The Joy of Soy is the handiwork of Vance Lehmkuhl - www.SoyJoy

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http://www.citypaper.net/hth/soyjoy.html

 

Vance Lehmkuhl's

The JOY of SOY

The first (and funniest) collection of cartoons about VEGETARIANISM is now in

bookstores.

Blowing away the notion that vegetarians lack a sense of humor, this book has

vegans, veggies, near-veggies and non-veggies alike laughing along with the

wacko comments and absurd situations that come with their chosen lifestyle.

There are cartoons about mysterious party dips, Tuna-Safe tuna, and about

raising vegetarian kids---as well as the ever-more-topical " What's Really in

That Burger? "

 

The Joy of Soy is the handiwork of Vance Lehmkuhl - political cartoonist for

Philadelphia City Paper since 1990, The New York Times Syndicate's " Face Value "

cartoonist for two years, and a vegetarian for the past 15 years. Lehmkuhl's

City Paper cartoon was awarded " Best of Philly " by Philadelphia Magazine and has

appeared in various national magazines and newspapers. This is his first book of

cartoons.

 

 

VEGGIE CARTOON NEWS

 

Hart obsessed with animal rights

Johnny Hart, the creator of B.C. and co-creator of Wizard of Id, has lately

taken to doing a higher proportion of " issue " strips in each cartoon. While his

religious zealotry has gone way overboard in B.C., creating jokes that are

absolutely foreign to the original concept of the strip, he has long been more

subtle with Wizard, drawn by Brant Parker.

Until now. For some reason, Hart has become convinced that " animal rights "

activists are hypocrites because they are not vegetarians. One can only assume

he must have met one such person somewhere at some time and this notion

traumatized him. Traumatized, that is, to the point that Hart has made the exact

same " joke " on this topic in Wizard in the space of a few months.

The second appearance (the first was on September 23, 1999 - I will put it up

here soon as well) is in the 2/24/2000 strip:

 

I wrote to Mr. Hart back in February through Creators Syndicate to provide an

answer his question ( " yes, overwhelmingly " ) and ask why this issue obsesses him

so much that he has used it in two separate strips (the previous one had the

King asking the same question) in less than half a year. If and when I receive

an explanation, I will post it here. If not, I will escalate the ridicule of

Johnny Hart until he just can't take it no more.

 

 

 

Street pitches 'eggplant cheesesteak' on Oprah

Mayor John Street appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to plug his new fitness

initiative for Philadelphia, touting such delicious items as an " eggplant

cheesesteak. "

This falls under the heading of Veggie Cartoon News because the mayor was

obviously reacting to various irreverent cartoons this cartoonist has published

relating to then-Council President Street's stance on Domestic Partnership. How

do I know? Because of the eggplant - which has long been a running gag in my

commentaries (e.g. WHYY's A Chef's Table) on veggie dining.

All right, Mister Mayor, you win this round. But if enough people in Philly go

vegetarian, I'm willing to take the hit. Even if it means they're eating (gag)

eggplant.

LATER: I used the " Eggplant Cheesesteak " angle in my City Paper Cover Story on

changing your eating habits.

 

 

The first and funniest veggie fast-food?

So I was out doing errands on my lunch break, hadn't had lunch, and in a

bizarre fit of desperation, nipped into a 7-Eleven to see if they had anything I

could eat. There was the usual garbage, and cursing my stubborn optimism, I was

about to leave, when I saw ... the Dilberito!

I was astonished that what at first looks like yet another Dilbert licensee not

only bore the imprimatur of " Scott Adams foods " but was totally vegetarian!

(This is the phrase Adams uses on the packaging, although the one I got, anyway,

seemed to have no animal ingredients whatsoever, so it could have been called

vegan, but that probably would have scared some people away.)

Now, I'm not going to tell you this was the most delicious meal I've ever had,

but it sure was the best food I've ever gotten at a 7-Eleven! At the first bite

I said, " Hmmmm, this is going to take some getting used to. " But by the last

bite, I not only was used to it, I wanted another Dilberito.

As it turns out, Scott Adams himself is a vegetarian. Fortunately for other

vegetarian cartoonists such as myself, he has concentrated his cartoon content

on workplace foibles rather than on this lifestyle - otherwise my claim to the

first and funniest book of veggie cartoons might be in serious jeopardy.

If you'd like to know more about this line of nutritious convenience foods and

where you can find them, check out the DILBERITO web site, or write to

Jack Parker

288 Newton Sparta Road

Newton, NJ 07860

phone: 973-300-2091

fax: 973-300-2093

 

 

 

 

Dennis the Menace goes Vegan

THE COMICS PAGE (King Features) - One Sunday edition of the popular " Dennis the

Menace " comic strip may prove a menace to the status quo. Or it may merely

reflect the title character's mercurial nature.

But for whatever reason, and with whatever eventual result, Dennis Mitchell went

vegan, at least temporarily, on Sunday, August 16, 1998.

Vegetarian activists worldwide reacted with surprise, delight, and bitter

cynicism at Dennis's sudden conversion. Here we see the two-panel " teaser " for

the main comic, in which Dennis confides to Joey a vow to avoid milk " from now

on. " Although few activists take him at his word in this instance, the rest of

Sunday's strip only reinforces Dennis's potential resolve, as he has his eyes

opened about honey, fried chicken, and pig products in turn.

 

At the end of the strip (not reproduced whole for copyright reasons), Dennis not

only acts on what he has seen and realized; he takes the initiative to " convert "

Joey for the time being, asking his aunt if they can skip to the apple pie

because " We're not very hungry. " Granted, Dennis is something of a blowhard, and

Joey a lily-livered nerd, but it is notable that the strip ends without a twist

reversing its title character's apparent resolve. Hank Ketcham could not be

reached for comment at press time. Readers are encouraged to watch Dennis's

eating habits as presented in the comic in the future. Remember Lisa Simpson?

Her vegetarianism is almost the only major plot development ever to carry over

from one episode to the next (the only other being Homer's promotion) on that

show.

In a late-breaking development, Dennis rails against the imprisonment of marine

creatures in the May 6, 2000 installment of his cartoon, asking if an aquarium

he's patronizing is " some kind of fish jail. " Well, yes, Dennis, it is. And glad

to see your burgeoning vegan consciousness is expanding beyond your own eating

decisions.

 

 

 

 

 

CARTOON SKETCHBOOK

Some of the cartoons that may appear in The Joy of Soy II...

 

 

 

 

CARTOONS FROM HOW-TO HARRY

Some of these are not for the squeamish!

There are a hundred variations on this, of course. It's comical, all right, but

also tragical. Maybe the whole thing is just shades of gray.

 

Anyone ever read the children's classic The King, the Mice and the Cheese?...

...........................

 

 

 

 

I'm firmly convinced that our grandchildren will look back and laugh (a somewhat

bitter laugh, of course) at the concept that at one time people not only kept

our closest primate relatives in cages, but came up with lame-brained excuses

for how this could possibly be a good idea.

This is one of those strips with the dozens of teeny-tiny bonus details, like

this guy's apron, which---unreadable in this reproduction---says " Slaughterhouse

Two. " I don't know why, but I found that tremendously funny for some reason. The

teeny footnote says, and this is important, that " No Cartoon Rats Were Harmed in

the Making of This Strip. "

This charming cartoon dates from the death of that craaaazeeee Dotor Spock.

Weren't that a time, back when those meat recalls were happening? Thank heavens

that's not the case anymore.Nobody has more fun at the circus than those

star-struck, attention-starved wild animals - as they'll tell you themselves.

 

 

 

 

SOYJOY LINKS

 

Be sure to check out these vegetarian-themed sites!

 

NOTMILK - Robert Cohen - www.NotMilk.com

 

 

 

Veggies Unite! www.VegWeb.com

Your online guide to vegetarianism - Over 2,200 recipes plus much more.

 

 

Institute for Plant-Based Nutrition - www.PlantBased.org

The IPBN is just down the street from where The Joy of Soy was published. These

folks know their nutrition backwards and forwards, and make a compelling case

for sane eating and living.

 

 

PETA Online -- www.PETA.org

ABOUT.COM's Vegetarian Page - http://vegetarian.about.com

This page has just about everything you'd need to know about the topic,

including links to veggie humor sites like this one!

 

 

 

And for more info on Vance Lehmkuhl and his world of cartooning, visit

HOW-TO HARRY'S CARTOON ACADEMY - www.CityPaper.net/hth/

 

 

 

 

 

For those who need to know the finest details...

JOY OF SOY SPECS:

 

 

Title: The Joy of Soy

Author: Vance Lehmkuhl

Publisher: Laugh Lines Press

ISBN: #1-889594-03-2

Price: $8.95 paper

Size: 5 x 7 ; 96 pages

For best results,

simply print out this page

and take it to the bookstore with you.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for not slaughtering!

 

 

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