Kirk Anderson revisits his 'Banana Republic'

General Wally
Generalissimo Wally rules the country of Amnesia in Kirk Anderson's strip "Banana Republic."
Image courtesy Molotov Comix

In recent years editorial cartoonist Kirk Anderson drew for both the St Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

It was the latter paper which offered him a rare chance.

Kirk Anderson
Kirk Anderson's work has appeared in many Minnesota newspapers as well as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Onion and Newsweek
Image courtesy Molotov Comix

"They offered me the opportunity to have a weekly gig, a weekly quarter page, which is a cartoonist's dream," he says.

Kirk Anderson then created "Banana Republic" which ran in the Star Tribune editorial pages from October 2005 to November 2007. The strips have now been collected into a book.

Anderson says he wanted to spur more public debate about national issues, such as the tactics of the war on terror, and local issues such as stadium funding.

Self portrait
Kirk Anderson does not spare even himself with his pen
Image courtesy Molotov Comix

He told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr, he invented Amnesia, a small dictatorship facing similar political conundrums, populated with some distinctive characters.

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