Cartoon: Why I Have Hope

This seemed like a good one to close the year out with. Happy New Year, Alas readers!

I don’t have a cartoon syndicate and I’m not in newspapers. But I get to do this for a living because lots of readers support my Patreon with mostly small pledges! I also have prints and books for sale.

I’m actually pretty serious about this. History is full of events – both good and bad – that most people never saw coming.

I understand people feeling pessimistic- I do too. And without a doubt, bad things are going to happen in the US, especially to trans people and for immigrants. And the catastrophe in Gaza is certain to continue and may even get worse.

But I try to remember that not only do I not know what’s going to happen – past experience shows I’m actively terrible at knowing what will happen. This is the most recent of several times in my life when the far right has won the White House and congress. And each time, terrible things have happened – but it’s never been the end of progress. It’s never meant that civil rights never advanced again, and it’s never meant that nothing good will happen again.

This one was fun to draw. The two-people-talking-while-walking-through-the-park thing is something I’ve drawn a lot, but I’ve decided that’s all right. Charles Schulz did a lot of cartoons showing Peanuts characters talking while leaning their elbows on a brick wall. Walt Kelly did a ton of strips featuring Pogo characters talking while hanging out in a swamp, or rowing a boat.

My goal with the park walk scripts is to keep it fun, for me and (I hope) for readers. Every drawing is a new challenge, and a new chance to make what I draw look lively and interesting. Every new strip is a chance to get something right, and maybe to make people feel touched or angry or at least less alone. I’m awfully lucky that this is my job.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This four-panel cartoon shows two women talking as they walk through a park. The first woman has red hair and glasses, the second woman has a red hoodie and black hair held in a bun.

PANEL 1

GLASSES: So what do you think – is democracy done for?

BUN: What do I know? I thought Trump was definitely going to lose. Twice.

PANEL 2

A close shot of Bun, who looks distressed.

BUN: When I was a kid lots of smart people said we were doomed to be destroyed by nuclear war, and I believed them.

PANEL 3

BUN: I was shocked when the Berlin Wall fell. And I thought we’d never get gay marriage or legal pot in my lifetime.

PANEL 4

Both characters smile, and Bun spreads her hands expansively.

GLASSES: So you predict things will be all right?

BUN: No, I predict catastrophe. But it gives me hope that my predictions are always complete garbage.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

Chicken fat is a venerable cartoonists’ term for unimportant details put into the backgrounds.

PANEL 1: There’s a hole in the ground, and Marge Simpson is popping her head out of the hole.

An almost illegibly tiny newspaper lies on the ground. The newspaper is called “The New Fork Tines.” The top headline says “Democrats Choose Youth For Leadership Position,” with a sub-headline reading “Newly appointed leader only 71.”

A bottle lying on the ground has a label that says “Old Litter.”

A mouse is holding a skunk at gunpoint. The skunk has its hands raised and next to it is a sack with a “$” on it.

PANEL 3

A bird flying through the air is wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigarette.

A hole in a tree has a paper hanging from it, which says “Hole For Rent, utilities not included.”

PANEL 4

One of the buildings in the background has a gigantic teddy bear climbing it King Kong style.

The mouse from panel 1, holding a shovel, stands by a freshly dug grave. The money bag lies near the mouse’s feet.

Why I Have Hope | Patreon