With the death of Michael Jackson, cartoonists are confronted with a dilemma: focus on positive influence his music had on millions, or on the more darker aspects that plagued him until his death. Daryl Cagle had a great post about the thought process that goes into coming up with an idea that is both timely and funny, while at the same time tackling some of the tougher issues in Jackson’s life.

Mike Luckovich, the staff cartoonist for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, completed this challenging cartoon which appears in today’s paper. Thus far, 65% of people voting on the ajc.com website give the cartoon thumbs down.

“I find this cartoon offensive and hateful,” posted a reader on the CNN site. “Michael Jackson was a musical genius, philanthropist and set an example on how to use your celebrity to make the world better.

Mike will be on CNN today at 1p EST to talk about it, so tune in. I’ll post a video of it as soon as it appears on their website.

What do you think of the toon?

And while you’re waiting, you can view more of Mike’s cartoons here.

UPDATE: Here’s the video from CNN of Mike Luckovich’s appearance. It’s just a shame how quickly that have to squeeze him in.