Salt Lake City Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley is clearly becoming quite a hit with BuzzFlash readers.

His "Clueless George Goes to War" cartoon book and "Clueless George" gladiator pin have sold out many times over on the Buzz. (And his other pins, including Dick Cheney in hunting gear, have also been popular.)

Now, Bagley has drawn and written a sequel to "Clueless George Goes to War." It's appropriately called "Clueless George is Watching You!" As the back cover wryly notes: "Terror is this monkey's business!"

Of course, once again, Clueless George operates -- well, cluelessly -- under the Machiavellian "guidance" of "The Man" (AKA Dick Cheney).

In "Watching You," Bagley sets a far grimmer tone than in "Clueless George Goes to War." And he has more to say in the text.

Clearly, the threat posed to our democracy by the executive branch's hijacking of the American Constitution is of deep concern to Bagley.

Don't get us wrong, "Clueless George is Watching You" still evokes the wry Bagley playfulness, but it is also a bit more ominous than his first Clueless George book. It's as if to say, going to war is one thing, but if you take away democracy, you have no chance to restore the nation to its Constitutional foundation.

Cheney is still the evil Rasputin whispering into the ear of the doltish Bush monkey -- and Bush is still just as clueless, but you get the feeling that the stakes have escalated in Bagley's mind. There's always humor in Bagley's cartoons, but this time it's mixed with more than a dollop of genuine fear for our nation and common sense outrage.

In "Clueless George is Watching You," Bagley, once again, gets painfully close to the truth of the threat that the growing suppression of freedom and liberty poses to America. This short illustrated book is more insightful than four weekends full of Washington D.C. talking head pundits, actually more prescient than four networks full of mainstream "news" reporters.

Yes, "Clueless George is Watching You" -- and that ought to make you angry, infuriated and ready to renew the Spirit of '76 in the battle against a tyrannical monarchy.

Book Sense Picks
American Booksellers Assoc.
July 2006

Great comic relief at a time when we most need it. Pat Bagley encapsulates, or should I say cans, what has to be the modus operandi of this administration.
--Janet Bollum, The Muse Book Shop, Deland, FL

Watching Pat Bagley
The local political cartoonists new book could turn the spotlight on him
By Jamie Gadette, "Salt Lake City Weekly"
June 28, 2006


(review excerpt)
Judging by the demand for Clueless George, however, not everyone is zoning out. King's English Bookshop owner Betsy Burton sold 1,838 copies of the first book store record. She credits its success not only to Bush's sinking approval ratings but also to Bagley's infectious appeal.
"He's one of the single most important parts of the Tribune for everyone who reads it, no one misses his cartoons," she says. "I expect that kind of adulation will grow as he's picked up more and more places. "I just think he's really found the pulse with this book. I really hope he writes three or four more of them," she says. "We need all the help we can to get through the next few years."

Utah Cartoonist Releases New Book Bashing Bush
By John Hollenhorst, "KSL TV"
June 13, 2006


(review excerpt)
Pat Bagley just can't resist making a monkey out of George Bush.

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune: thought I had missed the golden age of cartooning during the Nixon administration. I thought we'd never have a president quite that bad. But, well, here we are.

Yes, even in the reddest of the red states, he's making a success out of making fun of the president.

As you can imagine, there are others who tend to get, well, enraged. One guy sent back a newspaper cartoon proposing Bagley's beheading. Yes. He gets hate mail.

Bagley the Conservative?
Trib Cartoonist Blames Bush Administration for Radical Bent
By Laura Jones, KCPW 88.3 FM
June 13, 2006

It took three months to write and satirizes the Bush Administration's authorization of a secret wiretapping program by the National Security Agency. Bagley says satire is the best way to drive home a political point, and he cites a credible source:"I think it was Martin Luther [who] said that the devil loves to be reviled, he loves to be hated, he loves for people to hate him. But the thing the devil can't stand is ridicule. So this is making our present administration look kind of ridiculous, because I think they are kind of ridiculous."
Posted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2006 KCPW

 Over time, we have gotten many variations on the Curious George theme submitted as potential premiums, but for one reason or another they just haven't made the final cut. "Clueless George Goes to War," however, won us over immediately.

 In less than 30 pages, this adult political cartoon book managed to capture, with humor, the essential incompetence of America's boy king (or monkey) and his mentor, "The Man" (Dick Cheney). It's not hard to try and be funny, but it is challenging to actually accomplish the goal. Particularly when it comes to politics and parody.

 But Pat Begley, a cartoonist, has achieved the remarkable: a little gem of a book that distills the Bush mis-presidency down to its essence. It's been a long time since we've actually laughed about the ruinous reign of Bushevism, but we did while reading through "Clueless George Goes to War."

 Bagley is an award-winning cartoonist from Utah -- the state that gave Bush his biggest margin of victory. His cartoons appear daily in the Salt Lake Tribune and have been published in Time, the Guardian of London, the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere.

 We talked to the publisher, and he assured us that there are plenty of pro-democracy voters and advocates in Salt Lake City, the home of "Rocky," the mayor who encouraged his constituents to turn out and protest Bush's war policies.

 So, it's perhaps fitting that the reddest of states produced this delightful little cartoon book about "Clueless George" and "The Man."

 It makes for perfect holiday reading and a wonderful holiday gift for a progressive near and dear to you. 

 As the back cover of the book notes, to evildoers everywhere, George says, "Don't monkey with America." Because George and "The Man" are too busy monkeying with the world.

Southern Flavor at the MPBA
By Kevin Howell, "PW Daily (Publishers Weekly)"
September 26, 2005

Titles booksellers felt would be hot for the holidays included . . . . political cartoonist Pat Bagley's forthcoming collection, Clueless George Goes to War! (White Horse Books). Betsy Burton, owner of The King's English in Salt Lake City, UT, noted that Bagley's previous book, 101 Ways to Survive Four More Years of George W. Bush (White Horse Books) sold 1,000 copies in one month.

Editoonery
By Robert Harvey
October 13, 2004
www.RCHarvey.com

Bagley has deftly evoked the mood and manner of the [Curious George™ series] to demonstrate how misguided the Bush League has been since 9/11. GeeDubya himself provides the inspirational ammunition: he is as childish in his eagerness to dress up (as a jet pilot for "Mission Accomplished") as Curious George, and in his facial physiognomy, he bears an uncanny resemblance to a monkey. Bagley takes full advantage of such "clues" to create a scathing satire with Cheney in the roll of The Man (in the Yellow Hat). A gleefully fiendish read, all the more remarkable for its origins in Utah, Orin Hatch's home state, which gave George W. ("WiltingPolls") Bush his biggest victory margin in the 2004 Election.

By Bill Day
The Commercial Appeal
November 16, 2005

With his newest book, Clueless George Goes to War!, Pat Bagley has penned some of the most wonderfully satirical cartoons ever drawn on the most idiotic president in modern history. He makes people think, and that's dangerous, heinous and seditious. Is he trying to make the world a better place? Damn, I wish I had thought of these brilliant scribbles he calls cartoons.

Politics1.com
By Ron Gunzburger
November 2005

Editorial cartoonist Pat Bagley manages to deftly touch upon the 9/11 attack, the Iraq War, the influence of Vice President Cheney, and the Patriot Act in this slim (32-page) paperback book. Consider it to be a very amusing children's book intended just for adults.

"The Book Standard"
Regional Chart: The Salt Lake City, Utah, Area
By Kimberly Maul
October 04, 2005

Aside from their name, what do Curious George and the 43rd president have in common? A lot, if you ask Pat Bagley, the political cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune. For his latest book, Clueless George Goes to War, Bagley developed a storyline about the president's actions after 9/11 modeled after the Curious George books. Initially, the book was available only in two stores in Salt Lake CityóSam Weller's and The King's English, but now it's available across the country. "We rushed the local book release in order to coincide with the nationwide war protests on Sept. 24th," says Dan Thomas, publicist for White Horse Books. "The local peace rally drew thousands of protesters, and Sam Weller's was there to sell books." The rush paid off and pushed the book to No. 5 on the Salt Lake City, Utah, Chart. Bagley has also been making press appearances all over the area, including release parties at Weller's and The King English's, and has been giving interviews on Midday Utah on KCPW FM (one of the local National Public Radio affiliates) and The Tom Barberi Show on 97.5 Talk FM. Bagley's previous book, 101 Ways to Survive Four More Years of George W. Bush, is still hanging on, having sold 4,000 units since it was published in December

Pat Bagley makes a book about Clueless George
By Matt James, "The Park Record"
November 13, 2005

(review excerpt)
With only one or two illustrations per page, and a highly distilled narrative, the work retains the feel of a childrenís book throughout. But the material still illustrates certain nuances and a political punch. Bagley said he wrote the book to provide a voice of dissent in Utah, which voted overwhelmingly for Bush. ìI just try to provide some balance, he said. But he also said he viewed the book as more than just a simple counterweight against the stateís overwhelming conservatism. Hopefully itís going to have an impact,î he said. Hopefully, it will be one more pebble in the wall against him.