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Tea Party Comix Creator Speaks Out. Hilariously.

Published Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:47:14 -0500

Last updated Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:19:31 -0500

Ethan Persoff, the commentator who brought the Tea Party Comix issues to wider public attention online, has received a missive from the creator, now confirmed as Arizona comic store owner Tom Kalb. Attempts from Bleeding Cool to reach him earlier in the week, based on sales, were unanswered. His authorship then was not confirmed

In a letter to Persoff, he denies any racist intent and states;

I have taken all TEA PARTY COMIX OFF of Ebay. I hope you are happy and I hope the world is a little bit better better place in which to live now. ….I do not understand the connection with "big ears" and "racism", and I do not understand how a "dark face" implies racism…… The accusation of "Hate" is true, but it is the hate of an IDEOLGY, not a of race of people….. I understand that the ideology has captured 80 or 90% of the race(s) in question, but it is STILL a AN IDEOLOGY and NOT a "race" that this comic book attacks…. Cartoonists have historically drawn "the enemy" in a negative light… Please search cartoons of Reagan and Bush for instance ( and please see my caracature of Janet Napolatano in Tea Party Comix #2! )….. Think, and you will have to admit there was NO LIMIT placed upon these depictions…. But somehow, ANY negative drawing of Presient Obama is automatically "racist"… Be honest with yourself, if it is possible. ….Think. And maybe admit that you have an advantage that you are taking advantage OF….. In Tea Party Comix #1 there is a strip in which a person handing out Tea Party Comix #1 has an ALAN KEYES tee-shirt… Did you upload THAT strip?? Not that it would matter to people who think that RACE is more important than IDEOLOGY, but I would think that a fair-minded person might include that strip….

You can edit this and make me into any monster you like, that's up to you. We'll see what a moral person you are, and you can live with that. I'm sure you will be safer than I feel tonight, either way……

The undergrounds of the sixties WERE "allowed". Apparently "Tea Party Comix" are NOT allowed…. To any reasonable man, well, this miight give him something to think about, about how far we have "come"….. Is it truely a BETTER world?? You tell ME! – Tom Kalb

Ethan replies at amusing length, but yes, Bleeding Cool would like to reiterate that the undergrounds of the sixties were not "allowed" – that's why they were undergrounds! The clue is in the name!

But accusations that this comic was a "plant" by the left to ridicule the Tea Party activisists has been rather dashed now. It looks like Tea Party activists are quite capable of ridiculing themselves.

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