Corey Marshall (b. October 26th, 2019), better known by his pen-name Manuel Tiperiter, was a humorist and cartoonist who became wildly popular for his satire of American politics, throughout the 21st and early 22nd centuries. During his career, he became notorious for his frequent sharp-witted jabs at the American government. In particular, he was critical of what he saw as an endless series of foreign policy blunders leading up to World War III and the Second Mexican-American War.
Due to the inherently controversial nature of his views, which were often at odds with what was "accepted" in American society, Marshall's cartoons were rarely published in mainstream newspapers and magazines. He was, however, a popular figure among readers of underground tabloids that escaped suppression by government censors during World War III. His pen name, Manuel Tiperiter, was a result of this: with computers and the Internet tightly censored, Marhsall relied on an old-fashioned typewriter.
Marshall made hundreds of cartoons; here are a few of the most notable ones.
- "Are you SURE this isn't going to hurt?" was published in 2047 to significant controversy, under Marshall's own name. It showed a pair of conjoined twins-- one representing the United States, the other Japan--strapped to an surgical table and about to be operated on by a chainsaw-wielding doctor labeled "Sanctions". The intended implication was that America and Japan's economies were so interconnected that a sanction on Japanese products would be dangerous.
- "Freedom of Speech" was published in 2052. It depicted "Uncle Sam" tied to a chair with tape over his mouth. Next to him, an ugly caricature of Evalyn Jacobi holds up a sign that reads "Fight for THEIR freedom. Don't ask about yours." The cartoon was meant as a satire of Jacobi's heavy censorship of national media during the war, which Marhsall saw not only as an attack on free speech, but as hypocritical given Jacobi's emphasis on freedom.
- "Just to be Safe. . .", published in 2053, also took aim at the Jacobi administration's censorship policies. It depicts a number of iconic fictional characters of Japanese origin (among them Pikachu, Hello Kitty, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Godzilla) being locked up in a prison cell by Jacobi, who is portrayed as an ugly prison warden holding a whip and a taser.
- "Best Friends Forever?", published in 2056, mocked the relationship between the US and Poland. At the time, many believed that Poland would remain a US ally after helping defeat Turkey and Japan. Marshall mocked this naivety by showing two people--one representing Poland, the other representing the US, shaking hands atop a globe. The man representing Poland, however, has a knife behind his back.
- "Another One For The Trophy Room" was published in 2073, and depicts Carla Anderson as a hunter with recently-acquired US territories such as Britain, New Zealand, and Australia mounted on the wall like taxidermied animal heads. Although generally a supporter of Anderson, Marshall was a staunch opponent of American imperialism.
- "Without a Paddle", from 2080, depicts how Marshall, and many other progressives, saw the Presidential election that year. Incumbent President Horace Fadel is shown as a nervous man on a tiny raft about to be devoured by a massive shark. The raft is labeled "Progressives" and the shark is labeled "Conservatives".
- "The Conservative Hydra", published in 2086, was one of many works during that time mocking the policies of then-President Oscar Lachman. The satire in this cartoon was more straightforward and less comical than many of Marshall's other works. In it, a frightened Hispanic family is shown cowering behind a wall from a gigantic nine-headed dragon. Seven of the monster's heads are those of leaders of the Conservative Party.
- "Hey You Whippersnappers, Get Off My Lawn!", from 2087, was a much more humorous anti-Lachman cartoon, consisting of two panels. It depicts the President as an old suburban man waving his cane at a group of Hispanic children, demanding they get off his lawn. In the second panel, a group of white children approach his house and are welcomed in. The implication is that Lachman's deportations, ostensibly done for economic reasons, are actually an racist act of ethnic cleansing.
Marshall also wrote a trilogy of novels, which he published under his own name. Like his political cartoons, these novels provided a barbed, acidic take on American politics and culture, and were particularly popular with liberal young adults. The novels concerned two geeky but dim-witted young men named Bill and Harvey-- collectively known as the Brickhead Brothers-- who, through their sheer stupidity, become involved in various historic events in contemporary America. The first book, The Brickhead Brothers On The Road, was published in 2056 and described the title characters traveling from North Carolina to Seattle during World War III in search of what they believe is the last PlayStation in America. The second book, The Brickhead Brothers Get Cold Feet, featured the duo being mistaken for Earth Working Group scientists and joining the crew of a research station in Antarctica, was released in 2062. The third and so far final book, The Brickhead Brothers In Space, was published in 2068 and had them stowing away on the IV-101 Enterprise during its flight to Le'ma, and interfering with its First Contact with the K'lerin. All three books were adapted into animated films, although Marshall was not involved in their production.