# Any Kelly (the Onion Editorial Cartoon artist) fan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943 "2016-08-25T19:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/21 "2016-08-26T15:42:42Z")
It’s kind of like producing a parody of _The 1/2 Hour News Hour_ (Fox News’ short-lived attempt at a conservative-tilting _The Daily Show_). You can mock how inept and unfunny it is, but you’ve nowhere else to go - there isn’t enough depth to it to mine for insights. I get a chuckle out of “Kelly’s” work, but it’s a superficial take on a superficial thought process, so I don’t look for profundity. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/22 "2016-08-26T16:03:51Z")
I agree with Kelly politically but I see his style as a parody of the political cartoon genre. The Manichean thinking, the vast oversimplification, and the overly busy drawings are great satire of just about every political cartoonist. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/23 "2016-08-26T16:15:20Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Color me whooshed: I thought he was an actual example of the style, not a parody. In your defense, they aren’t funny, but rather purposely unfunny (IMO), and the only real clue that they’re satire is that they appear in the Onion rather than, say, the Washington Times. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/24 "2016-08-26T16:27:36Z")
How can it get more funnily unfunny that this? [Negative Cam-Pain-In-The-Ass](http://i.onionstatic.com/onion/5257/8/original/1600.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/25 "2016-08-26T18:33:47Z")
I think the strips work best when we see Kelly taking some personal annoyance and treating it like a serious political issue. [Gangsta Wrap](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/gangsta-wrap-53124) [Tyrannical Drinktator](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/tyrannical-drinktator-52971) [Not So Suite](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/not-so-suite-52644) [Hot As Health](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/hot-health-51521) [Domestic Blitz](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/domestic-blitz-51301) [Suppers And Downers](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/suppers-and-downers-51215) These strips illustrate the “get off my lawn” mentality that the character is satirizing. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/26 "2016-08-26T18:46:24Z")
The single teardrop below Lady Liberty’s eye means she killed a man in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/27 "2016-08-26T19:04:12Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The single teardrop below Lady Liberty’s eye means she killed a man in prison. I haven’t earned a teardrop yet, but it could happen any day. I’ve pronounced men dead in prison though. Gotta agree with Kelly on [Not so Suite](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/not-so-suite-52644). I get annoyed by hotels and motels which encourage me to ‘save the planet’ by reusing towels. It would be interesting to see a cartoon series done the same way by a ‘liberal’ author. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/28 "2016-08-26T19:50:51Z")
This guy is right up my alley. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/29 "2016-08-27T00:46:44Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > Kelly rocks, and I love how some people don’t get it… I hope you understand that it’s possible to ‘get it’ and still not like it. I’ve always thought these were the weakest link in the Onion chain. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/30 "2016-08-27T01:50:55Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I hope you understand that it’s possible to ‘get it’ and still not like it. . . . FWIW, now that it has been explained to me…I still don’t really like it a whole lot, but I kinda admire it for its brashness. I far prefer Tom the Dancing Bug for political humor, occasional constructed in a similar “reverse of what I really believe” form. (Doug is such a doik!) ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/31 "2016-08-27T05:12:07Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I hope you understand that it’s possible to ‘get it’ and still not like it. > > I’ve always thought these were the weakest link in the Onion chain. > mmm Yeah, I understand that some do get it and don’t like it. I personally think that its humor lies in being so heavy-handed and so simplistic in its satirical representation. I can see though how it may not appeal to some who are well aware of the joke but don’t think much of it or how it represents the outlook of others. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/32 "2016-08-27T07:00:31Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > FWIW, now that it has been explained to me…I still don’t really like it a whole lot, but I kinda admire it for its brashness. Watch the short “Behind the Pen” videos I linked to in post #17. Seriously. They will help you understand the Stan Kelly point of view. 😛 And, they’re funny as hell! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/33 "2016-08-27T07:08:37Z")
No…didn’t work. I watched a couple minutes, and found myself absolutely uninterested. The guy’s narration is just a mirror of his cartooning style: he’s pretending to be a total moron and jerk, and… Meh. Boring. (What can I say? I don’t like Beavis and Butt-Head either…) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/34 "2016-08-27T23:11:54Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > No…didn’t work. I watched a couple minutes, and found myself absolutely uninterested. The guy’s narration is just a mirror of his cartooning style: he’s pretending to be a total moron and jerk, and… Meh. Boring. > > (What can I say? I don’t like Beavis and Butt-Head either…) Well, it’s not quite the same humor but… I read you. To each his own! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/35 "2016-08-28T06:46:33Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I love Kelly’s [“Behind the Pen”](http://www.onionstudios.com/series/behind-the-pen) videos where he explains in detail what’s going on in some of his cartoons. “Lady Liberty is a powerful symbol in a cartoon. You don’t want to overuse her.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943/36 "2016-08-28T13:43:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “Lady Liberty is a powerful symbol in a cartoon. You don’t want to overuse her.” That line cracked me up completely. 😃 I can completely understand why people don’t consider Kelly funny at all. I agree with the reasons they list. But he still makes me laugh, or at least chuckle, with every cartoon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-kelly-the-onion-editorial-cartoon-artist-fan/763943.md?page=1)