22-11-2003 02:38									#1
	Johnny Hart is in trouble. Again. Remove this text

Johnny Hart is the creator of the newspaper comic strip B.C., which has gotten in trouble many times in the past for using its position to evangelize readers, among other things. One strip showed a turtle complaining that his shell was covered with grafitti. This in itself is innocuous, but the vandalism in question included a swastika. Hart said that he only meant it as another example of grafitti...

But now there's been a bit of hell-raising over one of his recent comics. It's pretty simple and I'm too lazy to get an image, so I'll just describe it. In the first panel, a character walks up to an outhouse on a hill by the light of a crescent moon. In between it and the next panel, the word "SLAM" is written vertically in bold letters. The next panel shows just the outhouse on the hill; presumptively the guy is inside the outhouse. In the final panel, the guy says, "Is it just me, or does something smell in here?" That's it.

When I read it, the only problem I noticed was that it wasn't even the slightest bit funny, but it's been construed as (if you want, you can try to guess how it's offensive before reading, but it's pretty left-field; I couldn't get the frigging spoiler tag to work so I hit enter a bunch of times)

















a hidden insult to Muslims. Between the outhouse door and the night sky, across three panels, there are six crescent moons in the comic, and the word SLAM is vertically arranged in the shape of an I. Ostensibly, the strip is implying that Islam stinks...

Hart denies it, and says the strip was only meant to joke about the overuse of the phrase, "is it just me, or..." and the power of human denial. Thing is, Hart is prone to this kind of joke. Any bets as to whether he meant it or not? I got this from a Washington Post article, BTW.

	22-11-2003 02:45									#2
	Remove this text

Well the thing that gives rise to this sort of conspiracy stuff is the total unfunniness of the strip. If it was funny no one would have cared. Because it doesn't even elicit a smile, people go looking for hidding meanings... things they didn't see the first time.

	22-11-2003 02:52									#3
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I'm distantly related to Johnny Hart.

	22-11-2003 03:11									#4
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Heh, long time since I saw a wallpaper gag :d:

I loved BC way back in the 70's but haven't read them since then. If this one is on the level it is now...

But insulting Islam? Get outa here...

	22-11-2003 03:15									#5
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Hart has used that same night scene of the out house hundreds of times in the past. Insulting Islam...


I don't think so... some people need to get a life

	22-11-2003 03:33									#6
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if this is an insult to islam, then i'm albert speer's dl.

	22-11-2003 04:01									#7
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Well, as long as JIMMY Hart's all right...

	22-11-2003 04:45									#8
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

That moronic strip is still running?

How about "Family Circus", is that still popular, too?

	22-11-2003 05:11									#9
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You better believe it.

	22-11-2003 12:19									#10
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I used to like Family Circus

comics I like: Garfield, peanuts, family circus, there are some others I can't think of right now

	22-11-2003 20:34									#11
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quote: Originally posted by Ming Hart has used that same night scene of the out house hundreds of times in the past.

He has? I don't remember it. Mind you, you're probably right about his intentions...

	22-11-2003 20:44									#12
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He probably wouldn't be getting this reaction if he didn't fill 3/4 of his strips with fundamentalist Christian BS.

	23-11-2003 00:24									#13
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If he did do it, it's pretty frigging subtle.

	23-11-2003 00:34									#14
	Re: Johnny Hart is in trouble. Again. Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Elok Hart denies it, and says the strip was only meant to joke about the overuse of the phrase, "is it just me, or..." and the power of human denial.

Actually, I can see how it's suppoised to be funny while keeping that in mind. Still pretty lame, but I can atleast see where he's coming from.

	23-11-2003 00:40									#15
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I wonder who the hell has the time to find these things, anyways.

	26-11-2003 15:33									#16
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quote: Originally posted by Andrew1999 He probably wouldn't be getting this reaction if he didn't fill 3/4 of his strips with fundamentalist Christian BS.

Errrr, he usually puts a Christian message in the Sunday strip on or near Christmass and Easter, and if Christmas falls on a weekday or Saturday he'll do it then, too.

He did it after the Columbia disaster, and probably after 9-11 although I don't remember specifically. I'll bet other singular occasions can be found.

Anyway, it's about 5% of the time, not 75%. Whoever wants to whine about it can eat my shorts.

	26-11-2003 23:34									#17
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ok so a muslim org. whined about the strip.


Im agree here with those who say its subtle - i found the strip pretty stupid, and for the life of me Im not sure what Hart meant.

However - what I will do is defend the right of the muslims in question to be offended - and to raise this as an issue. They are sensitive with good reason, and I dont think they are abusing this sensitivity in this case.

	27-11-2003 02:52									#18
	Put an end to popups!

HEY! That post's offensive, LOTM.

By my right to be offended, I ask you to remove that last post in its entirety!