harsh
November 12th, 2009
For those who didn’t see the art note – here it is.
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What they're saying...
Jesus & Mo (the characters) are absurd, blinkered, and oddly very sweet. J&M (the cartoon) is brilliant: sharp, delicious, irresistible.
Salman Rushdie
Jesus and Mo cartoons are wonderfully funny and true.
Richard Dawkins
Jesus and Mo make the world a better place, bless their little hearts.
Ophelia Benson
In a world defined by outrage and offence and liberal spinelessness, Jesus and Mo is a treasure, whose value we should never fail to recognize. Read them. Laugh. And think.
Kenan Malik
...a philosophical confrère.
Jerry Coyne
The brilliant, celebrated, freaking hilarious atheist comic strip ...
Greta Christina
...rays of sanity in a befuddled world.
Keri Hulme
The liveliest depictions of Muhammad currently available...
Malise Ruthven
J & Mo is the funniest and most consistently thought-provoking cartoon strip on the Net. In a saner world, it would run in a major newspaper.
Nelson Jones, Heresy Corner
Consistently amusing, frequently thought-provoking and often heart-warming.
New Humanist
Jesus & Mo is one of the most wonderful things on the internet..
JT Eberhard
Wittily captures much of the absurdity of religious apologetics.
Mano Singham
...wonderfully brilliant and witty.
Miranda Celeste Hale
Too good for words.
Maryam Namazie
The Eric and Ernie of monotheism.
Tom Holland
The most impious double act since Sodom and Gomorrah.
Andrew Copson, Chief Executive, BHA
I love jesusandmo.net cartoons - witty and sharp!
Katha Pollitt
Often hilarious, frequently wry, these cartoons do what all the best cartoons do: they tell the truth through humour.
Terry Sanderson, NSS President
...a wonderfully acid British cartoonist...
Nick Cohen
I love the scrappy mockery of Jesus and Mo. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to mock any person, any thing, any activity, and any belief -- and J&M stands up for this unflinchingly
Richard Stallman
...empowering, important and deeply progressive, not to mention hilarious...
Council of Ex-Muslims
Jesus & Mo is my go to example of how to do tasteful, beautiful religious satire.
Eiynah, Polite Conversations
...humor is humor and this cartoonist doesn't have it. Karl Giberson
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Ah, that’s better. Much better. These new (I mean old) eyes have much more character. I can carry on loving Jesus and Mo.
Wow
ya go away for a couple of days and look what happens
I like the new noses. They look more … semitic.
Author, you should have done this on Hallowe’en.
Well the eyes have it. Don’t let anyone tell you how to be Author us rank-and- file viewers will not stop the daily ritual of paying homage to this site. All hail Author (praying, genuflecting respectfully, slowly backing away…)
I find these constant changes offending.
Did JC always have an Adam’s apple but the old beard hid it?
I liked the new artwork to begin with, with a couple of reservations, the main one being the eyes – so now those are back to how they were, it gets the thumbs-up from me. Good compromise. Please don’t be afraid to keep experimenting and making little tweaks.
And the new-look barmaid is, with apologies for any implied sexism, smoking hot!
I still like the scraggly beard that Jesus used to have instead of the blacked-in version, but I’m glad the eyes are back.
That’s change I can believe in.
Thank you for bringing them back — and the side views are much improved!
from the side on, j’s beard is curiously pointy and satanic.
π which i like.
like the swanky new bar tap too.
Maybe I just need time to get used to it, but I do prefer the old style.
Hey, I love the new art. It is a lot cleaner (and less painful to look at, IMHO), especially the profiles on today’s strip. I also preferred the new eyes. But you are the artist, not me (I can’t draw to save my life), so I wouldn’t dream of telling you to change something. Stories are as good as ever. Keep J&M coming! And as a Jewish reader, please bring back Moses! You need to mock, er… *critique* my people, too. π
Sorry – I read the art note, but I still like the old art better, even though this strip is an improvement over the last one already. (FWIW, I didn’t actually comment on the last strip after I saw that so many others had already done so.)
You’re right when you point out that the original drawings were ugly, of course. One might actually argue that this is a clever little visual side pun, as it were, but I think what’s more important is something else, something that you also mention: Jesus and Mo is about the script, not the drawings, and having drawings that are obviously carelessly done, without much time invested into them, actually helps the reader focus on the script.
Smoother, cleaner art, even if it it’s still as schematic as before, with the same panels used over and over again, distracts from the script, at least compared to the uglier, sloppier earlier art.
Beyond that, actual *changes* in the artwork as the strip is ongoing are even worse. It wouldn’t have been as bad if the strip had been using this artwork right from the start, but changing it now in the middle of the strip, several times? That’s *even* more distracting.
So I’d really like to ask you to go back to the old style and leave it at that. (And if you feel like it, update these two comics to use the old style, too; keep the current versions with the “new” art as extras, but otherwise update them to ensure continuity.) I’ll be honest and say you won’t lose me as a reader even if you don’t, of course (how silly would that be?), so maybe I don’t exactly have much leverage here – but then, I’m trying to convince you with a rational argument, anyway, not wrestle you into submission, as it were.
Blessed be. π
As long we’re obsessing over this, I don’t think the new style per se is the root cause of the hubbub. It’s the symmetry. Just put the hair, turban, beards, shoulders, etc. off kilter and you’ll easily capture the essence of the old art.
I think this is the perfect union between the classic art and the new, tidier one…apparently, the old eyes are irreplaceable…while the 2nd version was too un-j&m-ish, the eyes give our beloved divinities a familiar face we (or at least, I) can accept easily…Like many people said in the previous strip, change is never easy to accept…but now it will be much easier!!! My opinion: Keep this version!! its tidier but not unfamiliar…
ps: I wonder how moses looks like…
Ah, ’tis the eyes. I thought it was the cleaned-up beards that annoyed me.
Carry on.
If you love Jesus and Mo, it’s not about looks. How can you all be so shallow. I loved Jesus and Mo before and I love them still, I think I love author more so perhaps I’m just not fussy…….. π
I think bringing the old eyes back is a definitive improvement,
a smaller downside to the change is that the pump in the pub now doesn’t look like a dildo anymore.
I always found that the dildo looking pump was the extra touch of surreal for a pub called the cock and bull
π
Yes, the problem yesterday was the eyes. Today’s art is easy to get used to.
So I’ll make a couple of trivial suggestions, because they’re the biggest suggestions I have:
Make Jesus’ eyes slightly bigger, and make his crown of thorns less regular.
Congratulations on the new style!
“As such, comments of a racist, sexist or homophobic nature will not be tolerated.”
This is unfair. You should allow us to quote the Bible and the Koran freely. Not nice!
@Tie – I thought I was the only one who caught that tho I was ashamed to mention it.
@Flea nice quip….
Agree that the crown o’ thorns as is looks too much like a girly headband…
changes are blasphemy – but how dare we question this divine strip
quandry quandry quandry
I remain faithful
Yes, objection removed. Eye thank you for ‘earing us. Jesus’ mouth looks tiny and… somewhat sexy if you ask me. I’m happy to not have to see curvy arms, though. Perhaps, you can make it a stylistic technique to never show their full arm length.
Since the colors are becoming darker, does that mean the themes become darker, too? How we all love dark, religious humor, eh? The world is full of it.
Thank you. The “eyes” have it. Since it is autumn, the season of falling leaves and branches, can Jesus lose a few thorns from his crown to make it look less like a daisy chain? And
kiyaroru the neckline on Jesus’s shirt is lower, hence his visible Adam’s apple.
Very nice – the eyes are the characters. I can’t wait to see Moses’ wide-eyed stare again.
I also love it when Mo speaks the truth!
Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes.
Author – could you at least wipe the smirk off Mo’s new face ??
The intense jihadi scowl he used to wear fitted his disposition so much better …
Jesus is just alright with me though.
This new art is better than the last one. It seems to be keeping the best of the original art but adding a bit of depth and detail to it. Great compromise and always a great comic all-around. Keep writing and we’ll keep reading. Thanks for keeping us atheists entertained.
@Author: Excellent! The Bedouin raider M is back, and J is a bit stoned again. All is right with the world. Let’s just say the boys decided to wash-and-brush up for once before going to the pub, which explains their nice hair. And J has on his more formal CofT. The barmaid is still a peach, of course. And I take it the Playstation will still go PWIP?
@spoing: Your last sentence is ironic, I take it? π
@Zep indeed, Jesus is for the Byrds really. Or was it the Doobie Brothers … ?
The old eyes are a vast improvement thank you. I do prefer Jesus’ old beard though – this one looks fake and too dark. However, it looks a lot better than last time.
While it is the content I enjoy the most, I am glad the old eyes are back.
As long as the sarcasm and wit continue to be as sharp and subtle as I have become used to, I will have no complaints at all.
While I still liked the old art, specifically because it never changed and, to me, actually had more character than webcomics that constantly change, this is alot better than the last one. The side-views are an improvement, as has been pointed out, and the big, naive looking eyes were brought back to your credit, so I think this is pretty damn good.
Overall, I find this to be an acceptable compromise. While there are still a few things that I’d like to see change (J’s beard, M’s smirk), it’s a change for the better, overall. It’s nice to see M from the side and not mistake him for a hornbill…
The beer looks much better π and the pub sign …nice.
Compare to http://www.jesusandmo.net/2005/11/28/mary/
I think you should do whatever you want to Author. Personally, I loved the (no offence intended) crappiness and laziness of the old strip, and for me I think it might have been what grabbed my attention in the first place. Perhaps I reasoned that for such an obviously popular strip to become so with such crap artwork the writing must kick arse. I was not disappointed.
Having said that, it is your strip and your name that isn’t on it, and I would still usually get 95% of my enjoyment of your strip if I just read the transcripts. I like the new style fine, it’s just that I had almost grown to love the old style characters.
I wonder why I don’t remember feeling like this when the Simpsons artwork stopped looking shit.
Oh, and I just now noticed that Jeebus’s arms are covered again. I look forward to seeing, or not seeing, them again when he and mozza next visit their please-not-conjugal bed. I didn’t mind the noodle arms either, and am sure many gags could be found about someone being formed in someone’s perfect image.
MAYBE YOU COULD GET A GUEST ARTIST IN TO DRAW THE BARMAID’S PERFECTLY FORMED ARM!!!!! Not only would it be awesome, but you could continue to follow the dogma by never drawing the barmaid. You could call for fans to submit their own arm drawings and pick the sexiest.
I so have the hots for the barmaid…..
Thatβs much better β thanks for taking on board the comments from the faithful. The last tweak Iβd suggest to is to swap Moβs new smile for his previous serious expression. I cannot possibly conceive Mo smiling! Itβs just not him . Also, the topics/situations covered in the cartoon donβt lend themselves to grinning characters. Jesus and Mo are always tackling serious and transcendental issues on behalf of humankind!
I like the rest of the new artwork, in particular their profile view β well done!
Te Author laudamus.
As Bukketboy says, you should do what you want, it’s your website. However I found the old artwork much more appealing mainly due to its ambiguity and the viewers interpretation of facial expression, body language etc. filled in any blanks.
There are a million or more ‘Humorous Illustration’ websites out there, most by amateur illustrators trying to become professional illustrators, and we all know how well that works out. Please don’t get lost in the noise! Also, where is Ganesh?
Plus, the ‘ambiguous definition’ of the previous renderings made them look like they were experiencing altered states of consciousness, which considering the subject matter I never used to question.
I’m happy that you changed eyes back to normal. Now, i like this cartoon π
It still looks like Mo is constantly smiling. That’s bad.
Still, better than yesterday.
@Miika H
“I find these constant changes offending.”
Imagine what it’s like to be religious then…
Nice elbows!
thank you for re-instating the eyes…. now fix Mo’s smirk and you’ll be just fine π
Jesus looks depressed….
[…] [source] […]
It’s like watching the retouched Star Wars films – a precious aesthetic has been sanitised. However, in the face of your obstinate resolve to gild your lily, can I just say that the new Mo’s mouth makes him look perennially happy, in contrast with his previously inscrutable, and hence appropriate, expression. If you could bring back the eyes, please bring back Mo’s mouth!
It’s a wonder J & M haven’t killed each other yet.
I’ll go along with others — I don’t think Mo should be quite so happy, given how (continually) offended he is.
btw, is it just me or has the part of Jesus suddenly been taken over by Owen Wilson?
Sorry, but the art change took a lot of the charm and funny out of the comic
How shrill and strident barmaid is. She’s obviously one of those fundamentalist atheists, a Dawkinsist lackey and running dog.
I just noticed that Mo is nursing that pint with his left hand. Let’s hope it’s clean.
Could J&M actually be holding hands? ITWSBT.
Mo does seem a little too happy to me as well, though it turns him into a plausible rogue. Of course the light in his face might be fanaticism too.
Enough about the art already!
Crusader – can’t you say something provocative so we can have a change of subject?
Classic argumentum ad populum! A favorite fallacy with fundamentalists. Mo should know better. Needs an education.
I’m happy with the compromise. The noses now seem more Semitic, esp. J’s, which previously looked like Goldie Hawn’s, but above all having the old eyes back makes it. Plus ca change (un peu)!
hey! u know what? this one looks more syntactic with the rest π
Nice Onion satire about the US constitution and Christianity today:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/area_man_passionate_defender_of
Looking at it, the tidying up of the art isn’t bad in itself, but rather the impact of that on the features of the characters. Jesus’s beard is shorter and strangely rounded on his chin, shortening his face overall, Mo has been given a permanent beard-smile arguably inconsistent with previous characterisation. Jesus’s hair is another problem, solid hair is risky business and it actually makes the art look worse in this case.
Thanks for changing the eyes.. Now your masterpiece is complete.. Just keep making more π
The new Jesus and Mo are beginning to look normal to me now. That didn’t take long! I’ll bet in short order we’ll all look on the originals with a fond nostalgia – like with the original Simpsons, only more heretical
Dawkins learned his shrillness and stridency from the barmaid.
Haw!
hobbes, in order to be educated, Mo would need to be literate!!!
Okay. I can live with that. Still think the old art was better. I used to love ol’ Jesus Spaced Out Hippy look and Mo was always so delightfully dire. The ‘new Mo’ has a continually smiling mouth, for Pete’s sake! Mo the Happy Prophet!
But okay, at least they’ve got their freakily religio-obsessed eyes back. I can live with the new look, I suppose…
Mateo-Argentino, you are right, of course. However, education begins with learning to read. But, then, if everybody had a good education, there would be no fundamentalists. And, how much fun would it be without a Sara Palin–the gift that keeps on giving?
BTW, I like the new look of Jeeze and Mo.
Just curious author- have you purposefully defected to American spellings? (OffenSe as opposed to the British noun offenCe.) Not that it matters, just wondering if it was a conscious switch.
The haphazard drawing of Jesus and Mo were an integral part of the comedy. Such holy and devout figures depicted in obvious crassness forced the reader to consider why they consider it so unusual – and they will arrive at the fundamental problem with religion: It is not open to criticism or ridicule. This despite being the most ridiculous and vile thing to corrupt humanity since our sentience.
MyCatIsGod, thanks for the Onion link. No doubt about it. He is a Palin for President advocate.
Dang! I sure hope she runs. What fun! Concerning an interview with Matthew Continetti, author of The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star, she is “catching up,” I suppose on history and world affairs. I can’t wait to hear more of her unique political “facts” and her comical Bush-style opinions.
Sarah Palin is a honey.
They looked like they didn’t have a combined IQ of 100. Now they look intelligent, polished, clean. Considering the script, they seem incongruent.
MCIG: I tried.
@Beggars Belief – no, the -se spelling was a mistake which, when I noticed it, I didn’t feel obliged to correct
Thank Christ you changed the eyes back! I was horrified when I saw the new art, but now that the eyes are like they were before, I think I can happily say that this is an improvement on the original art. Well done!
I like the new drawing style (and old eyes) — except for Jesus’s hair and beard. Could you do something different with them?
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