Mike Luckovich: The Round File for April

Opinion

Mike Luckovich: The Round File for April

Mike's comment: I wanted to do something for Earth Day. This was the first idea that led me to the idea for the cartoon I ended up drawing.

Mike's comment: So this was the final version, the cartoon that was published on Earth Day.

Mike's comment: This week it was announced that the latest House Republican committee investigating the fake scandal known as Benghazi will last through the presidential election campaign. So this was my first idea. But I thought there are going to be more GOP-generated scandals between now and election day, so I thought I'd do something broader.

Mike's comment: This is what I finally drew on the topic of the Hillary scandals and it was published Thursday, April 23.

Mike's comment: I thought that this was a fun kind of topic. Dr. Oz has other doctors criticizing him for his hucksterism. But I didn't end up doing it.

Mike's comment: This is such a big topic -- the way Republican presidential candidates' sugar daddies are picking them now. In a way, it's like legalized prostitution. These guys are strutting their stuff while the customer, the billionaire, sits back and checks them out.

Mike's comment: This was funnest -- and I do mean "funnest" -- cartoon I did this week.

Mike's comment: Republicans have been trying to humiliate poor people receiving public assistance by telling them what they can't spend their money on, so I came up with this sketch. It wasn't my favorite, so I didn't do it.

Mike's comment: The big Atlanta story this week was the APS sentencing. Eight of the 10 being sentenced chose not to take the plea deal and ended up with terms that weren't lenient. My first idea was this one.

Mike's comment: I figured there was a better way to do it and came up with this cartoon that was published the day after the sentencing.

Mike's comment: Republicans this week passed more tax cuts for the super-wealthy. That's their answer to everything. So I came up this sketch, which I didn't end up doing.

Mike's comment: In the same vein, I came up with this idea. I didn't do it either, but the topic of Republicans governing on behalf of the wealthiest is close to my heart.

Mike's comment: Protests in favor of giving low-paid workers a living wage are gaining steam across the country. This was my first sketch on that subject.

Mike's comment: I decided to broaden the idea a little and ended up with this cartoon, published online on April 15.

Mike's comment: I was thinking about scientists discovering water on Mars while California is going through a terrible drought. I thought it might be funny to have Martians discovering water in California. It just didn't work and I abandoned it.

Mike's comment: People talk about how George W. Bush is going to be a tremendous albatross around his brother's neck. But to me Jeb has problems of his own even without taking into account his brother. I tried to get readers thinking one way but the punchline turns out the other way. I didn't love this so I dropped it.

Mike's comment: I was just trying to show that guns going off and someone getting shot in America is a daily thing. But this was too clunky and I abandoned it.

Mike's comment: I love drawing Charles Schulz's characters from Peanuts, but this got a little bit too complicated and had too many captions.

Mike's comment: This cartoon was just okay. But then I came up with another cartoon idea using these guys in a funnier way which I may do next week.

Mike's comment: Every year at this time I do a pollen cartoon, and this year the pollen is terrible. The challenge is to come up with a new approach each year. This was my first idea -- to have the three little pigs with the wolf blowing down the house because of the pollen. I didn't like it, but it led me to my next idea.

Mike's comment: So I started thinking about Adam and Eve being in the garden of Eden at this time of year. Instead of casting out Adam and Eve, what if God made them stay and upped the pollen count? This is the rough sketch of the final cartoon published online this weekend.

Mike's comment: One of the big stories this week was Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signing the “religious freedom” bill and then having to back down after overwhelming criticism. My first idea had a tattooed Pence saying he was going back to the tattoo parlor for “clarification.”

Mike's comment: Because there are or were a number of bills like this in state legislatures, including Georgia's, and because this is the week leading up to Easter, I came up with this cartoon. So far it’s had over 500,000 views on Facebook.

Mike's comment: Another good topic this week is California imposing water restrictions because of their continuing drought. I wanted to do something with the Easter bunny, but this idea stunk.

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