Mariani tackles Hulkamania

I’m usually late to the party when it comes to producing timely editorial cartoons. News from Monday is often stale by Friday. Oh, I could draw something five or six days a week, there’s no shortage of cartoon fodder, but my paying newspapers (Two. Only two) are running me only on Saturdays.

This week, I caught a late-in-the-week break with the big story of the passing of pro wrestling’s icon, Hulk Hogan, on July 24.

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I don’t know how many cartoons will connect Hulk Hogan to Donald Trump, but I expect there will be many.

Simpler is better

My process begins with a rough draft that I submit to the managing editor. It’s usually a clunky-looking graphic, full of pasted online references and sloppy scribbles, just enough to sell the idea.

My first rough draft:

That was supposed to be Trump saluting Hulk Hogan. Again, I drew this in haste. The gag was junior high school humor, but we’re talking about Trump, whose dialogue runs at that level.

I didn’t hear back from the paper right away, but I was reasonably sure they’d give me the green light, so I worked on eliminating the unnecessary content.

Introducing a janitor just to deliver the punch line was cluttering up the space, so I fired him. He was an undocumented immigrant anyway. Be gone!

Imagining the corpulent biomass of Donald Trump didn’t take much work. A hairless Shar-Pei dog comes to mind. I intended to show the only thing he was wearing, aside from the red tie, was a jock strap, i.e., an athletic supporter. I had fun drawing Trump’s magnificent physique, especially the creases caused by the bands that ran atop and under his buttocks. They are straining mightily, ready to snap.

However, this poor piece of cotton and elastic got lost in the folds, so I needed to modify Hulk Hogan’s dialogue from “biggest supporter” to “biggest athletic supporter.”

For the love of God, cover the man!

My editor liked the idea, but he asked that I clothe Trump. He didn’t know why I had him nearly naked. If you have to explain a cartoon, then it’s not working, so I sent him another rough draft, which is close to the finished version. With Donald now covered up, I had to show a stinking, mildewy athletic supporter somewhere.

My editor felt much better about this draft, so I added the final touches and emailed the cartoon with time to spare.