Why "there are no good conservative cartoonists"

Here's a short interview (link courtesy Romenesko) with Dan Perkins, who does the Tom Tomorrow strip. Excerpt:

"I think there are no good conservative cartoonists. Good humor is about the real underdog taking on the powerful. That's what satire is about. Conservative humor is picking on people who have less than you. That's not satire, that's just mean."

(Yes, that link to his strip on Salon will only be worth it if you subscribe to Salon, which I do. I started subscribing around the time they started blocking off "premuim" content. Now they block off nearly all content unless you subscribe. I have no opinion about the wisdom of this, but I do think some things are worth paying for. I subscribe to the New York Times and they deliver it to me at home -- what's wrong with that? Just because the content was free for a few years doesn't mean you have a right to get it for free.)

As for the opinion that there are no good conservative cartoonists, I think you have to qualify that. Bruce Tinsley, who does the Mallard Fillmore strip published in many newspapers, is demonstrably a better artist than Perkins, whose images resemble clip art. (I'll give Perkins the benefit of the doubt and assume he can actually draw really well, but in comparing the art in each of their comics, Tinsley displays much more skill than Perkins does.) I can't think of any other "conservative cartoonists," but let's suppose they're all better artists than Perkins. But then you'd have to deal with whether or not the strip is actually funny, and Mallard Fillmore is never really funny. It's just a collection of mean observations and diehard Limbaugh-like opinions. The only thing remotely funny is that Mallard Fillmore is a duck, and ducks are inherently funny. That's the only thing Tinsley does right.

Curiously, a search on Tinlsey uncovered no extensive interviews, but there is this column, which provides an interesting quote:

Bruce Tinsley has used his "Mallard Fillmore" comic to tweak the media for covering Bush in a negative way. "They portray any military position taken by a Republican president as warmongering," said Tinsley, whose conservative strip runs in 400-plus papers via King Features Syndicate. "But I'm not personally sold on this war. I'm disappointed that the administration hasn't been more forthcoming on the reasons for a war."

Wow, even a rabid Clinton-hater like Tinsley is not sold on the war. Bush still has a lot of explaining to do.