Change The Head takes the viewer into the very bowels of the political laboratory where calculating and devious political candidates are cleverly manufactured and then set loose on the townspeople like so many Frankenstein monsters. In this instance it is Candidate Dyster who rests atop the mad political scientist's operating table readied for action as the mayoral election approaches this year. Modern mental health experts have defined the "false self" to be the persona adopted by the troubled individual who cannot meet the world through their own real personality and so adopt the false self or mask with which to function day to day. In Skrlin's masterpiece of the retelling of the Frankenstein tale Dyster's false selves are literally on the shelf and are interchangeable depending upon what impression and what program or special event Mayor Dyster seeks to project to the public so as to be reelected. This cartoon blends the classic horror of the 19th century with the contemporary horror of the 21st century political process. Just as the original Frankenstein tale caused many a sleepless night for readers so many years ago, so does "modern politics" create a deep cynicism and stark fear in the heart of contemporary voters.
Winston Oliver Petty
Art Critic