It’s that time of year for a recurring bit I use to get ahead for the holidays. I have one more to draw before I close the books on this miserable year. Even though there’s always more bad news to come, I’m giving myself the gift of mostly ignoring it until after the New Year.
Read the comic on Patreon.
Read the comic on Daily Kos.
Read the comic on GoComics.
I was originally going to mock Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher for scabbing when they announced they were putting their shows back into production while the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes are still going on. Unlike CEOs, some celebrities are capable of shame, and both changed their minds after a week of ridicule. I still had to put a Maher jab in here ’cause he sucks.
If the strike continues much longer, the studios’ pipeline of new stuff will dry up. They may think they can wait the unions out, but audiences are less patient and won’t keep their subscriptions autorenewing if the only new stuff they’re getting are reality TV and game shows.
If these CEOs can’t get their shit together, they deserve to be bought out by UPS, a company that realized averting strike for a few million in benefits is better business than losing billions to stick it to the unions.
Read the comic on Patreon.
Read the comic on Daily Kos.
Read the comic on GoComics.
The Writers’ Guild of America declared a strike early Tuesday after the executive side of the entertainment business refused to negotiate their modest demands. A lot has changed since the last writers’ strike in 2007, especially how media is consumed and compensated.
Netflix’s red envelopes were the big new thing back then, and now they’re a relic young people think coexisted with BETAMAX. Yet pay, residuals, and benefits are still stuck in that ancient time before we had to manage a dozen or so streaming logins.
All of these studios are making profits, just not enough to satisfy Wall Street’s maw. So they’re screwing writers and nickel-and-diming their subscribers by canceling shows and memory-holing their back catalogs to save a few cents on residuals, all to squeeze out more dividends and stock buybacks.
Joe “Union Guy” Biden broke a rail strike so the economy wouldn’t take a hit. If this writers’ strike goes on long enough to harm the studios’ bottom lines, I’m sure he’ll find a way to intervene.
Read the comic on Patreon.
Read the comic on The Nib.
Read the comic on Daily Kos.
Read the comic on GoComics.
I’m abstaining from making any predictions about 2023. Not for lack of any ideas where things are headed, but because I don’t want to be too much of a holiday party pooper.
I’ll let COVID, RSV, and flu do that.
Read the comic on Patreon.
Read the comic on The Nib.
Read the comic on Daily Kos.
Read the comic on GoComics.
After more than two months on strike, Kellogg’s workers rejected a contract offer that would’ve shafted younger employees. So Kellogg’s is pulling a Reagan and replacing everyone instead of negotiating in good faith.
So stop eating their garbage, even Cheez-Its. I stuck to cereals for a visual theme, but the lack of a Cheez-It mascot illustrates just how bad Kellogg’s hiring practices are.
Read the comic on Patreon.
Read the comic on The Nib.
Read the comic on Daily Kos.
Read the comic on GoComics.
Not only should Amazon be broken up, Jeff Bezos’ fortune AND his acutal physical form should be as well. This monster amassed even greater fortunes during the pandemic, while subjecting his employees to grinding in miserable conditions.
Eventually he and Elon Musk will monopolize enough of the world, that they’ll be the only two businessmen I have to know how to draw.
(panel 1 – Title above Jeff Bezos pushing a shopping cart containing Earth.)
Jeff Bezos’ Monopoly Spree
(panel 2 – Jeff Bezos with the MGM logo, with the lion replaced with Scabby the Rat.)
Bezos, “After acquiring MGM, I’m replacing their iconic lion with a union-busting scab.”
(panel 3 – Jeff Bezos dressed as James Bond, showing of a license to kill.)
Bezos, “Then casting myself as the next 007, with a license to kill small businesses.”
(panel 4 – Jeff Bezos with the Toxic Avenger.)
Bezos, “I’m also buying Troma Entertainment, and rebranding the Toxic Avenger as a champion of employee abuse.”
(panel 5 – Jeff Bezos at a storage unit with VHS tapes, film reels, and other old media.)
Bezos, “I even bought your home movie library, so you now have to subscribe to Prime to watch your precious memories!”
(panel 6 – Jeff Bezos blowing dust of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.)
Bezos, “My latest purchase is the United States’ antitrust laws. They weren’t using them anyway.”
Read the comic on Patreon.
Read the comic on Daily Kos.
Read the comic on GoComics.