Happy Valentine’s Day! I thought I’d take this opportunity to blog about something that’s a cousin to Valentine’s Day: Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Specifically, syphilis.

Cool. You haven’t clicked the “back” button yet.

I’m doing cartooning for a syphilis prevention advertising campaign in San Francisco. Syphilis rates have gone up 50% in San Francisco over the past year, so the goal of this campaign is to encourage people to get tested regularly. The campaign features four main cartoon characters: three penises and a syphilis sore.

The penises are Clark (Caucasian), Byron (African-American) and Pedro (Latino). The three of them are team. They’re kind of like superheroes who fight syphilis. Their nemesis is Phil, the syphilis sore.

The campaign is called Healthy Penis 2009 and the launch was yesterday. Below is the first ad.

If you’re Facebook and want to keep track of this campaign, make friends with Byron (the black penis). He’s a cool guy.

For more information, check out the official website: www.healthypenis.org

Have fun today—and be safe out there.

The cartoonist collective I belong to, Tall Tale Features,  is growing! We recently added two members to our group: Irma Eriksson (creator of “Imy”) and Norm Feuti (creator of “Gill.”) If the name Norm Feuti sounds familiar, you might know his syndicated strip, “Retail.”) We are very happy to have these two talented people in our group. Check out their strips!

Other news: a few weeks ago, I finally joined Facebook. A friend of mine, Joe Salama, created a group for MetzgerCartoons. So if you are a fan, join MetzgerCartoons on Facebook.