Time marches on, things change, trends appear. We've got that for you in this issue.
As for "time marches on," I refer you to a newish feature in Isthmus, the cartoon offering "Off the Square." This is the product off two locally warped minds, Alan Talaga and Jon Lyons. Talaga and Lyons are co-writers, and Lyons is the artist.
You may know Talaga as Dan Potacke, as in "The Dan Potacke Show," his comedy act that has played around town. It took the editors at Isthmus some time to unearth this replacement for the long-running "Mad City" panel produced by funny guy Brian Strassburg through our Feb. 19 issue (Vol. 35, No. 8). At that time, family circumstances required Strassburg to stop drawing the popular cartoon.
"Mad City" first appeared in Isthmus on March 31, 1989 (Vol. 14, No. 13). It was presented as a poster touting the next week's mayoral contest. Between corner tags exhorting "vote," it announced "Mad City Wrestlemania" featuring mayoral opponents "Joe 'Waffles' Sensenbrenner" vs. "The Comeback Kid, Paul 'Lefty' Soglin." "One fall, winner takes all" it proclaimed. After that, the hits kept coming all the way to last February. Here's hoping we get a similar run out of "Off the Square."
As for trends appearing, pay attention to this week's inclusion, the League of Women Voters' "Candidates' Answers." "CA" is a public service of the League as it seeks to inform the electorate about their ballot choices. The format is the verbatim transcription of identical questions asked of each candidate. There is no editorial opinion or judgment rendered.
However, some candidates seem to think the less the public knows about them the better. As you peruse "CA," note which candidates issued "no response" to the League's inquiries and to which party they belong. I will single out Assembly District 46 Republican candidate Kathy Maves, who seemed to buck a trend in her party and did respond to the League. Good for her. Her opponent, Democratic incumbent Gary Hebl, did not. Maybe he got confused as to which party he belongs.