Gonogo.

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • The Artist – Jared Davis

Aggressively Unfunny

October 17, 2024 by Jared Davis

The image is my sketchbook sketch of Episode 7 which shows the date it was made, 1/31/24, about 10 months in advance. In fact, they are all written that far in advance so that I can keep up with the pace of physically painting the watercolors that go into each comic. So, whenever there is political commentary in the comic I have to be sure its evergreen. Well, this particular issue (Pizzagate) is an evergreen issue for me, and boy howdy does it bring out the commentors! Over 230 people liked it on Facebook (while one person called me “unhinged” and another “aggressively unfunny”) but the flame war now holds the GONOGO record for most comments on a single post. So, lets say, I struck a nerve. Nevermind that the comments seemed to center around someone trying to blame the Democrats for Pizzagate, at least people are talking about GONOGO, and that’s a win.

This is the last blog entry (and comic) before the election, and I am a bit wistful that I don’t have a comic that is election centered, but I simply couldn’t predict what this election was going to look like back in January of 2024. So, let me just say what everyone else says, “go out and vote”. You know who to vote for. I am a bit conflicted, because one candidate is way better for GONOGO that the other, but I think I can find aggressively unfunny things to say no matter who wins…

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Postal Possum, Process, Season 2 Tagged With: Pizzagate, Process, Season 2

Postal Possum

August 13, 2024 by Jared Davis

Process Watercolor: Postal Possum Delivers

I have been searching for a metaphor for the rumor mill, Washington leaks and social media all rolled into one. This months episode introduces that character: Postal Possum. I always enjoyed the episodes in the Sunday comic “B.C.” when the main character would float a stone tablet across the water and then receive a response at the end of the strip. I felt that Postal Possum could provide that kind of device to GONOGO. We are living in an age of disinformation as well as an age where all of our information is not only second hand, but much of it is from unqualified sources. A possum rooting through the garbage under the streets of DC seems kinda on the nose these days. I hope that he becomes a recurring character, because depending on how things shake out in November, he may just be the only news source we can trust…

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Postal Possum, Process, Season 2 Tagged With: Facebook, GONOGO Multiverse, Season 2, Washington DC

Teddy’s Paradox

July 18, 2024 by Jared Davis

The whole point of this months GONOGO (with Teddy Roosevelt professing to love animals in order to shoot the bejesus out of them) is the contradiction (or paradox?) that someone would preserve wildlife in order to shoot it. I hope that it is not lost on my readers that this was the Republican stance over a hundred years ago.  In a way, Teddy’s paradoxical view is light years away from where the current parties stand on these issues. It will be interesting to know how the Republican Party will react to the attempted assassination of Trump, however I doubt the answer for them will ever be “fewer guns”. It will not be lost on my readers that Teddy Roosevelt also survived an assassination attempt (and kept his speech rolling for a 50 minutes after being shot in the chest) which proves that GONOGO is once again “predicting the future”… It is my sincere hope that we, as Americans, can steer our parties away from the extremes and towards the center, even if it’s a paradox like Teddy’s.

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Season 2, Teddy Roosevelt, Washington DC Tagged With: GONOGO Multiverse, New Episodes, Process, Republican, Season 2

A Bridge to History

June 20, 2024 by Jared Davis

Season II Episode 3 Pencil Sketch

I have often said that the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge is a character in GONOGO. But this month’s episode takes it a step farther by unlocking the ghost of the former President himself. I am cautious about introducing new characters too often, because it can feel like there are too many people to keep track of, but I feel that this one is worth it. The comic would suffer if Foggy and Smithson only talked to each other. Having new characters is a way for them to communicate with the outside world and react to the profound weirdness that the DC area provides. In a way Teddy is personifying a feeling that any DMV resident carries with them subconsciously all the time; the weight of history in this place. All of the monuments, the civil war, the revolutionary war, civil rights, the world wars, Vietnam, 9/11 (the rest of America may forget that the Pentagon was hit that day, but folks around here find it hard to forget) even Jan 6 is part of the history around here. So, that is part of why Teddy has popped up in GONOGO, he’s a refection of the ever-present feeling of history that we have around here, and as a bonus I get the opportunity to make another republican look ridiculous (although they don’t seem to need my help doing that lately…)

Filed Under: Foggy Bottom, Political Cartoon, Process, Season 2, Smithson, Teddy Roosevelt, Washington DC Tagged With: Foggy Bottom, GONOGO Multiverse, New Episodes, Potomac, Roosevelt Bridge, Season 2, Smithson, Washington DC

This week’s comic is dedicated to George C Parker.

June 30, 2022 by Jared Davis

This week’s comic is highly indebted to my armchair philosophy about capitalism. My idea goes like this: Capitalism is largely getting somebody else to pay more than you did for the thing you own. This works out well for things like oil companies because they simply pump black stuff out of the ground, which is about as close to free as it gets, and sell it for huge profit. Similarly, there are real-estate predators (flippers) that are simply trying to do this same thing. I don’t feel bad for them when the deal turns south. The boys are exploiting a loophole in the philosophy that actually goes back to the Magna Carta: One cannot sell what one does not own. The whole “wanna buy a bridge in Brooklyn” con was created by George C Parker around the turn of the twentieth century, sometimes referred to as “the Gilded Age” (which I don’t have to tell you, looks frighteningly like the present day.)

There are only two more episodes to go in this first season of GONOGO, so, once again, I am hoping to solicit feedback about the future of GONOGO. Would a monthly comic slake your thirst for below the bridge humor? Would you actually pay money to receive the comic? Would you prefer I beg for tips on a platform like Patreon? Know anyone who would be interested in mass producing plush dolls of Foggy and Smithson? I am interested in your thoughts. Thanks for reading!

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Process, Uncategorized Tagged With: New Episodes, Roosevelt Bridge, Season 1

MK ULTRA EXTRAVAGANZA

June 3, 2022 by Jared Davis

Eagle eyed readers of GONOGO will be able to spot many references to earlier plot points featured this season in this weeks comic. Diving into the psychedelic horror that would exist in the minds of Foggy and Smithson, I wanted to highlight the paranoid and conspiracy theory driven world we are living in at the moment. I also added in a healthy dose of sixties era psychedelia art references because, lets face it, a little goes a long way, and the Federal Government is going to save money by using up the old stockpile. These last three episodes have been the most popular yet, which makes me wonder what that says about you, dear reader…
We are heading into the home stretch for season one. This was episode 22, and we are ending on episode 26. I am interested in collecting data from you folks about the future of this strip, but I will ask you all more about that in the coming weeks. Thanks again for reading, and as every Youtuber says, “Like and Subscribe!”

Filed Under: Colonel Magnolia Runsandhyde, Mayor McChez, Political Cartoon, Potomac, Process, Smithson, Teapot Rats, Washington DC Tagged With: Colonel Magnolia Runsandyde, Foggy Bottom, GONOGO Multiverse, Mayor McChez, Potomac, Season 1, Smithson, Teapot Rats, Washington DC

Expired Easter Eggs

April 21, 2022 by Jared Davis

Happy belated Easter, loyal GONOGO fans! Last weeks episode was yet another attempt to capitalize on a holiday in the publication schedule. Because of the time it takes to make this comic, it is hard to be topical. Holidays are known well enough in advance that the least I can do is try to tip my hat towards something I KNOW will be happening regardless of current developments. It doesn’t hurt that the former president (the subject of last weeks comic) is also pretty consistent…

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Process Tagged With: Foggy Bottom, Holiday, New Episodes, Season 1

EPISODE 17: A TALKING MONKEY?!

March 24, 2022 by Jared Davis

GONOGO Fans! Today’s comic represents the last of the Season 1 reruns. Next week, Thursday March 31 we will start airing NEW comics  (with blog posts on alternate weeks)

 

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns, Tourists Tagged With: GONOGO Multiverse, Reruns, Roosevelt Bridge, Tourists

EPISODE 16: The invention of the Lincoln Log

March 17, 2022 by Jared Davis

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns, Tourists Tagged With: Foggy Bottom, GONOGO Multiverse, Roosevelt Bridge, Smithson, Tourists

EPISODE 15: His Name is Mud

March 10, 2022 by Jared Davis

Filed Under: Colonel Magnolia Runsandhyde, Political Cartoon, Reruns Tagged With: Colonel Magnolia Runsandyde, GONOGO Multiverse, Reruns

EPISODE 10: Norwegian Immigration

February 3, 2022 by Jared Davis

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns, Teapot Rats Tagged With: GONOGO Multiverse, Puns, Teapot Rats

EPISODE 9: The Scattering Storm

January 27, 2022 by Jared Davis

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns, Teapot Rats Tagged With: GONOGO Multiverse, Teapot Rats

EPISODE 7: Crack-Pots

January 13, 2022 by Jared Davis

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns, Teapot Rats Tagged With: GONOGO Multiverse, Reruns, Teapot Rats

EPISODE 6: Coincidence?

January 6, 2022 by Jared Davis

It’s pure coincidence that the rerun with the first appearance of the Teapot Rats happened on January 6th…or is it?!?!

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns, Teapot Rats Tagged With: GONOGO Multiverse, Reruns, Teapot Rats

EPISODE 5: He Has The Monopoly on Tokens of Gratitude

December 30, 2021 by Jared Davis

Filed Under: Mayor McChez, Political Cartoon, Reruns Tagged With: Foggy Bottom, GONOGO Multiverse, Mayor McChez, Reruns, Roosevelt Bridge, Smithson

Episode 2: Awash with Money

December 9, 2021 by Jared Davis

Episode 2 of the “reruns” drops today. See the Full size at GONOGOCOMIC.COM

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Reruns Tagged With: Asinine, Foggy Bottom, Freezer, GONOGO Multiverse, Republican, Roosevelt Bridge, Smithson

Dirty Goldfish Water

November 18, 2021 by Jared Davis

GONOGO is a political cartoon. Not really, though…That is, its not the type of political cartoon that you would find next to an editorial in a newspaper (remember them?) but rather, its a strip that will occasionally dip it toe into the political waters. That metaphor isn’t quite correct either, GONOGO is like the goldfish and politics is like the water. We don’t ever really see the water, but you know its there, and without it the fish wouldn’t be able to breathe. (and I get obsessed about drawing the best plastic castle I can, but that is a different tortured metaphor.) This week’s Episode is one of those comics that lets the water get a little dirty. Like Steven Colbert I try not to say the former President’s name too much, and mentioning his least favored son came very close. But there is no getting around it, I have to make fun of the MAGA crowd. The subversive bit that I hope came across in this episode was the addition of the Abuelita (the little Spanish speaking granny that pummels Smithson). Even though I am making fun of the MAGA folks on the surface, I am also giving a nod to the Latino (I have some friends who bristle at the term Latinex) folks that are often hiding in plain sight. It seems entirely plausible to me that a little non-English speaking granny would be in with a tour group to Washington DC, and that the MAGA tourists would fail to see her. But her superpower is that she can’t be blinded by the Trump name, and sees the emperor has no clothes (or that there is a talking monkey!).  Sometimes it takes someone with a different perspective to see that the water was dirty all along…

Filed Under: Political Cartoon, Tourists

Copyright © 2025 · GONOGO by Jared Davis