year after year after year?

There have been one or two changes in the world since 1997. I should commend Letterman for sticking up for LGBT Hoosiers earlier this year when Indiana passed its "Religious Liberty Protection Act" into law. And he did have Wisconsin's Senior Senator pegged a couple years ago.

And as for Bruce Willis, some time after this appearance on Letterman's show, he did eventually come out of the closet as a proud member of the balding community.

Better Know a Stooge

Wisconsin legislators got some exposure on the late-night TV shows last night. It was finally Senator Ron Johnson's turn to be David Letterman's "Stooge of the Night," (at 13:12 here) and Congressman Gwen Moore from Milwaukee's Fightin' Fourth was featured in Steven Colbert's "Better Know a District" segment.

Rep. Moore held her own against Colbert's needling -- although I'm pretty sure she could have come up with something impolitic to say about Governor Snotwalker if she had had a mind to.