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Jump Start Comic Strip Generates Local Controversy

Published Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:00:46 -0600

Jump Start is a syndicated comic strip about a policeman and his family. Currently it's running a thanksgiving-inspired plot that is exploring the importance of bulletproof vests as standard for police on the job.

But running a strip with two police being shot at, one hit in the chest, may have been unfortunate. Because you could guarantee somewhere that incident would be happening for real.

And in Rochester it did, two policemen shot on the day before the strip[ ran, and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle felt the brunt of reader complaints. And in Tacona, this was only a week after four of their police officers had been shot dead. It was a tender issue for both communities.

The Democrat & Chronicle and The News Tribune both ran apologies and creator Robb Armstrong wrote a personal reply to complaints that had been received, saying;

I am saddened and horrified whenever I learn of an officer or anyone else being shot at or murdered.

Sometimes I wonder if our society is becoming numb to news of a shooting or some other anti-social atrocity. I wonder if being in a seemingly endless war overseas has caused us to accept inexplicable violence as a normal part of life.

The people of Rochester have shown me otherwise. The response to my comic strip, where I have depicted an officer being shot, has been appropriately emotional. The people of Rochester are not apathetic or numb.

I created the strip you are reading today nearly a month ago. I had no idea that, by the holiday season, four officers in Washington state and two in Rochester would fall victim to senseless violence. But, I create JumpStart knowing the risks of accidental prophecy.

The point of this series is to implore officers to wear their vests every day. "Joe," the character in JumpStart who gets shot, happens to be wearing a steel medallion given to him by a homeless man. Joe and his family fed the homeless man's family on Thanksgiving, and he is given the "Hero Medallion" as a display of gratitude. Joe is reluctant to wear the strange gift, but wearing it ends up stopping an assailant's bullet. A later strip points out that all officers have a life-saving "Hero Medallion," it is their bullet-proof vest, and they should wear it proudly and fearlessly.

I am grateful for the outcry heard from New York state. I am grateful to be published every day in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. (I'm a graduate of Syracuse University and I've enjoyed your city.) Most of all I am grateful that officers Daniel Brochu and Luca Martini will recover. Thank God.

But what kind of steps does a creator actually have to take in order not to offend against any possible circumstances?

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