Prickly City
Encyclopedia
Prickly City is a daily comic strip
drawn by Scott Stantis
, the editorial cartoon
ist for the Chicago Tribune
, and distributed through United Features Syndicate. The cartoon follows the adventures of Carmen, a young Hispanic girl in pigtails, and a coyote
pup named Winslow. The strip is frequently politically-oriented
with a conservative
leaning.
. For a brief time, she had a crush on Tucker Carlson
. 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
, is a coyote with political aspirations who acts patronizing, condescending and impulsive. His liberal
responses are typically the source of the strip's humor. 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
, even writing a poem about her (which Carmen initially misunderstood as being a poem about herself).
refused to run the February 7, 2005 strip, which inaccurately quoted Ted Kennedy
. According to Stantis, the syndicate erroneously added quote marks to the dialogue without his permission. Later that year The Seattle Times
refused to run a series of strips about the Terri Schiavo
case.
More recently, a series of strips beginning August 25th, 2008 accuse the attendees of the 2008 Democratic National Convention
of being communists.
president Robert H. Brooks
. Frank & Ernest cartoonist Bob Thaves
was remembered in the September 10, 2006 edition.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
drawn by Scott Stantis
Scott Stantis
Scott Brian Stantis is an American editorial cartoonist.-Career:Scott is currently the Editorial Cartoonist for The Chicago Tribune and USA Today. He began his career with The Chicago Tribune on September 1, 2009 following the paper's nine-year search to replace Jeff MacNelly, who died in June 2000...
, the editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
ist for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, and distributed through United Features Syndicate. The cartoon follows the adventures of Carmen, a young Hispanic girl in pigtails, and a coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
pup named Winslow. The strip is frequently politically-oriented
Left-Right politics
The left–right political spectrum is a common way of classifying political positions, political ideologies, or political parties along a one-dimensional political spectrum. The perspective of Left vs. Right is a binary interpretation of complex questions...
with a conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
leaning.
Characters
Carmen - a 'feisty' conservative and a RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. For a brief time, she had a crush on Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American political news correspondent and conservative commentator for the Fox News Channel...
. 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, Arizona
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,520 people, 2,754 households, and 1,991 families residing in the city. The population density was 773.1 people per square mile . There were 3,198 housing units at an average density of 259.7 per square mile...
, is a coyote with political aspirations who acts patronizing, condescending and impulsive. His liberal
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
responses are typically the source of the strip's humor. Carmen is continuously frustrated by Winslow's assumption that she should be a liberal feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. Early in the strip's run, Winslow had a crush on Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
, even writing a poem about her (which Carmen initially misunderstood as being a poem about herself).
Minor recurring characters
- Dio, a chameleonChameleonChameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
named for Diogenes the CynicDiogenes of SinopeDiogenes the Cynic was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Also known as Diogenes of Sinope , he was born in Sinope , an Ionian colony on the Black Sea , in 412 or 404 BCE and died at Corinth in 323 BCE.Diogenes of Sinope was a controversial figure...
. He was a campaign director for Winslow. - Kevin, the Lost Bunny of the Apocalypse. He reports on signs of the "end timesEnd timesThe end time, end times, or end of days is a time period described in the eschatological writings in the three Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios in various other non-Abrahamic religions...
". In 2010, he was elected to the U.S. Senate under the banner of Winslow's "Lefty Tea Party". - Vaughn, appears to be an armadillo. He served as Winslow's campaign finance director.
- Rand, a vulture, possibly named after Rand PaulRand PaulRandal Howard "Rand" Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative" and a libertarian...
or Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
.
Controversies
The Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
refused to run the February 7, 2005 strip, which inaccurately quoted Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
. According to Stantis, the syndicate erroneously added quote marks to the dialogue without his permission. Later that year The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
refused to run a series of strips about the Terri Schiavo
Terri Schiavo
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
case.
More recently, a series of strips beginning August 25th, 2008 accuse the attendees of the 2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
The United States 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 of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...
of being communists.
Tributes
Prickly City has paid tribute to the passing of famous people during 2006. On July 31, they paid tribute to HootersHooters
Hooters is the trade name of two privately held American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Incorporated, based in Clearwater, Florida...
president Robert H. Brooks
Robert H. Brooks
Robert H. Brooks was founder of Naturally Fresh, Inc. in 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia, and later created the Hooters of America restaurant chain in the mid-1980s.-Early life and career:...
. Frank & Ernest cartoonist Bob Thaves
Bob Thaves
Robert Thaves was the creator of the comic strip Frank and Ernest, which began in 1972.Thaves' desire to become a cartoonist began in his childhood. He had no formal training; instead, he practised by studying and drawing the works of other cartoonists...
was remembered in the September 10, 2006 edition.
Book collection
| Title | Cover | Publication Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greetings from Prickly City |  |
September 1, 2005 | ISBN 0-7407-5451-3 |