The increasingly famous Gerald Skrlin, a cartoonist known for his joke within a joke motif, has taken that motif one step further by placing a joke within a joke within a Joker. (see cartoon right)
In this case the Joker is the nemesis of legendary super hero Batman and he has played the greatest joke of his career on the city of Niagara Falls through the "Hamister hotel deal." Note closely how the artist has transformed the Joker into the Hamister Group joker via a well placed HG on the chest of the nefarious rascal. The Joker struts his stuff in full flaunting form at the American observation tower celebrating in pure joy at having "dried up Niagara Falls." While the Joker/Hamister deal has not literally dried up the "falls," the non transparent and dubious economic development project surely has dried up a valuable downtown parcel along with all of the goodwill of a trusting and naive city populace.
In this way the cartoonist reminds the viewer that it is nigh on two years and not one bucket of concrete or single length of two by four have been delivered to the site of the alleged "transformative" Hamister hotel project.
In this way "the joke" is on the taxpayer.
Ralston Delano Peabody
Art Critic