Clearing Up Some Doubts

.

.

.

Raghead and Towelhead are back!

Reaction from anyone who’s been reading this strip only after 2015: “Who the hell are Raghead and Towelhead?”

Raghead and Towelhead were the first two characters on this strip, who virtually monopolised it during the early days. I was far from comfortable drawing faces back then, which is why their faces are never shown. Over time they fell into disuse, supplanted by Jihadi Colin and Jihadi Rose, but they never quite went away. I was always thinking that at some point I would bring them back again, and with the war in Nagorno Karabakh, I thought, why ever not?

Those who do remember these two will note that while I kept their basic character designs, I have changed their kaffiyehs, from checked for Raghead and banded for Towelhead, to plain colours. The reason is simple: I’m lazy. That’s also why I reverted to black and white after many years, because I simply don’t have the energy to sit up for hours colouring. And as far as the appearance goes, I tried out the grainy look that was until 2015 standard for almost all cartoons I did (for those who are interested, it’s Woodcut on Corel Paint), but it was simply not what I wanted to do anymore. So, though I stuck to my intention of black and white, I chose the “clean” look (it’s Distress on Corel Paint), and then put in a few shades of grey. I hope you like it.

A word about Nagorno Karabakh. I believe that the moment the war was actually permitted to start, Armenia was already defeated. I believe that the war should not have been permitted to start. And now, with the Nagorno Karabakh capital of Stepanakert (as I write this) cut off and besieged, I believe that the best thing the Armenian side can do is negotiate surrender on the best terms available. Anything else is just going to cause a bloodbath and the end will be the same anyway.

But assuming they don’t, Raghead and Towelhead will definitely feature again on this site. Bigly!