Hunter Interest - Another Skrlin Stunning Political Cartoon

With the dawning of the Dyster casino revenue cash windfall a veritable "turkey shoot" had begun with "Hunter Interest" stoked by none less than Mayor Dyster as he turned the city of Niagara Falls into a shooting gallery where businesses were essentially licensed by the Dyster administration to turn a profit. Into this milieu appears the cartoonist to bring it all to life and in this regard Skrlin does not disappoint as he details the cacophony of Niagara Falls casino revenue, big business and local political shenanigans for the entertainment of the cartoon aficionado and political scientist alike. The artist presents the "hunter" as a frighteningly reminiscent caricature of Mayor Dyster, the man who has both made the turkey shoot possible and who guides the expenditure of "casino revenue" as he serves as the casino cash "gatekeeper." At the end of the day the cartoonist has taken the traditional American image of the hunter and transformed it into a grotesque and cynical icon imbued with political darkness and despair.

Ralph Peabody Waldo

Art Critic

Mayor Paul A. Dyster with celebrated artist Gerald Skrlin, who often sketches and paints Dyster. It is said that once Dyster complained to Skrlin saying he did not look anything like his portraits, and Skrlin said “Don’t worry Mayor, you will.”