When my daughter helped me clean my office, she found an unused $25 Amazon gift card. Rather than let it go to waste, I bought Cruelty Is The Point, a Collection of “Mr. Brunelle Explains It All” cartoons. (This is not to be confused with
In his introduction to Cruelty, he writes correctly that the content is “‘ripped from the headlines,’ for your amusement.” Well, it’s not always amusing; sometimes it’s maddening. But it always has a heaping helping of truthfulness.
Relevant
He notes a particular felon, I mean fellow, “has kept all of us political cartoonists rather busy lately, and I churned hundreds of ’em in 2025. For this book, I selected 50 that I thought would remain relevant for a while (unlike other types of cartoons, political cartoons have a very short “shelf life,” alas.”
While this is generally true, the primary subject and his clown car of supporting characters – Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, and Jeffrey Epstein’s ghost, among them – are such cartoons that, months after their original appearance, their narratives are, unfortunately, not dated.
In case I haven’t sufficiently conveyed Mr. Brunelle’s political leanings, he writes: “We must laugh to keep from crying during these trying times, so hopefully this book will help you cope with the dystopian hellscape that is Trump’s America. Enjoy!”
Unfortunately, he indicates that the book is only available on Amazon, as are his previous works, including There Will Be Pain (2024) and Perpetual Panic Attack (2023). This may be stronger because the target is so much a cartoon. (Someone should update his Wikipedia page.)
Condolences
I was very sad to read that Mr. Brunelle’s beloved wife, Grace, who occasionally shared his cartoon pages with him, died on February 6. Here is her obituary and a link to the Facial Pain Association. “Facial pain can be a debilitating experience for many people, and there are numerous types of facial pain with a variety of possible causes. Precise diagnosis is crucial in determining an effective treatment. The journey to diagnosis and pain relief can be a long and winding road.”
