Am I being too sensitive over this? To me it looks uncomfortably like a swastika.
I doubt it’s intended to be a swastika or hint at one, even if it might to some.
Well, its stated purpose within the cartoon’s context is to make people uncomfortable. So, job done, I suppose.
It seems out of context to be a subtly-conveyed swastika. And it’s too subtle to be an intentionally-random-subversive swastika. If there were some plausible Nazi connection in the cartoon itself that might be another story.
That, too.
Hold up a crucifix in front of the cartoon, and you’ll be protected from is power to harm you. Let the symbols duke it out.
I don’t doubt the lack of intention; the execution is another matter.
Specifically, to convey despair, bleakness and alienation. I don’t find the design especially subtle either.
Looks like an inflatable tube man (‘air dancer’) to me.
Well known indicator of despair, bleakness and alienation (particularly in animation). I wonder why?
Nah, I think you’ve got it. It’s subtly a swastika, and that’s part of what makes it unsettling, which is what makes the comic work.
And I agree that using it in isolation is nothing to be concerned about. If you saw hidden swastikas in a lot of this cartoonist’s work, then maybe it would carry meaning. But, as is? Probably innocuous.
Not that I plan on looking at it again. It does really well at being unsettling for something drawn in a simple comic style.