With the news of author Tom Wolfe's death, my first thought was, "Hey, didn't I do a comic about him way back when? I think I did!" And then I looked the comic up and... holy crap, lol. But I think that was a pretty common humor template back then: point out a potentially ludicrous thing, explain why it's potentially ludicrous, and punctuate the discussion with a desire for the perpetrator of the potential ludicrousness to die horribly. I still remember a bit on Garfield and Friends -- yes, Garfield the orange cat -- that ended with Garfield muttering, "People who sing like that should be dragged out into the street and shot." Again, this was on Garfield and Friends. Rating: TV-G.

In fact, my familiarity with and background in this kind of humor is probably part of the reason I'm not especially unsettled by the outward tone (and, to some extent, even the content) of so much of what's written online (at least when it's not coming from our elected officials). After all, I come from a tradition where wrath and outrage were exaggerated for comic effect. I'm certain I wasn't the slightest bit angry about the title of Tom Wolfe's book when I wrote this comic in 2004 -- if anything, the fact that I made the comic means I found it kinda delightful. That my comic persona was so incensed by the title was just part of the joke.

Anyway -- RIP, Tom Wolfe. I hope your death wasn't actually horrible and agonizing.