The cartoon (Credit: Twitter/Calgary Herald/screenshot)

The Calgary Herald apologized after a cartoon offended readers.

The cartoon, from the Close to Home strip by John McPherson, depicted the fictional Native American character Tonto from The Lone Ranger series apparently drunk at a bar. He is holding a drink but his head was on the bar, and the caption read, “Kemosabe! Tonto hear last call coming! Maybe eight or ten minutes away…”

iMediaEthics has written to the Calgary Herald, which redirected us to its parent company Post Media.

The Calgary Herald published an apology on its Twitter feed that read:

“On Friday an offensive cartoon appeared on the comics page of three Postmedia papers, including the Calgary Herald. We sincerely apologize to anyone offended by the content. The cartoon, Close to Home, is syndicated by a third party. Postmedia will no longer publish this cartoon.”

“I would like to apologize to those who found the Feb. 21 panel to be offensive, as I in no way meant to characterize anyone in the comic in a racist way,” Close to Home’s creator, John McPherson, said in a statement according to 660 News. “My comics are meant to entertain, and I’m sorry that this one was hurtful to some readers. As the great-grandson of a Shawnee woman, I have always been interested in and concerned with the plight of native people, and I would never disparage them intentionally.”

iMediaEthics wrote to McPherson, but the email bounced back, undelivered.