Cagley Comic Analysis

I found this comic on the website www.cagle.com, and just looked through some of their comics until I found one that I personally found appealing. The artist of this cartoon is very upfront and direct with the point he wants to make addressing the nations enormous debt issue. It depicts Captain America, someone who is supposed to embody all of the qualities that make America superior, as a morbidly obese man sitting on a chair shoveling junk food and sweets into his face from his shield that are labeled "DEBT", while a scientist behind him yells at a colleague "No! No! No! I said give him 'Super-SOLDIER serum' not 'Super-SPENDER serum!'" The author also utilizes a single frame composition in his comic in order to further the image's impact and give it a much more direct appeal to the reader.

The artist is trying to appeal the American public of today, saying that by allowing ourselves to become such wasteful spenders, we have abandoned many of the principles that America once stood by as a nation. By having a symbol of American superiority look so utterly defeated and pathetic, he's using a pathos appeal to show that if we don't change our ways as a nation, it's only going to end in turmoil for us. He also makes the words and image equally important in conveying his message. Without one another, the message would not be as strong. Without the words, one could horridly misconstrue the meaning of the cartoon, thinking possibly he could refer to the obesity problem present in America today. But, by adding the dialogue and label of "DEBT" on the junk food Captain America is eating, the artist makes a much larger statement than if he had left the image alone.

Again, the author is simply looking to open the public's eyes to what is happening within their own country and to realize that something needs to be done and it needs to be done quick, otherwise, this country is headed down a path of destruction. By utilizing the image of such a well know American hero as pathetic and defeated, he's trying to appeal to the audience on an emotional level in order to stir up feelings and reactions within them in hopes that maybe they'll actually realize that something needs to be done and they can help get things rolling.