Penguins complaint or Twingie-pingi Celebrated Artist Gerald Skrlin on Penguins and Their Canine Mayor Friend

Skrlin never ceases to move the goalpost of cartoon humor. He is constantly challenging the viewer and challenging the previous critical incarnation of his work. Never known for his "light pen" the artist in this work moves off into whimsy and gentle humor as the Mayor is anthropomorphically reduced to a playful, if politically crafty, pup that is immersed in the near mystical world of that ever-popular flightless bird, the penguin.

Star of film, the model of Chaplin's Little Tramp "walk" and a go-to source of humor in countless animated films, Skrlin re-imagines the bird as a gang of feathered thugs with fishing poles that have surrounded the canine mayor and reduced him to a quaking mess that has lost control of his bowels. So anxious to seek the Penguins approval and the residents' vote, the city's Top Dog handed the devilish birds $150,000 in taxpayer casino cash so they could feather their nest, so to speak.

While real penguins dart through the ocean to capture fish these little cartoon characters have corralled the Mayor with fishing poles bearing menacing hooks... the Mayor has been hooked, reeled in and the $150,000 in taxpayer funds has been landed for their use.

While real penguins dart through the ocean to capture fish these little cartoon characters have corralled the Mayor with fishing poles bearing menacing hooks... the Mayor has been hooked, reeled in and the $150,000 in taxpayer funds has been landed for their use. Separating Mayor Dyster from the taxpayer revenue was as easy as throwing fish in a barrel for this Gang of Five that eerily echoes the number of city council members. A group of penguins on land is called a "Waddle" and when that term is weighed against the current city council an even deeper vein of potential humor is opened for exploration.

G. W. Galsworthy
Art Critic