''Prickly City'' is a daily

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

originally drawn by

Scott Stantis Scott Brian Stantis (born May 2, 1959) is an American editorial cartoonist. Career Stantis is currently the editorial cartoonist for ''The Chicago Tribune''. He began his career with ''The Chicago Tribune'' on September 1, 2009, following the p ...

, the

editorial cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...

ist for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', and distributed through

United Features Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...

. The cartoon follows the adventures of Carmen, a young girl of color, and a

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

pup named Winslow. The strip is frequently politically oriented with a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

point-of-view. It is currently drawn by Eric Allie.

Characters

Carmen – a 'feisty' conservative and a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. For a brief time, she had a crush on

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, conservative political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show ''Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News since 2016. Carlson began h ...

. Carmen made her first appearance at least 4 months before the strip began, in one of Stantis's editorial cartoons. Winslow – named for the town of

Winslow, Arizona Winslow ( nv, ) is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 9,655. It is approximately southeast of Flagstaff, west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and southeast of Las Vegas ...

, is a coyote with political aspirations who acts patronizing, condescending and impulsive. His

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

responses are typically the source of the strip's jokes. Carmen is continuously frustrated by Winslow's assumption that she should be a liberal feminist. Early in the strip's run, Winslow had a crush on

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

, even writing a poem about her (which Carmen initially misunderstood as being a poem about herself).

Minor recurring characters

* Kevin, the Lost Bunny of the

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

. Depending on the needs of the strip, he's alternately meant to evoke

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. He reports on signs of the "

end times Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...

". In 2010, he was elected to the U.S. Senate under the banner of Winslow's "Lefty Tea Party". * Hunny, Kevin's wife (also a bunny) and a prominent politician. Her character is a thinly veiled satire of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. * Dio, a chameleon named for

Diogenes the Cynic Diogenes ( ; grc, Διογένης, Diogénēs ), also known as Diogenes the Cynic (, ) or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy). He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea ...

. He was a campaign director for Winslow. * Vaughn, appears to be an armadillo. He served as Winslow's campaign finance director. * Rand, a vulture, possibly named after

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is a son of former three-time presidential candidate and 12 ...

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

Controversies

The ''

'' refused to run the February 7, 2005 strip, which inaccurately quoted

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

. According to Stantis, the syndicate erroneously added quote marks to the dialogue without his permission. Later that year ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'' refused to run a series of strips about the

Terri Schiavo The Terri Schiavo case was a series of court and legislative actions in the United States from 1998 to 2005, regarding the care of Theresa Marie Schiavo (née Schindler) (; December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), a woman in an irreversible ...

case."''Seattle Times'' Drops ''Prickly City'' Strips About Schiavo Case", ''Editor & Publisher'' Later, a series of strips beginning August 25, 2008 accused the attendees of the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...

of being communists.

Tributes

''Prickly City'' has paid tribute to the passing of famous people during 2006. On July 31, they paid tribute to

Hooters Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with ...

president Robert H. Brooks. '' Frank and Ernest'' cartoonist

Bob Thaves Robert Thaves (October 5, 1924 – August 1, 2006) was the creator of the comic strip '' Frank and Ernest'', which began in 1972. Early life Robert Lee Thaves was born on October 5, 1924, in Burt, Iowa, where his father, John, published local ne ...

was remembered in the September 10, 2006 edition. On September 16, 2019, the strip paid tribute to comics syndicate editor Lee Salem. On February 13, 2021, the strip paid tribute to baseball player

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

Book collection

References

External links

* {{United Media Comics American comic strips Comics about politics Conservative media in the United States