KONNIE AND HOBBS

From WoMag's year in review issue last year

Politician's are notoriously prickly when it comes to being made fun of.  I appeared on Coffee with Konnie a few years ago and blogged about it pulling no punches and revealing the true (wo)man behind the curtain then with no connection WoMag editor Doreen Manning asked me to helm a cartoon issue for their Year in Review issue and we were given a baker's dozen new-stories and I randomly chose ending up with Joe O'Brien's surprise election as Mayor of the Big Woo.

I decided to pay homage to Calvin and Hobbes and feature a little adventure where Konnie imagine's herself as a valiant protector of the city battling the evil forces of O'Brienstein-- a creature created by Congressman Jim McGovern and Lt Governor Tim Murray, who in reality WERE involved in O'Brien's campaign.

Now after drawing this strip in which it's clear Konnie is the hero I got email from people asking me why I didn't like Konnie and what she ever did to me.  A recent snub at an event at WAM by the former Mayor has me convinced that she may not have enjoyed my take on the election outcome.  I'm sure Congressman McGovern laughed at my Lester Lightbulb-like depiction of his in reality very large head (housing, I'm certain, a great deal of brains) and my fellow Doherty High School Alumni buddy Tim Murray being depicted as 'Timmy' complete with lollipop (he was called the Boy Mayor when he was here) must have chuckled heartily when he saw it.  I'm even certain that current Mayor O'Brien enjoyed being depicted as a lab monster, and yet from Konnie-- a snub.

It might be that I was totally off model with her husband, but until the other night I didn't know what he looked like after hours of frantic searching on the web back when I was doing the strip produced not a single picture of Mr. Konnie Lukes.

Now WoMag has asked if I'll do the year in review again-- and provided my local cartoon buddies are in then it's a go-- if I get another Konnie story I can't guarantee it'll be any better received than this one.  Maybe it'll be about the scientist installing a sense of humor in our local pols.