First talented cartoonist Matthew Diffee's photo is posted on the information superhighway, and now the city of Scranton is mad at him for this cartoon ("Scranton the Ride"):

That bastion of literary excellence and urbane sophistication, The New Yorker magazine, has picked a fight with down-to-earth Scranton.

Yes, it's true. Scranton has suffered yet another pop culture rebuke, this time at the hands of one of the most respected magazines in America. In The New Yorker's May 16 issue, Matthew Diffee, one of the magazine's stable of freelance "gag" cartoonists, made the city the unflattering focus of a single-panel strip.

Turn to page 79 and you'll find the cartoon in the top right corner -- a neatly drawn sketch of a futuristic-looking mechanical contraption sitting next to a sign that blares, "Scranton The Ride." Beneath that, in smaller type, reads: "Experience the sights, sounds, and smells of Scranton."

Then, underneath that, the punchline: "Warning: May cause nausea."

Get it? The gist seems to be that those who visit Scranton run the risk of becoming violently ill.

Right, Mr. Diffee?

Reached Friday at his home in Brooklyn, Mr. Diffee remained coy with the cartoon's full intent, saying it was "open to interpretation." However, he admitted it was "unfair" of him to make Scranton "an object of ridicule."

Mr. Diffee was initially inspired to do the cartoon when he took the "Ride the Big Apple" virtual reality ride at the Empire State Building.

"It made me a bit queasy, as these things tend to do," he said.

He figured the ride would be perfect fodder for parody. However, because of The New Yorker's somewhat "honey-tinted vision" of the Big Apple, he'd have to pick another place to make fun of.

First, he thought New Jersey. But that seemed "too overdone."

Then he landed on Scranton, which he's never actually set foot in, but once drove through while traveling on Interstate 81 a few years back.

During that trip, he got stuck in traffic, caught a view of a landfill and saw several deer carcasses on the side of the road.

"I suppose through that I developed a slightly negative impression of the place," said Mr. Diffee, a native of Denton, Texas. "All those things together made me unfairly target Scranton."

Besides his one and only Scranton experience, Mr. Diffee said he was partially inspired by the name itself.

"It's just a funny-sounding name," he said. "Say it to the side of your mouth, it will make you giggle."

The cartoon has elicited interesting responses from locals who've seen it.

Friends of Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce president Austin Burke inundated him with copies of the cartoon in the days following its publication.

"Generally speaking," said Mr. Burke, who subscribes to the magazine, "the cartoons in The New Yorker are wonderful."

"I kind of missed the point on this one. I do think they were trying to be derogatory," he said. "It's totally appropriate for them to be snobbish, but I'd rather them not to be mean."

Monsignor Joseph G. Quinn responded with a chuckle of disbelief upon seeing the cartoon.

"Don't you wonder what prompts such cartoons and such timing?" Monsignor Quinn asked, noting how unfortunate it is to see Scranton portrayed in a negative light given all the positive strides he believes the city has made in recent years.

Still, Mr. Burke was able to put some positive spin on the dig, citing an old axiom that any publicity is good publicity so long as "they keep spelling your name right."

Monsignor Quinn, meanwhile, managed to come up with a witty retort of his own.

"On the upside, we're no longer being portrayed as a coal mining community, but rather at least in the spaceship motif. So, maybe we are making progress," he quipped, before imploring Mr. Diffee to check out the city for himself.

To his credit, Mr. Diffee said he'd be happy to visit Scranton at some point. In the meantime, he thinks Scranton will survive the insult just fine.

"I get the feeling Scranton can take it," he said. "It seems like a tough town."

Nice phrase, "honey-tinted vision"; it reminds me of that Salon piece about the magazine's still-limited view of the city, which I'll go back and link to soon. I think Josh McAuliffe, the Scranton Times Tribune writer, is just a tiny bit mean himself to refer to anyone as a mere trick Clydesdale in a "stable of freelance 'gag' cartoonists." And I'm not at all sure what Monsignor Quinn means by "such timing." In any case, do as Diffee suggests and say "Scranton" out of the side of your mouth a couple of times. It sounds like Bogie telling off a paperboy. Even the Scrantonians would giggle.

New Yorker cartoonist takes jab at city in recent issue [Scranton Times Tribune]

Categories: NYer, Cartoons, Diffee