Death Star and Kids Don't Mix

This is the cartoon entry for this week's caption compedition at the CCGB (Cartoon Club Great Britain) Forum.  After week one's elation I faced the difficult second album problem of trying to beat my debut which I predictably didn't manage gaining 4 points and coming roughly 8th out of 15.  The Forum is a mixture of pro and amateur cartoonists and you can tell the differences between my drawing and someone who does this for a living.  So back to the drawing board for next week.

However as far as cliched Star Wars jokes go it isn't my best idea but neither is it my worst.

Ps. This week's winner like Roger Kettle last week has some pedigree.  You'll have seen Richard Skipworth on Hallmark and other cards.

Crash, Bang, Clatter of tiny feet

Since my caption compedition almost victory last weekend have spent the week thinking what to draw with the caption 'That's not one of your best ideas'.  This was one of my ideas (perhaps not the best) inspired by my son's ability to reach places he shouldn't including climbing out his cot tonight.

The Temptation of Crisps

After the weekend's compedition excitement I come back to a cartoon I was working on pre-tsunami.
  Lent is about preparing the Christian for the Easter Holy Week and it's length of forty day mirrors the forty days in the desert where Jesus was tempted.    The emphasis these days seems to be on giving something up but traditionally it included prayer, fasting, repentance, alms giving (charity) as well as self-denial.
  If Lent becomes just some sort of Holy Diet plan then like any form of dieting the thoughts will be on what is being given up rather than what good thing you are trying to achieve.
  I salute those in the middle of Lent keep it up and focus not just on what you're giving up but on all the other good.

Look Rules Are Meant To Be Broken Aren't They

For anyone wondering about the cryptic nature of the Title it's from a Cartoonist Forum caption compedition that I am entering for professional and wannabe cartoonists.  You have to draw a cartoon with the aforementioned caption,

It is based on the notion that Fight Club's famous First Rule "The First Rule Of Fight Club Is We Don't Talk About Fight Club" wouldn't last five minutes in the age of Facebook, Twitter and everyone's personal lives being public.  Of course explaining a cartoon sort of defeats the purpose along the lines of a Picture being a thousand words.

UPDATE:
The voting finished at 6pm and the result was out of 13 cartoons I was joint first with Roger Kettle but he won on some sort of Alternative Vote system where number of 2nd places count.  Still I am chuffed given the quality of the field.

You can view the thread of the compedition here.
http://www.ccgb.org.uk/q_and_a_forum/simpleforum_pro.cgi?fid=09&topic_id=1300139580&page=1

General Hospital

I was back at our local General Hospital this week for a follow up to my Nose Surgery.  My last visit there inspired the Hokey-Cokey hospital cartoon and also this one which I only got round to drawing today.  It is also partically inspired by the Steven Wright attributed quote:

  "I went to a general store.  They wouldn't let me buy anything specifically."

Man Flu Helpline

The last few days I've been suffering from ma flu/cold.  I think NHS could treat this in the same way as Swine Flu and set up a dedicated phone line for it.

Sendai: Six Degrees of Seperation

This is my first cartoon since the massive earthquake and Tsunami in Japan.  As well as being glued to 24 hour news updates it risked being crass trying to make humour at such a time of great disaster (as a Malaysian newspaper who had to apologise for a rather insensitive Tsunami cartoon discovered).

I even had a cartoon about Lent called 'Temptation of Crisps' half complete but couldn't move on from what I was reading and seeing so I drew this cartoon called 'Sendai: Six Degrees of Seperation' referring to Karinthky's theory that we are all connected to every other human on the planet by six others.  I thought about what links me with the stoic suriviors on the other side of the world who have lost whole communities, have little in the way of supplies and help and have the threats of further aftershocks, tsunamis and nuclear reactors melting.

By the time the news passes through 24-hour news and the Internet it may still have the power to shock and move but on the other side of the planet our lives go on and we are crass enough to call our minor ailments disasters.