the buzz log

Just weeks ago, we told you about an anonymous poster popping up in L.A. and online: The mash-up of Obama's photo with Heath Ledger "Dark Knight" clown paint and the caption "Socialism" that had the Web buzzing.

Well, mystery solved. The creator of the odd message and the disturbing portrait is a 20-year-old student in Chicago, who supported Dennis Kucinich for president, and didn't vote in the last election. It was an educational, not political pursuit that led to the project: The history major was practicing his Photoshop skills, pulled the Time magazine cover image of the president and went on the Web to learn how to "Jokerize" the pic. Hours later, he posted the results on Flikr. Hold your applause. Nobody noticed until some still unknown joker downloaded the artwork, added the "Socialism" title and ta-da: A Web sensation was born.

On a tip, the Los Angeles Times tracked down the Flickr site of the man behind the image, Firas Alkhateeb, and interviewed him about his unwanted fame. Obama playing the Joker wasn't his first attempt. The Photoshop wiz also messed with Jacques-Louis David's painting of Napoleon leading the charge on Waterloo astride a motorcycle instead of a horse. Actually, it's pretty cool.

The outed artist may now face legal trouble for swiping the Time image without permission. Asked what he thought of someone swiping his image used to equate Obama with socialism, Alkhateeb responded, "First of all, who said being a socialist is evil?" Well, apparently, not him.