For political cartoonists, the most exciting part of a new presidential administration is finally having someone new to draw. And when that someone is as unique and intriguing as Barack Obama, you are bound to find to wide range of caricatures and interpretations.

The most entertaining depictions of President Obama are the ones that seem to be based more on the creator’s own views than anything resembling reality.

For instance, Chuck Asay’s political cartoons portray Obama as a naïve dupe, unaware of the horrors of leftist thought that his election has unleashed.

A more prevalent view is to show Obama as an arrogant, two-faced partisan, who completely ignores any advice that comes from an opposing source. Eric Allie in particular is excellent at drawing Obama with a perpetual sneer and upturned face.

Others prefer to imagine Obama as a hardcore Marxist, such as Pulitizer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez, who memorably drew Obama in full Karl Marx garb.

While this belief has absolutely no basis in fact, it’s still darn funny, intentionally or not. Still, I don’t think anyone’s ever topped Glenn McCoy’s interpretation of Obama. McCoy seems to view Obama as a cruel, malicious, cigarette-smoking misanthrope, who plots to bring down traditional values with his anti-American ways.

One cartoon featured Obama clubbing a pile of aborted fetuses in a dumpster outside Planned Parenthood, muttering, “Just making sure there are no survivors.”

This is the type of caricature that is so offensive and inaccurate that it becomes hilarious all over again.

Believe it or not, cartoonists more sympathetic to Obama can provide entertaining caricatures as well. Talented individuals like David Horsey and Mike Luckovich like to portray Obama as a straight man compared to whatever craziness is going on.

Obama in these cartoons seems resigned to an administration plagued by unending crises, be it phony or real. Other, more left-leaning, cartoonists prefer to depict Obama as more of a sellout, trading in the liberal cause for a shaky and ineffective bipartisanship.

That can’t compare, however, to the sheer silliness of Ted Rall’s Generalissimo Obama, a crazed, power-hungry dictator and brother to Rall’s Generalissimo Bush. In Rall’s mind, Obama is merely the continuation of the American government’s long authoritarian history of corporate favoritism and foreign policy corruption.

Despite being such a public figure and subject of discussion, President Obama is still in many ways an unknowable man. The many political cartoonists and their varying takes on the man should be evidence of this, and the coming years will undoubtedly result in many more caricatures. Some will be accurate, some will exist far from the realms of sanity, but all will be a part of finding out who Barack Obama is. Let’s hope Ted Rall isn’t right.

Reach cartoonist Ryan Rosendal at opinion@dailyuw.com.