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'Dilbert' Cartoonist Just Tried To Mock Trans People In Latest Comic—And It Backfired Spectacularly
Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip "Dilbert," made a name for himself in the 1980s and 90s by perfectly tapping into the malaise of the American office worker.
But in recent years he's decided to jettison that legacy and spend his time being a far-right troll. And like most far-right trolls, Adams seems to really have a problem with trans people.
So naturally, his most recent "Dilbert" comic hinged entirely on a transphobic joke--and one that definitely did not land.
Let's see if the world is ready for this.\n\nIntroducing Dave, the new engineer.\n\nhttps://dilbert.com/strip/2022-05-02?creator=Dilbert_Daily\u00a0\u2026 via @Dilbert_Daily— Scott Adams (@Scott Adams) 1651493342
The comic introduces Dilbert's first-ever Black co-worker--a man named Dave--who tells his new colleagues "I identify as white."
Get it? Hilarious.
And as a special bonus, the comic is also racist--Dave is a so-called "diversity hire" who was brought on board by Dave's boss because "management asked me to add some diversity to the engineering team."
Adams announced the new comic on Twitter by saying that Dave would be appearing every day this week, so long as the comic doesn't get him "cancelled."
Dave will be featured all week, so if this one doesn't get me cancelled, more chances to come.— Scott Adams (@Scott Adams) 1651496366
Adams did not get cancelled, as he demonstrably still has a job as a comic strip artist and has for more than 30 years, despite having a long-standing history of offensive tweets and statements.
But several national newspapers unsurprisingly declined to run the comic on account of the whole transphobia and racism thing.
Naturally, Adams posted a follow-up tweet in which he tried to turn this into some kind of victimizing grievance, tried to herald "the first Black character...[in] the Dilbertverse" as an act of progress, and denied his joke had anything to with trans people without offering an alternate explanation for what the joke was supposed to actually be about.
Some of my critics have decided my new Dave character is about trans (it isn't.) Others criticize me for having only one Black character (this is the reason why). Still others question my relevance (while being unable to ignore me). Fun day!https://twitter.com/swimmerbr78/status/1521185243042095105\u00a0\u2026— Scott Adams (@Scott Adams) 1651529948
Quite the trifecta.
But the real capper to this whole incident was the way it became a true face-plant.
Due to the standard operating procedure at most newspapers that weekday comics don't print in full color, Adams' high-larious transphobic comic printed with the character of Dave looking like a white man, ruining the joke utterly nonsensical.
Roll it all together, and Twitter had a field day roasting Adams to a crisp.
Apparently Scott Adams didn\u2019t realize weekday strips don\u2019t print in color which accidentally makes this the funniest Dilbert in yearspic.twitter.com/RnKlZH418d— Critter Jams (@Critter Jams) 1651510519
you're a dumbass who doesn't even know that weekday comics don't print in color. you can't even be racist righthttps://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026— ted \ud83e\udd87 (@ted \ud83e\udd87) 1651513523
Tweeting "Let's see if the world is ready for this" for a strip where you do The One Joke, and it's not even colored in properly so it makes sense for people reading in the newspaper? 100/100. Ultimate Dilbert Guy tweet. Gotta retire on this one. https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/GefDp9pf0t— Lon Harris (@Lon Harris) 1651517374
Fixed it for you. https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/ThSWucwaqi— Kompy Kompleat (@Kompy Kompleat) 1651543771
It's cute that you think you have anything remotely insightful to contribute here.— Bunni Rabid (@Bunni Rabid) 1651508652
where's the funnyhttps://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026— ahab (@ahab) 1651504436
How revolutionary of Scotty to discover black people. Let's give the man a hand...https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026— Dose (@Dose) 1651521524
one jokehttps://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026— Joel Fleming (@Joel Fleming) 1651509528
Y'know this isn't only painfully unfunny but you're not even the first to tackle this subject.\n\nThe Boondocks beat you to it in 2005 and Aaron McGruder's take was actually funny and insightful.https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1521099440936808448\u00a0\u2026— MJ (@MJ) 1651523326
I thought comic strips were supposed to be funny. Is the payoff in tomorrow's strip, or...?— He Who Koops (@He Who Koops) 1651511224