​And now in a break from the political dissolution of our country ... today's cartoon by my pal Nick Galifianakis. He's one of the few cartoonists whose work I don't just like but actively admire and draw inspiration from. He has a masterful control of all 256 bits - the full grayscale gamut.

Okay, I lied. Unless he's gotten with the program he's still an antediluvian slinger of that old fashioned cartooning medium - ink, pen and brush. Which means rather than just 256 bits of grayscale value he's going for infinity. The modern world beckons but he rejects its siren call.

One of the things I especially like about his work is how he draws figures that are close enough to anatomically correctly proportioned to look "real" and yet retain full cartoon qualities. It's a tough line to tiptoe down. 

I invite you to notice the scribbly background that sets the scene but doesn't distract from it, the boldly inked foreground figures, the wonderful textural rendering of the clothes and the expressive faces captured with just a few spare strokes.

Oh, and there's the gag too. That's pretty good as well!

From the cover of the current issue of Alta magazine, published by William R. Hearst III. Yup, I'm a Hearst cartoonist!