A Second Helping of Celebrated Artist Gerald Skrlin

Is Walk the Plank an artistic representation of the Niagara Falls political scene as we know it to be or is the artist presenting a reality that he hopes to one day find? That is, has the Reporter positioned Mayor Dyster at the end of the proverbial "plank" that must be walked or is the artist giving us a cartoon scenario as he would one day hope it to be with the mayor having to walk the plank? In life there are no easy answers and in this cartoon - and in the city's politics - there are no easy answers but there is little doubt that the Reporter has proven to be Dyster's bugaboo as it exposes government waste while casting the light of transparency onto the shenanigans of Niagara Falls government. With the sword of truth in hand the relentless Reporter - in the fevered creative mind of Skrlin - has managed to muzzle NF 1 and cause him to tuck his tail between his legs. Which proves two things: the truth will always surface and a free press is the keystone of good government.

John Ashley Winston-Smathers
Art Critic