Random Batch of the Week

Hello! It’s time for Random Batch of the week, an ongoing segment where I choose (or am given) a random batch of cartoons that I submitted to The New Yorker. This week I just used a random number generator, but if there’s a random number you want to shout out, ranging from 1 to 292, go for it.

The generator gave me batch 129 from May of 2021. It was deep pandemic, I was living with in-laws and using the bad font. No sellers. It’s not a great batch. Which is OK! Once you let yourself go and just allow yourself to draw lots of cartoons you're going to have a ton of duds and plenty of bad batches. Let’s dive in!

Not entirely sure this one makes sense. You get the idea though. Disney is notoriously litigious, this tree somehow bares its logo and for some reason that means these loggers are in legal trouble. It adds up like a fever dream does after you suddenly wake up. Sometimes that’s good enough. In fact, sometimes the weird cartoons are the funniest. Not this one, but other ones, from better cartoonists. I think I was inspired by this cartoon from Harry Bliss, I just really liked the idea of the rings in a tree forming some sort of visual. I couldn’t really think of anything half as good as his though. Next!

This was one of those frustrating ones where I thought I had hit gold but when I showed it to others it was met mostly with confusion. I think there was a lot going on inside my head for this cartoon that didn’t translate onto the final drawing. Around this time I remember seeing a lot of tweets about how you need to try out a bunch of therapists to find one that you vibe with. I don’t know if this actually is a thing, but it felt like enough of one for me to use it as a starting point. The second part is about how people (me, that’s me in the picture) tend to take advantage of their relationships, using their friends and family to talk out every crazy thought, which is bad and annoying and a burden on them if abused.

I don’t know if either of those ideas add up. I also think the language isn’t working. Perhaps it would be better if it were “Before I lay that burden onto you.” But that’s not much better. It’s not punchy and I just don’t think it clicks, particularly not with the first part. The basic idea of the joke did become fodder for a cartoon that I did sell down the line, but which I cannot show you because, alas, it has not yet been published. It’s better than this one, anyway.

Next one:

Sort of a weak and basic cartoon poking fun at anti-maskers during the pandemic. Probably saw a hundred of these jokes, some better than others. This one is middling and weak-kneed. It doesn’t really make a point. It’s just silly. His stubborn expression and the danger he’s put himself in illustrates stupid behavior, but the title “extreme anti-masking” undermines it by suggesting that this man so silly, not even the pandemic deniers are that bad! You can argue I’m wrong here but that’s kinda how I feel about it.

When you draw a cartoon that is trying to make a point, political or otherwise, it’s best to go for the jugular. Otherwise it comes off as trying not to offend, wanting to appease everyone, and in the process normalizes the very behavior that it ostensibly is trying to deter. I hate jokes that feign punching up when all they do is punch nowhere. Suffice to say, I don’t like this cartoon that much. I like that guy’s face though.

So if I don’t like the cartoon now, why did I draw it then. In the moment, especially when you’re trying desperately to come up with cartoons for the week, you're just searching for concepts. I found a metaphor in this and gave it no further examination before drawing it. It was good enough because it added up. It’s a bit of a trap, or maybe just a hazard of the job, or maybe it was just sloppy! It happens.

Anyway enough on that, next!

Ok I do love this one but it is admittedly insane. I don’t know what to say about it. I love the name Darla, the tear in his eye and the cigarette. I love that it says THE END. The weirdest part about this is that I drew several “parrots writing a novel” cartoons, all of them are weird. Here’s another, I don’t know if it came before or after:

This one is maybe a little better because it leans into the noir and also a typewriter is better shorthand for showing that the character is writing a novel. The parrot on the computer? He could be doing anything! None of it good.

On to the final cartoon:

I remember showing this to a friend who lives in North Carolina and he said “Is this how you think people outside of New York live?” It’s not! I’m sorry. I do love the ‘trying to make it big in New York’ trope though. I’ve done it several times. Here’s two more from over the years:

Ok that’s it! Thanks again. Shout out a number for the next random batch if you want. Have a good Weekend.