The cartoon shows a family of four standing at the base of a steep rocky canyon while viewing a large sign labeled Official Middle Class Guide with an arrow stating You Are Here. The image captures the sense of being trapped or positioned within a deep economic divide. Published on September 13 2026 the work addresses the ongoing pressures on middle class households including stagnant wages rising costs and limited upward mobility. The visual metaphor of the canyon emphasizes how many families feel stuck between higher and lower economic strata without clear paths forward. The artist's signature appears at the bottom left confirming the creator as Dave Granlund.
Persistent drought has left riverbeds cracked and forests withered across affected regions, undermining tourism and outdoor recreation. Families arriving for advertised river trips and forest walks instead encounter dry ground and dead trees. The piece highlights how climate-driven water shortages continue to disrupt normal seasonal activities without immediate policy relief in sight.
Nigeria continues to contend with sustained inflation and rising living costs. The piece responds to persistent price pressure on households and the strain it places on the wider economy. It presents inflation as a predatory force circling a vessel already taking on water.
Families planning summer getaways face steep increases in gas, food, and hotel costs that disrupt long weekend plans. The piece highlights how these expenses push households toward simpler backyard alternatives while underscoring the persistent strain inflation places on everyday leisure.
Retailers launched back-to-school promotions in late July, prompting families to stock up on supplies weeks ahead of the academic calendar. The timing overlaps with summer clearance events that mimic holiday marketing tactics. Parents and students face added pressure to buy early amid rising costs for essentials. The piece highlights how commercial calendars compress traditional shopping seasons and shift family routines.
The Trump family faces renewed scrutiny over business dealings and influence peddling. Guards at a symbolic fortress receive a large wooden pig marked grift and immediately demand its return. The episode highlights ongoing concerns about gifts and favors tied to the family name.
Immigration enforcement actions continue to draw scrutiny over methods used to process and remove individuals at the border. The piece frames these operations as overly harsh through its central visual device. It takes the position that current practices treat routine processing as punitive and excessive.
A television displays a wedding party photo with multiple guests marked out by large X's. Two children stand in front of the screen. The girl with the ponytail explains that her father removed family members from the wedding party after discovering they do not vote the same way he does. The scene highlights how political disagreements can fracture family events and relationships.
A family of three hikes along a forest trail in summer, leaving behind phones, tablets, laptops and televisions marked with red X's under a Summer Screen Time banner. The father carries a walking stick and backpack while the mother applies sunscreen to their daughter, who holds a stick near a Reach sign. A Woods sign points the way forward on the path.
A large commercial jet labeled Trump Family Grift and marked with a billions seal carries figures in its windows while a small biplane labeled Hunter Biden crashes into its nose. Debris flies as the biplane breaks apart. A speech bubble from the jet asks if anyone heard something. The July 2026 cartoon by Rick McKee uses the collision to contrast family business dealings and past scrutiny on the Biden family.
The drawing shows the Statue of Liberty positioned beside a Dilley Texas migrant family detention center sign. Guards at a striped barrier discuss turning her away due to country of origin, missing papers and skin color.
