Ramblings for Saturday- An act of God (i.e. snowstorm) cost me the opportunity on Friday to meet both Janet Parshall and Michael Medved. Oh, the injustice!
I've created a new 'What is Faithmouse' page-Dan
Ramblings for Friday- I'd like to thank emailer Chuck (and others) for effectively talking me out of most every change I've been making to the site during the past few days. All the galleries and files will be back in place later tonight. So, I'll buy more bandwidth....okay.
A revision of today's toon is in the works.
Ramblings for Wednesdays- Chris and I saw The Polar Express last night in Imax 3D. 3D or no, it's a superb film. -Dan
Ramblings for Tuesday- A complimentary posting of a cartoon from the current series can be found at Linus from Singapore's Cucumblogs. Nice dragonfish pic!
Most of the 'set-up' panels are now complete for the current series, although I'm still planning to make changes to a few of the previously presented toons. Today's cartoon is a rework of yesterday's cartoon, which was only uploaded to Men's News Daily (I was in a flying rush.) The cartoon of the 15th has been revised as well. There's a companion cartoon which closely follows the U.S. Mercy toon, which by the way is still underway from San Diego to the Indian Ocean-a thirty day voyage (the hospital ship, not the cartoon). This week we should trod more firmly into the story lline. -Dan
'One of the most unusual and most delightful web sites around, Faithmouse.com is sure to become one of your favorites. There you'll meet a creative conservative Christian artist who has mixed the best of Bill Buckley and Bugs Bunny to come up with a great new hero whose comments on contemporary culture are of great value.' -Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Ministries
I am the chaplain of the (withheld) military Police Brigade (in a large Iraqi city.) Every day I brief my Colonel and our staff on activites involving religious support to our soldiers. I was wondering if I might use a few of your military Faithmouse cartoons to catch their attention. As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words" and I think that Faithmouse says a lot. Thanks for the support. Blessings, (name withheld)
You are on my blogroll...one of the few and the proud. If you want to add mine, feel free, if not, no big deal, I think your stuff is genius. The blogsphere could be the next great evangelistic tool as well as the greatest grassroots form of Christian activism since Luther. Thanks again and keep up the good work. God Bless, webmaster Fredof 1754blog
Hi, Dan I hope that you have enjoyed (your holidays) with family and friends. I was checking out the comments on your cartoons and, boy these Liberals are certainly a tolerant lot, aren't they. (Tongue in cheek) Whenever some one tells me Jesus was a Liberal, I tell them, oh no, Jesus did not tell me to take Dan Lacey's money and help the poor, He told me to take my own money and help the poor. Felt I had to throw my two-cent's worth on that subject. In any event, Thanks a lot, I have reccommended your 'toons to many people.... emailer Joseph
Thanks for a thoughtful website. You are unique. -emailer Cindy
Thank you for making such an inspirational, Christian editorial cartoon. As an amateur cartoonist, I simply adore your political cartoons. You have such a cute style of artwork! :)
God bless you, and I'm looking forward for more, so you better notquit, no matter what happens! ~Fan of Faithmouse
Hello, I've been honestly enjoying the comic the last couple of days (came to it in a roundabout way from Portal of Evil), and I think it's some kind of surrealist genius, even though I don't necessarily agree with all (or any) of the conclusions you reach. -Evan
A new link we've added to the sidebar is Faithmouse.com... We checked out this site and strongly recommend it for anyone reading Our Word. They are saying things about our culture that need to be said, and doing it in a way that is very accessible to people. When you've looked at the cartoons, read some of the comments sent in by people*. If it's true that you can often judge a man by his enemies, then I think Dan's "enemies" prove that he's doing the Lord's work. Some of the comments will make you mad, but let that righteous indignation turn to prayer for these people, some of whom have a great hatred of God and Jesus, that they will turn their energy and their souls over to Him, Who can do all things. -Judith and Mitchell Hadley Our Word and Welcome To it. (*negative commentary removed.)
Just stumbled onto your web site and wanted to express my appreciation for your art and your brave and correct stand on the issues. Keep up the good work - I've included your site as part of my "Favorites" directory. - Al
I discovered Faithmouse on comic sherpa. Of course, that led me to your site. Great comic and a great site. I have a special appreciation for Christian cartoons, but yours stands out. Not only is the artwork superior, but the writing is sharp as well. The concept of the comic as an ongoing editorial cartoon is unique. Your messages are clear and direct without being overly "preachy". There is also an edge to the work that I find very appealing. Many Christian cartoonists go for the mild and meek approach, which dilutes the quality of the overall work and message. Keep up the great job. -David
I've been reading Faithmouse for a while. I am a Christian, yet I do struggle. I'm also a United States Marine. I have to thank you for your support of our president and for the support you have for my brothers in Fallujah. I also thank you for your pro-life stance -- abortion is the greatest evil in America today. -name withheld on request
While I do not agree with virtually any of your opinions, you have a right to voice them just as much as the liberals do. Both sides trying to eliminate each other's opinions is a hypocrisy. That said, I do enjoy your artwork, and I can say that your artwork is very well done, in both the right and left wings - Tarik
I'm a huge fan of your work, and a daily visitor to your site.... Thanks for your great cartoon. I look forward to it every day. God bless you and yours over this holiday season. - Clifton
I found your artwork and site through a link on NewsMax. What a great cartoon and message. As a member of the Army, I would like to thank you for both your stand as a Christian and your support of the Military. I go to work every day defending the rights of others and their right to freedom of speech. It is a pleasure to know that there are those like yourself that are taking a stand and expressing the same views and beliefs that I hold dear. I go to work every day to preserve the right of OUR beliefs to be heard and made public as well. ...It is so representative of the fact that those of us in uniform can be Christians, maintain our faith, encourage each other and be Warriors at the same time. There is no conflict, but one aspect brings peace while performing our duties in the other. Thank you for what you do and taking a stand. Your site is now my start page and I look forward to your future art. Respectfully-name withheld, United States Army
Thank you for making such a funny comic, you really have a great talent! God gave you the ability to draw, and it's great to see you are using the talent for the best. -Robert Phillips
May the Lord our GOD bless you and your faithful muse this morning. You might remember that I have made y'all the homepage for the Finance Office. What joy you bring to our world of numbers! -Wanda, Finance officer, Baptist Church
I LOVE your cartoons!! Thank you. - Dawn
Thank you for making such wonderful comics! Never stop. :) -"Shmorky
Even at my age (a lot), I look forward to the comics after reading the front of the newspaper. So many of the so-called "popular" strips have become nothing but mouthpieces for liberal causes and others hostile to our values. "Doonesbury" stopped being funny years ago when Trudeau started taking himself so seriously. On the other hand, we have rags like the L.A. Times refusing to run Johnny Hart's "BC" when there is a Christian theme displayed. I'm looking forward to the gentle, uplifting message of "Faithmouse" appearing in one of our Newspapers. Thank you for your efforts. Yours in Christ, Joseph
Your sense of humor and artistry is a talent for God's ministry. I've always been searching for some light Christian humor for some friends who cannot see things optimistically. Now I found it. -Christina
Hello again, Dan... Been a brief while since I wrote -- there's a whole lot of activity in this world of ours lately. The pictures from Fallujah, the death of Pat Tillman, the al-Qaida bombings in Madrid, the continuing chaos in Afghanistan (largely dwarfed by the war in Iraq), the pictures from Abu Ghraib, the footage of Nick Berg's execution, the betrayal of state secrets by Mr. Chalabi, the apparent sanctioning of prisoner torture by our own leaders... this insanity seems to go on and on and on without a pit stop, doesn't it? And it required the death of Ronald Reagan to take our minds off of all that. Up front: The main reason I'm writing again concerns the 6-6-04 entry of faithmouse in ComicsSherpa. So far, it's the best memorial to Reagan I've seen. There's a whole lot of utter nonsense emanating from both Reagan's harshest detractors and his doe-eyed fans these days, and your modest entry transcends all of that. Good -- I'm glad I saw it. - email from JY (6/10/04)
Best of luck to you with your excellent work. Sincerely, David Limbaugh (author of Persecution)
Hi Dan, I read Faithmouse everyday. I thought it was about time I emailed you. I really like Faithmouse; keep up the good work. I believe that the Lord wouldn't necessarily have us look at our own political party through rose-colored glasses, but see it for both the good and the bad. I read both conservative and liberal editorial cartoons daily. I'm a conservative, but I must say I sometimes like hearing things from a fresh point of view because it may have been something I overlooked. I guess it's just my personality not to be so loyal to someone that I defend them even when I think they're wrong. -Joseph Ward of AmongWolves
Thanks for your encouraging email, especially the part about keeping on when nobody seems to care. I've wondered many times over the past few years if anyone really cares about what I'm doing, but just when it seems that it's all a waste of time I get an email from someone who has been blessed by the Sheep Comics. I never wanted the Sheep Comics to be political, at least in the sense of "right"versus "left". However, the Doonesbury strip to me went beyond politics and into raw bigotry, so I felt compelled to respond.Thanks again for the encouragement. God Bless, Web Shepherd of Sheep Comics
Ramblings for Sunday- I'll relocate these comments to the blog this evening. It's our regular vowel movement, a habit of this site which constitutes our Sunday blogging constitutional.
Welcome to the right-on-the-mark and north-of-the-border Black Kettle and also to Mary's Hope4America Yahoo group, the latter to which I'm an infrequent contributor but daily peruser.
Ramblings for Saturday- Welcome to our new link partner, the very enjoyable Among Wolves cartoon by Joseph Ward. Joe is another old Comic Sherpa comrade. After you've looked at Joe's site please check out Charles (Top Secret) Stouff's new Carneez toon. Best of luck on the new direction, Charles!
A faithmouse cartoon is included in a new Ratherbiased cartoon collection.
Ramblings for Thursday- In response to a quote attributed to John Adams posted on a theophobe site and meant as evidence of Adams' anti-Christian sentiment, and also in honor our Prez's upcoming second Inauguration, I present this page in defense of the true beliefs of our second President. Welcome to three new affiliates today - WhitleyWorld (libertarian) Missouri Conservative and ChristianTeen Network.
Ramblings for Tuesday- Faithmouse has been stretched for bandwidth recently due to intense interest, a problem I imagine most cartoonists wouldn't mind having. I've pulled the 'past month' archive located on this site but left the Typepad site (a great gift from Stacy Harp...thanks Stacy!) as it doesn't require bandwidth from faithmouse. So, if you copy any of the images from the Typepad site and post them using your own bandwidth, please remember to also post a return link to faithmouse, which is the only payment I ask for showing my work online. I've also removed a few of the galleries, perhaps only temporarily, just to see what the effect on my numbers are. I've also noticed that the old Comics Sherpa archive has fallen off the edge of the world- I'll try to find time to repost many of these older toons on the Typepad site as well. Also please note that hundreds of the older traditional format cartoons (the 'b' series) which I had collected into sets last year and was giving away for print reproduction have been pulled and are gone forever. Sorry, but I needed more lift in my balloon.
At the moment I'm working on four cartoons at once, which is why the site has seemed somewhat bottlenecked for new work. A few new emails have been added below; I've color coded them blue for quick perusal-Dan
Ramblings for Monday- A hearty welcome to our new and refreshing Tall Glass of Milk.
Today's toon is the most recent in the current tsunami series. I'll dedicate a separate page to the series later this evening. -tsunami series
Our new 'puffing' (my, aren't we wonderful) quote is courtesy of Digital Chirper, who maintains Moe Lauzier's Issues of the Day (check out The Metaphorical Wall by Judge E. F. Harrington while you're there as well, a great primer on the modern fool's gold issue of 'the separation of Church and State'.) Now and then Digi posts a faithmouse cartoon on Mel's site. Thanks, Digi! Positive affirmations are highly appreciated.
I'd also like to thank emailer Mike T. for his observation that the earth would actually feel smoother than a croquet ball in one's hand, rather than 'just as smooth.' I'll change the wording on that toon...
The current series will not only go on for a while-it also denotes a change of direction for the cartoon. Up until now faithmouse has largely been composed of individual cartoons commenting on separate issues, punctuated with the occasion short series and the rarer longer series (the latter many a time left unfinished.) As a New Year's resolution I've decided to dedicate the cartoon to one continuous storyline. This tact will allow me to express more complex ideas over a longer time period. It will also accentuate the relationships between the characters. This last point is the most important, as character interaction is the engine which drives good fiction. -Dan
Ramblings for Monday-
Here's a recent email from a fan regarding the current series-
Dear Kim,
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I won't go into responding to your points. I think you should just wait to see how the series pans out.
You're very welcome, and thank you for your own. :) I do intend to check back with the series as time goes by, and I'm sorry if my assumptions have been very off-base. One of the reasons I believe I've been able to develop and improve the cartoon is that I consider the viewpoint of those who have strong criticisms of it. I think that my cartoon covers a lot of unexplored territory, and I try now and then to take some risks. I appreciate your interest in my work, even though (allow me to make the assumption here) you have a very different viewpoint than mine both theologically and politically.
Not so much as I would have been a year ago, actually, but still quite different. Though just to quickly mention here, while it's sort of off-topic, I do appreciate a lot of your Gay Bear series. I've had at least three gay Christian friends over the years, and by mentioning their struggles you're discussing something that's often overlooked or covered in fire and brimstone. The "gay marriage as red herring" comic is a particular favorite of mine, as whether or not anyone believes gay marriage to be immoral there's far more to be solved about American marriage than who does or doesn't get to participate. But I digress, and I don't want this to turn into a debate of values either - I'm glad to agree to disagree. :) I try to keep the idea as I'm exploring it fluid and open to interpretation, not only for the audience but also for myself. That's because I realize instinctively that ideology can kill an artistic impulse, even though I may very much agree with a certain viewpoint and wish to communicate that to the audience. That's the reason a number of my 'message' cartoons, about subjects I really believe in, haven't made very compelling cartoons. So, your observations are very intriguing and, because I work off of subjects which intrigue mewherever I may find them, I believe your feelings will influence the series.
I've noticed your regard for dissenters, to the point that you freely post their comments, and it's part of what made me more eager to email you and see your response. I appreciate your ability to acknowledge criticism, and especially the fact that you might actually let them influence your work on some level. Thank you. I'm not trying to avoid your questions, but that's why I balk at 'debating' the political and theological points of the cartoon, especially while I'm still developing the idea. I'm more than able to defend my muse, but I don't want to drain all the interest out of a particular series before I finish it. I already have a few series I feel pretty guilty about not finishing, because I've already finished them in my head. So, all I can say again is that you've made some very good points.Everything is put back a few days because my crash (you missed a great opportunity to make the joke 'Jesus saves, why didn't you?') so I probably won't pick up the series until Sunday or Monday. However, I am making a few changes to yesterday's (which is again today's) cartoon. Something you may wish to keep in mind is that Ms. Starmole is a fake. She doesn't really believe in anything. I'll try to make a better point of that in the cartoon.
I think if you watch the series, you'll see it become pretty dark, and then light again.
I know this doesn't answer many of your questions, but I hope it's an improvement upon my frantic and exhausted response of this morning.
God bless!
Dan
As something of an amateur writer and poet, I can totally understand the draining of the muse as well as its evolving nature. So I'll end my emails here until the series is done. :) Thank you very much for all your comments and insights into your work, and I look forward to seeing how it pans out. God bless and Happy New Year!
Kim
Ramblings for Friday- At five A.M. my wife heard me yelling 'No, no, no!' and assumed I was talking to the cat. Actually, I was speaking to the mouse. Jesus saves, but Dan did not. Today's cartoon therefore is a redo of yesterday's cartoon. It's a much better version, trust me.
Ramblings for Tuesday- Today's cartoon is the third try at the Religious Liberties' amendment cartoon. I've deleted the previous versions and substituted today's toon for those already hot linked on various sites. The faithmouse cartoon has a new friend at ConservativePosts and a future friend at Idiotopia. A new cartoon will still be posted for later today, although I haven't decided if it should be about lower suicide rates among the religious or tsunamis.
Ramblings for Monday- A new cartoon is on it's way for this morning. I'd like to thank Mitchell and Judith Hadley of the Twin Cities, who posted a very nice 'thumbs up' for the cartoon on their Our Word and Welcome To It blog. Lime is a bright and positive new link courtesy of Pastor Anne in Norway. The unfailingly loyal Stacy at e-involved has blessed the site with the present of a typepad blog, which I'm incorporating as a new and improved method of displaying recent archived cartoons.
