Cro-Magnon man

Mr. Stern, who described himself as a “normal conservative” that doesn’t blindly follow a fearless leader, felt that a sizable portion of the public is as intelligent as a cro-magnon man — one of the early ancestors of modern humans.

Art was born around 25,000 years ago, when the subhuman Neanderthal evolved into our human ancestor, Cro-Magnon man.

Despite his stolid presence, his characters are often thwarted and befuddled—high-strung alpha males driven by an ancient code of valor but tripped up by contemporary frustrations, like a Cro-Magnon man airdropped into Bed-Stuy and handed the wrong person’s latte.

In shorts and rubber-soled shoes he looked vulnerable and misplaced, like a Cro-Magnon man lost in the centuries.

My daughter experienced all manner of anxieties well into the upper grades of elementary school, and even my son, who was largely immune from nighttime terrors, went through brief phases in which he was afraid of raccoons, aliens, and for some reason, an imminent return of Cro-Magnon man.