DMC 4 – Kwame Kilpatrick

Here’s the fourth Detroit Mock City created for the Cartoonist Studio contest. As usual, I had to reduce the size a bit to fit it here and you can click on it for the full sized image.
This may be my favorite one visually. Alex thought it had a real Get Your War On feel to it, which I took as a high compliment since that’s one of the first webcomics I really enjoyed.
As always, these are based on real pictures, and Kwame was really fun to draw, as he looks like something of a real life cartoon character with his huge broad shoulders and massive head. I love both panels of him, that press conference is like nothing I’ve ever done before, and that damn mug shot…I wouldn’t want to make Kwame angry. Though I may be doing just that.
This was a subject I wanted to do something with ever since I first followed the story on the news over the last couple of years. It was one of several stories coming from Detroit at the time that made Alex and I want to really get more actual Detroit in the comics, because the place was so damn fascinating.
For those who didn’t follow the disgraceful end of Kwame as Mayor I’ll share a few things with you and point you to some sources if you’d like to learn more.
The following summary comes straight from that paragon of trust and truth, Wikipedia:
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is a former mayor of Detroit, Michigan. Kilpatrick’s mayorship was plagued by numerous scandals and rampant accusations of corruption, with the mayor eventually resigning after being charged with ten felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to reduced charges, but with good time awarded to county jail inmates in Michigan, he was released on probation after serving 99 days. On May 25, 2010, he was sentenced to 18 months to 5 years in prison for violating his probation, and served time at the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan. He is also under a 38-charge felony indictment on additional corruption charges, in what a federal prosecutor called a “pattern of extortion, bribery and fraud” by some of Detroit’s most prominent officials.
So Kwame is a very corrupt man, who represents a lot of the political corruption in Detroit. He’s also a colorful, flamboyant character who thinks he can talk his way out of anything.
Check out his recent tell all expose. Here’s an interesting interview he did with the New York Times shortly after after being released from jail last year. And you’ll definitely want to check out this fascinating write up from the American Spectator: The Legacy of Kwame Kilpatrick – Detroit’s former mayor made history by destroying it.
So a bizarre, fascinating, somewhat polarizing, disgraced public figure who can’t seem to avid media attention. Hell, I wouldn’t mind making a comic that revolved solely around. him!