The AI Cartoon Trend: Not About Fun, It Was About Your Data

 

The AI Cartoon Trend Wasn’t About Fun — It Was About Data
Let’s clear something up.
That AI cartoon trend didn’t explode because people suddenly discovered creativity. It blew up because it was a perfect data trap—simple, viral, voluntary, and massively profitable.
You didn’t just upload a picture and get a cartoon back.
You handed over:
Your face (biometric data)
Your expressions and features
Your behavior (what you click, how fast you comply)
Your habits and preferences
Your willingness to follow a trend without reading the fine print
That’s not “fun.”
That’s profiling.
This Is How Modern Data Harvesting Works
Nobody forces you anymore. They don’t need to.
They dress it up as:
A trend
A filter
A game
A joke
“Just for fun”
And people line up to participate.
When something is free, you are not the customer — you’re the product.
These apps aren’t built to entertain you. They’re built to collect, package, and sell behavioral data to advertisers, developers, political groups, and AI training models. Your cartoon wasn’t the end goal — it was the bait.
“People Are Just Having Fun”
That’s the lie people tell themselves to avoid thinking.
If you need an app to escape your life, that’s not harmless fun — that’s distraction. And distraction is the easiest state to manipulate.
The most valuable data isn’t stolen anymore.
It’s volunteered.
Smiling. Laughing. Clicking “I Agree.”
Why This Matters
Your face is permanent.
Your data footprint is permanent.
Your digital profile doesn’t disappear when the trend dies.
Once it’s collected, it’s:
Stored
Repurposed
Sold
Trained on
Cross-referenced
All without you ever seeing a dime.
This Isn’t Anti-Tech — It’s Pro-Awareness
Technology isn’t the enemy.
Blind compliance is.
Trends don’t happen by accident. They’re engineered. They’re tested. They’re launched for a reason.
And that reason is almost never you.
Final Thought
You didn’t make a cartoon.
You completed a profile.
Know the value of your data. Protect yourself. Question the trend.

— The Driver’s Side

Jim Keefe: ICE Out: Cartoonists Against ICE

My friend Jim Keefe (Sally Forth, Flash Gordon) has created a 4-panel comic as part of the #iceoutcomics campaign. #iceoutmpls

Singing Resistance in Minneapolis

 Via Doug Pagitt's Instagram:

"Outside a hotel housing ICE agents in Minneapolis with 1,600+ Minnesotans sing in the streets and hotels calling ICE agents to quit their immoral jobs and join the common good. 

"ICE agents, lay down your weapons and your bonus pay for your own sake and the good of our country. 

"Organized by @singingresistancetc"

 

Very touching moment as Minneapolis residents risk being pepper sprayed or shot. Worth clicking on to listen. (I can't embed the video, so click on the link to go to Instagram.) This is a beautiful moment in a terrible time.
 

 

 

Friday, January 30, 2026: National Shutdown

 

Image by Molly McLeod Design.

NationalShutdown.org

Sal Buscema 1936 - 2026

 

Sal Buscema, best known for his work at Marvel Comics for The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, ROM, The Defenders, co-creating Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, The New Mutants, Thor and others, passed away on Friday. He was 89 years old.

Sal was a prolific artist and writer whose career began during Marvel's Silver Age. He drew every major superhero for both Marvel and DC. 

From ComicsBeat:

"Buscema started his comics career as an inker, working with his brother John Buscema at Dell Comics. It would take years for him to come out from under John’s shadow and establish himself as a talent in his own right. He worked primarily at Marvel in from 1968 through the ’70s and ’80s, then moved to DC for a few years in the ’90s before returning 'home' to Marvel.

"During his time at the Big Two, Buscema worked on a wide variety of titles, from Avengers and Thor to The Uncanny X-Men and The New Mutants to Superman and Batman titles during his brief stint at DC. He is arguably most associated with his run on The Spectacular Spider-Man with writer J.M. DeMatteis, and his work on ROM Spaceknight (although his Hulk is pretty iconic).

"Before the news of Buscema’s death broke this afternoon, DeMatteis celebrated his former collaborator’s landmark birthday on BlueSky, writing, 'Sal Buscema turns 90 today. There’s hardly a Marvel character Sal hasn’t left his mark on, from Cap to the Hulk, Avengers to Thor. Working with Sal for two years on Spectacular Spider-Man remains a highlight of my career. And the best part? He’s not just a great artist, he’s a truly good guy.'

"Buscema married his wife Joan in 1960, and they had three children together, named Joe, Tony, and Mike. After retiring from regular comics work, he continued to connect with fans via commissions, keeping a steady trickle of new Sal Buscema art popping up online over the years."

 

The Daily Cartoonist has many links. 

Creative Artists of New England: Mike Lynch Interview

 

Last month, I was interviewed by the Creative Artists of New England. It was a terrific interview with some challenging questions by CANE President and Founder Ronan Dwyer and Social Media Manager/Treasurer and Founder Erika Ventura. 

Here's a short snippet via their Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Creative Artists of New England (@creativeartistsofnewengland)

THE BETTER HALF by Bob Barnes

THE BETTER HALF was created by veteran cartoonist Bob Barnes in 1956 and syndicated by the Register and Hall Syndicate, and then by King Features until the panel ended in 2014. Two years into the feature, Barnes won Best Newspaper Panel from the National Cartoonists Society. The panel changed hands after Barnes' death in 1970

"His wife Ruth Barnes and illustrator Dick Rogers continued the strip until September 30, 1979. It then passed to Vinnie Vinson (October 1, 1979 to October 3, 1982) and Randy Glasbergen (October 10, 1982 to November 30, 2014).^[1]

"Between 1982 and 1992, Glasbergen did the strip under the pseudonym "Jay Harris," so as not to confuse publishers who were familiar with his different style of humor and character design. ("Harris" was his wife's maiden name.) As he was able to transform the characters to his own style, he began using his own name. In the process, Stanley became much shorter than Harriet and lost his scruffy mustache.

"At the end of syndication, The Better Half was appearing seven days a week in approximately 150 print and online newspapers around the world. The strip ended on November 30, 2014, after a 58-year run" - Wikipedia

Stanley and Harriet Parker spar over middle class concerns. She stays home and irons and does the wash and is a bad woman driver. He smokes his pipe, mows the lawn, complains about the bills and occasionally ogles other ladies. If the spouses aren't trading zingers with another, they are combating the many butchers, paper boys, garbage men, store clerks and others that populate the suburbs.

James Coco and Lily Tomlin portrayed the couple in an unsold 1970s ABC TV pilot. 

Here are two dozen from THE BETTER HALF book, a paperback collection published by Duell, Slean and Pearce, New York and is copyright 1963 by the Register and Hall Syndicate

 

Related: 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Bob Barnes 1913 - 1970

 

Edited from a January 12, 2012 blog entry. I wish I could fine video of that unsold TV pilot.