May 8, 2017

"Pepe the Frog is dead" —  as depicted in the new comic strip by Matt Furie, the artist who originally drew the character.



Long ago the frog got away from his creator and became "increasingly... linked to racism and anti-Semitism over the past two years, despite Mr. Furie’s insistence that the character was meant to be positive" (as the NYT puts it).
“A lot of the Pepe controversy has really troubled him,” [said Eric Reynolds, an associate publisher at Fantagraphics] of Mr. Furie, who did not reply to requests for comment on Monday. “I think the strip was less about saying Pepe the Frog is dead — because Pepe is a fictional cartoon character — and more about him just sort of processing everything that’s going on.”

Oren Segal, the director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said he appreciated Mr. Furie’s struggle to maintain control of his character. But he had “mixed feelings” about seeing the frog in a coffin. “This meme is almost like Elvis,” he said. “Elvis lives on, and Pepe is going to live on regardless of whether we put him in a casket in a cartoon.”
Of course, Furie can't kill the meme, but this was a successful play for news coverage about his disapproval of what has been done with his creation, and it's some publicity for his books. Here, you can buy his "Boy's Club." I just did!

54 comments:

tcrosse said...

Kermit sends condolences.

Unknown said...

I will tell you the kid from 21 Pilots has something going on He did a video I can't help falling in love

JohnAnnArbor said...

Kind of like the Guy Fawkes mask thing.

JaimeRoberto said...

So who linked Pepe to racism and anti-Semitism? Was it racists and anti-Semites, or was it Hillary Clinton's campaign and the media? From what I've seen it's the latter.

Tarrou said...

And this is how we will kill anything we want. We'll just tell the infantile morons in the press that any random thing is "racist and anti-semitic" and they'll be off to the races. See: Our recent rebranding of the "OK" hand sign, now the papers are freaking out at anyone who makes it! This is how we flood the zone. When every cartoon and hand sign is racist, nothing is.

David said...

Totally missed out on Pépé until now. Just as well.

traditionalguy said...

Green Frog was a cute amphibian, just a croaking all the time until he croaked the big one.

Pepe we hardly knew ya.

I thought Milo used him as an avatar.And Milo is back.

n.n said...

The Frog was painted -- smeared, really -- as ant-Semitic and racist, ironically, by people and intersts who are [class] diversitists: anti-Semitic, racist, sexist, etc. They tend to paint in broad, colorful spectrums, targeting individuals and competing interests.

David53 said...

Here's the real story about Pepe

https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com/

Many older people just won't get it.

Unknown said...

This kid from 21 Pilots does not even know what he does. House of Gold is too much, Thus kid is too cool./

n.n said...

Another victim of climate change.

Earnest Prole said...

The vast majority of 4chan kids, including the ones who post vile stuff, aren't racist or antisemitic; they simply don't like being told by old people what's out of bounds.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I was extremely disconcerted my most recent comments got lost mystic.

Won't forget, you think I will but I won't, that satisfy' you and all our programmers too.

Quad through and through, till they got a load of you, then deca-google.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I had me many times Dylan lyrics erased, but his fans care about gold's lack of Christianity.

Save more.

buwaya said...

Cowardice.
A mad, bad, bold artist would have gone where his fans led.

tim in vermont said...

Seems like Hillary killed Pepe by throwing around reckless accusations.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Earnest Prole said...
The vast majority of 4chan kids, including the ones who post vile stuff, aren't racist or antisemitic; they simply don't like being told by old people what's out of bounds.


Maybe, but why not take up rock climbing?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

traditionalguy said...
Milo is back.


Where?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

buwaya said...
Cowardice.


Heard a great conspiracy theory today, from a former national of the Soviet bloc, naturally.

He ties the rise in wealth inequality in the west to the failure of communism. The western oligarchs needed an apparently fairer system when communism looked like a viable rival but no longer need to fake equality now that communism has collapsed. The actual power system hasn't changed, just the degree to which the oligarchs feel comfortable in flaunting their power.

tim in vermont said...

Maybe, but why not take up rock climbing?

Yes, why question authority?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Some things are apparently too toxic to even be appropriated as just a right-wing symbol.

Drago said...

ARM: "Maybe, but why not take up rock climbing?"

It's difficult to respond online while rock climbing.

Otherwise a capital suggestion.

Bob Boyd said...

Notice the lower half of the casket is closed?
Yup. Somebody ate his legs.

Drago said...

TTR: "Some things are apparently too toxic to even be appropriated as just a right-wing symbol."

Challenge accepted!

Drago said...

ARM: "He ties the rise in wealth inequality in the west to the failure of communism."

I prefer to stay grounded and attribute much of it to the technology revolution.

And Flavor Flav.

Bob Boyd said...

I just glad Pepe Le Pew didn't let himself get sucked into the French election.

Drago said...

TTR, I missed you in the Sally Yates thread.

I kept watching both sides today and I couldn't help but wish that we had a rule that no one could run for Office at the federal level without successfully completing the "Prime Ministers Questions" test.

Oh woe is us.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Bob Boyd is showing some serious heartlessness in the face of Pepe's demise.

Drago said...

ARM, I think you mean "leglessness".

I could be wrong.

Bob Boyd said...

@ David53

Cool.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sorry 'bout that.

Jupiter said...

Pepe lives.

Anonymous said...

Pepe croaked.

Earnest Prole said...

Maybe, but why not take up rock climbing?

Why not scream at them to get the hell off your lawn?

Drago said...

Inga: "Pepe croaked"

Nope.

Unfortunately, Sarah Halimi was "croaked" and the last thing she heard after being stabbed and thrown out a 3rd story window was Alahu Akbar, which Inga probably believes was a beautiful gesture, almost as beautiful as the Islamic call to prayer according to obambi.

furious_a said...

Remember that you are Kek, and unto Kek you shall return.

Robert Edick said...

Reminds me of R. Crumb and Fritz the cat.

Saint Croix said...

"That cartoon frog is more sinister than you might realize."

Hillary Clinton


Saint Croix said...

be nice man

Saint Croix said...

boy the ADL really embarrassed themselves

if people have to add a swastika and a Hitler mustache to make a cartoon frog racist

then the cartoon frog is not your problem

and you should not be warning people about the cartoon frog


Che Dolf said...

JaimeRoberto - So who linked Pepe to racism and anti-Semitism? Was it racists and anti-Semites, or was it Hillary Clinton's campaign and the media? From what I've seen it's the latter.

n.n - The Frog was painted -- smeared, really -- as ant-Semitic and racist...

Earnest Prole - The vast majority of 4chan kids, including the ones who post vile stuff, aren't racist or antisemitic...

This is like watching journalists try to process Islamic violence, which can't be real because that would be bad. "Why did the Muslim repeatedly shout 'aloha snackbar' as he fired his rifle into the crowd? I guess we'll never know."

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Let the Left gloat over Pepe's "death." (I never heard of this cartoon until the campaign anyway.)

Far more important and the major reason Trump got my vote:

"Having filled a Supreme Court vacancy, President Trump is turning his attention to the more than 120 openings on the lower federal courts. On Monday, he will announce a slate of 10 nominees to those courts, a senior White House official said, the first in what could be near monthly waves of nominations.

The White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, said the nominations were a vindication of a commitment Mr. Trump made during the campaign “to appoint strong and principled jurists to the federal bench who will enforce the Constitution’s limits on federal power and protect the liberty of all Americans.”

Two of the nominees who will be unveiled Monday were on the list of Trump’s potential Supreme Court justices and will likely come under scrutiny by Democrats because of that inclusion: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen, who will be nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Justice David Stras, who sits on the Minnesota Supreme Court and is Trump’s pick to sit on the 8th Circuit.

Trump will name three other nominees to the appellate courts: Amy Coney Barrett to the 7th Circuit, John Bush to the Sixth Circuit and Kevin Newsom to the 11th Circuit. The president also plans to name four federal District Court nominees: Dabney Friedrich in the District of Columbia, Terry Moorer in Alabama, David Nye in Idaho and Scott Palk in Oklahoma, as well as Damien Schiff to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims."

Who cares about a cartoon frog? Here come da judges!

tim in vermont said...

All somebody has to do is draw a cartoon of an empty casket and Kek will live forever.

Saint Croix said...

the head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, worked in the Obama administration

which probably explains why the ADL was more worried about Pepe the Frog than, say, Keith Ellison

oops

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Virtually Unknown said...
All somebody has to do is draw a cartoon of an empty casket and Kek will live forever.


Keep hope alive. Pepe has risen

tim in vermont said...

A Brown County church vandalized with Donald Trump graffiti shortly after the 2016 election wasn’t targeted by pro-Trump political activists, but a member of their own congregation, according to police.

The Brown County prosecuting attorney’s office issued a statement Wednesday saying they had charged 26-year-old George Nathaniel Stang of Bloomington with institutional criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. Stang was the man who originally claimed to have found the graffiti, and works as the organist at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom.

According to court records, when confronted with the evidence, the 26-year-old gay man confessed.


More Trump inspired hate speech.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

More Trump inspired hate speech.

5/9/17, 6:25 AM

Damn those Trumpists for making us resort to racial slurs, vandalism and violence!

furious_a said...

Thanks to Pepe and Hillary's media Praetorians, the Clinton campaign was too busy chasing cartoon frogs to campaign in Michigan and Wisconsin.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

furious_a said...
Thanks to Pepe and Hillary's media Praetorians, the Clinton campaign was too busy chasing cartoon frogs to campaign in Michigan and Wisconsin.

5/9/17, 6:52 AM

Ha! Pepe served his purpose.

tim in vermont said...

"I dreamed I saw
Pepe last night
Alive as you and me.
Takes more than ink
To kill a frog
I never died said he.
I never died said he."

the Clinton campaign was too busy chasing cartoon frogs

Hillary and her seances may just have believed that Kek was causing her bad luck. To steal a bumper sticker "Her karma ran over her dogma" and that's all she wrote.

Anonymous said...

buwaya:

Cowardice.
A mad, bad, bold artist would have gone where his fans led.


It's a truism that artists' works are often greater and more intelligent than the artists who create them.

Kinda makes you believe in the Muses.

Unknown said...

Attention to all,Attention to all.Are you a business man singer soccer play
trying to be grand and famous in life or trying to secure your wealth and
position in the society and get money within 3 days .
whatsApp +2347052744530
.join Illuminati now to have Money, powers, fame,protection, cure to all
illness and wealth become your title in just three days. If interested to
join the illuminati brotherhood and sisters with our headquarters at Nigeria and USA
and Africa through African initiation for success in life do and become
billionaires any were you are through online initiation.For more info
whatsApp us through this initiation contact Number:
+2347052744530
For your on-line initiation.
No matter where you are. No distance can affect the work of our baphomet
WhatsApp +2347052744530
Email:worldmoneyilluminati669@gmail.com
and say yes to your dreams.Hail lucifer..
..............??

furious_a said...

Old Lady Yells at Frog.

Old Lady is still yelling at frog.

tim in vermont said...

A mad, bad, bold artist would have gone where his fans led.

Sure, but we get one of them what? Maybe once a century? These people care much more what the elites think of them personally, than what people think of their art.