The Header: WHAT? WHAT?

Many of you have slipped plaintive little notes to me asking, “Oh, Kevin, Kevin. What is the meaning of that black and white drawing in the header up there? The one with the little kid guarding a pile of… of… well, of who knows what? What does it all mean?”

Mean? Why, it means nothing now, but at the time — The Turn of the Century — it resonated deeply with the fearful masses. I drew it for a magazine article (Milwaukee MetroParent) about how tiny children would cope with the disasters many people expected to come when the change from 19 to 20 as the first two digits in the year would cause all the computers in the world to simultaneously say, “Wuh?” Traffic lights would flash like strobes. Planes would fly backwards. Ships would spin like tops. The Four Horsemen would turn off their alarm clocks and start climbing into their work clothes.

I did not believe such a catastrophe was in the offing, so I treated the subject facetiously. I pictured a little kid as a survivalist, hoarding batteries and battery-powered toys, and junk food. He was protecting the stash with a toy light saber.

It seemed like a nice pic to pop in the header. That’s all. I’ll post a less distorto version of the drawing over on my freelance illustration web:

Kevin Atherton’s Drawings

But not today. Today I play.