As one of the Crimson’s five cartoonists, Blackburn focuses on national, local and Harvard issues. Although he admits he is fairly conservative, he tries not to make his cartoons overly opinionated.
“I just try to poke fun, add a little humor to the page,” Blackburn explains. “I think a political cartoon is too limited to express complex opinions.”
Still, Blackburn has not shied away from tackling big issues. A number of his cartoons have dealt with the proposed war on Iraq. Others, depicting the president wearing a beanie and a button that says ‘W,’ have criticized Bush for his stance on corporate misconduct.
Blackburn even ran into a bit of controversy earlier this year for a cartoon that ran in the Crimson’s Oct. 16 issue. The drawing showed an overweight girl chowing down on a ‘Bucket O’ Chicken’ while answering the phone for ECHO, a Harvard eating concerns group.
The fallout made him, as he says, a “minor celebrity.” He received numerous angry emails charging that the cartoon was cruel and insensitive.
“I realized I hurt some people’s feelings,” Blackburn says. “But the point of the cartoon wasn’t to slash ECHO. I just thought that there were some problems with the aggressiveness of their campaign. I think most of my friends still like me.”
He did not let the mild controversy stop him from drawing his cartoons, which are certainly widely appreciated. His teammates especially make sure to watch out for his drawings in the paper.
“I think most of them are funny,” Fadule says. “I’ve had the pleasure of giving him input in some of them. I think he might have a future in it.”
But when it’s game time, Blackburn’s mind is focused on football. Saturday’s game will be the last of his Harvard career, and he hopes to go out with a win.
“I’m excited about having a senior Yale game here at home,” Blackburn says. “I’m concentrating on playing with as much intensity as I can.”
And even after Blackburn is finished pancaking Yale defenders, his pen will continue destroying the stereotype of a college football player.