Arts
Making Queer First Night Choices
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right
Cartoonist Crystallizes the Mundane - And It's Funny!
by Susan McMillan
Hilary
Price is the cartoonist responsible for Rhymes With Orange. We'll get
to what that means later. Price recently published Reigning Cats & Dogs:
A Rhymes With Orange Tribute To Those Who Shed, a collection of cartoons
worth owning.
First, I must be honest. I love my dog
and cat, but I am not a freaky pet owner. I am not interested in filling
my home with trinkets that resemble my dog. I am not a fan of Garfield.
I do like to laugh, and this book of cartoons about critters made me laugh
out loud.
Born in 1970, Hilary Price is an accomplished
cartoonist: at age 25, she was the youngest woman ever to have a syndicated
daily comic strip. Last year, Rhymes With Orange was nominated for a Reuben,
the 'Oscar' of the cartoon world. Nearly as amazing, Price was chosen
by Jewish Woman Monthly as one of ten Jewish women to watch in 5761 (that
was the year 2000). Although her work first appeared in a political satire
magazine, her big break was with the San Francisco Chronicle. Today, the
simple drawings of this self-taught artist and Stanford English major
are seen in 100 newspapers daily.
Rhymes With Orange (RWO) is silly and smart.
In each cartoon, Price goes straight to the heart of the most mundane
moments of our lives. She sees clearly into our kitchens, bedrooms, and
daily rituals and cleverly reminds us that life really is funny, if only
we'd stop and notice. Although compared with Seinfeld for its commentary
on contemporary life, RWO is never mean-spirited or insincere. Instead,
the commonplace is crystallized, and the insight into the overlooked moments
of our lives is startlingly funny. Who among us has not wondered if maybe
the dog was going deaf? Price depicts a veterinarian examining a dog's
ears. 'So you're saying inside he comes when he's called but outside,
you can yell 'til you're blue and he won't respond?' Diagnosis? Another
case of park-induced deafness.
Her work masterfully reflects that funny
world of pets that many of us live in. Reigning Cats & Dogs features great
pet parodies: "My Years Under House Arrest: The Memoirs of An Indoor Cat"
and "Poodles: The Inner Struggle." If you've ever medicated a dog, you'll
laugh at the strip titled "The Epiphany" (time for your amoxicillin and
jarlsberg). Imagine two dogs in front of a wine and cheese shop. The dogs
wonder 'Cheese goes with wine?' 'I've only had it with antibiotics.'
Anyone who has tried to train a cat will
recognize the strip on the art of feline discipline. A couple is eating
at the dinner table, and they each have a cat perched on their head. The
man says 'You have to be firm. You have to say you cannot sit on the dining
room table! Then you can be flexible elsewhere.' And you know how sometimes,
at the change of season, you'll get a jacket out of the closet and find
money in the pocket? Price captures the dog owner's reality, when searching
the pockets produces two liver snaps and a plastic bag instead.
Several of Price's regular strips have
been censored, not because they were so racy but because they might offend
someone. One depicted two men shopping for flowers. While reviewing their
shopping list, one guy mentioned pansies and the other said 'what's that
got to do with it?' It turns out that syndicate policy is to never refer
to anyone as 'pansy.' References to Judaism and being gay sometimes make
the syndicators nervous. As a Jewish lesbian, Price has lots of material
to keep her editors on edge.
Favorites listed on her website are divided
into categories: Jewish, Gay, Cats, Therapy. In one strip, she depicts
"Cows at Ellis Island" where a cow with a suitcase proclaims to the immigration
official, "No, it's not Holberg. It's Holstein."
Asked if being gay has had an impact on
her career, Price answered that there aren't many women in her field,
and being a lesbian cartoonist is just not a big deal. She came out her
junior year in college, but for years, professionally, it went unspoken.
Like many of us, she used opposite pronouns to conceal the identity of
her partner.
Three years ago, after an interview, she
was fed up with hiding. She contacted the interviewer and revealed that
her partner was a woman. Then she called her manager and officially came
out. No one really cared. Price certainly has no regrets and is relieved.
No more disguising pronouns. Reigning Cats & Dogs is dedicated to her
partner, Kerry.
Ok, so what does the name mean? That's
easy: nothing does ...rhyme with orange that is. Price's aunt once told
her that no English word rhymes with 'orange.' (For you etymologists,
Price says that 'door hinge' is the closest rhyme to orange, but is not
close enough.) According to her website, the title reflects "the singularity
of the strip's perspective." She acknowledges that her work "appeals to
a small niche of witty, intelligent and incredibly good-looking people."
If all this is of no interest, the book may not be your bag either. Or,
you may see yourself and your pets on every page.
Price and Kerry live in Florence, Massachusetts
with a dog, two cats and two fish. Reigning Cats & Dogs is available at
online and independent bookstores and at the Humane Society of Chittenden
County's new Best Friends Boutique. Price's website is rhymeswithorange.com.
Assistant Editor Susan McMillan is a veterinarian and lives with her companion animals and her human partner in Charlotte.