More Than Meets The Eye

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the thing it’s about. And really, it’s about talking about that thing. Or talking about lots of things.

These days you can’t really talk about anything because everyone is insane and angry 24/7. So that’s what the comic is really about. And I’ll leave it at that.

The Lanternfly Effect

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about voting. Not to ruin it for you, but it uses the ritual of stomping spotted lanternflies as a metaphor for the act of participating in a democracy alongside hundreds of millions of people. Yes, it feels like your one single act is pointless. Statistically, one could argue it is. However, each vote does matter, just as each dead spotted lanternfly does.

Now, some may wonder what I’m saying with the final frame. Well, it’s simply — you wouldn’t just let yourself get covered in spotted lanternflies, would you? Even though killing them feels hopeless when you look across the street and see them blanketing a tree, you still do your best. And that’s voting. No matter how sorry the situation is, you still go out and do it. Even if you hate the candidates, vote for a write-in.

Or just give up and let the swarm take over. (And no… please don’t hijack this metaphor and make it a real obvious one about immigration. That is lame and unimaginative, but I could see someone easily taking it there, so let me head you off at the pass.)

And hey, for the record, I’m in the same boat as Bill Maher. I think we’re pretty fucked as a country. But I’m still gonna go out there and do my thing. That’s where I don’t agree with George Carlin, even though I see where he was coming from.

Healthy Dialogue

I already said so much in this week’s new Dustinland comic about our response to Covid and the vaccine and everyone’s attitudes, which continue to develop and frankly get nastier over time… why say more here. But I do want to say that the goal of this comic is to express not just the obvious frustration I’ve had seeing everything about this issue (and every other) turn into a rage-fest, but also a sadness in terms of how I think we’ve been let down by some of the people we appeal to for help and guidance. Oh, and also regret that I too participated in some of the negativity.

Big picture, we need to be honest all the time. We can’t hide inconvenient facts — no matter what you believe. When those facts are uncovered, when lies are made clear, it creates an atmosphere of distrust, which leads to a world devoid of compromise. Hence the global slide toward fascism right now. And I don’t know if it can be stopped at this rate.

Last Laughs

This week’s new Dustinland comic is a pretty dark one about the dread many of us feel — I certainly do — regarding the future of mankind. I know some people are simply blissfully unaware or capable of denial to an OJ level, which I guess is nice for them personally, although also part of the reason we are where we are. But as for me, well, I’ve been reading and learning and talking about this stuff for so long, it’s hard to not see the writing on the walls. Maybe I’m wrong. I would looooove to be wrong. But it just feels like the clock is running out on us and the problems are simply too big for us to solve considering the dysfunction inherent in being human.

Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off with the minds of ants. Just serving the hive, following along. Sure, it would be way less interesting and “fun” but at least we’d be able to accomplish things and serve a greater purpose. Now we can’t even agree on what’s real and what isn’t. Oh well. We had a nice run — except for that part when we killed all the other lifeforms on Earth. That part was bad.

But yeah, it’s depressing and ridiculous to see how everyone runs around pretending things will just “work out” when we are headed for the ultimate disaster. I do it too. I live my life. What else can I do? I really don’t know at this point.

Dependence Day

This week’s new Dustinland comic is a wacky take on the 4th of July. Wonder if anyone will think I’m serious and actually debate these points. If I had more visibility, 100% that would happen, and it would be dumb.

Anyway, yay America? I dunno. I do like the fireworks and hotdogs and not working, so at least there’s that.

Inactivism

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion, although amazingly enough, the court already, in just one day, snuck another shitty decision in there. Who knows what today will bring? Is fun, yes? No. Is not fun. Is depressing.

And that’s what I’m saying with the comic. Not that it’s good to respond to bad news with inaction but that when you truly believe mankind is doomed to repeat the same mistakes forever until civilization crumbles and the planet is unlivable… well it’s hard to get motivated to “fight back,” if you will.

Yeah, we’re screwed. There really is no way around it. But you know, like they said at the end of Don’t Look Up…. “We really had it all, didn’t we.”

Another Day

After starting my day by having to tell my son about what happened in Texas, I felt compelled to create this new Dustinland comic.

Not much more to say here than what I already said in the comic. It’s just a harsh reality we live in. Very hard not to think humans are just generally shitty and hopeless, even though most of us are nice (maybe). As a whole… it just seems we are doomed to stand in our own way. Hard not to feel hopeless, but still gotta wake up and give it your best every day.

Modern Warfare

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the war in Ukraine. I actually drew this strip a few days ago. Seems like the whataboutism has died down a bit and even Tucker Carlson is pretending he didn’t support Russia all along.

But honestly, I’ve seen liberals and Trumpers share the same exact memes about this war. Not to say we shouldn’t always be questioning our government, but who would have thought we’d get to the point where Putin would roll tanks into another country, murdering civilians along the way, and some Americans would actually say “well you know… the thing is…” instead of simply condemning it.

I guess that’s just a combination of successful propaganda alongside a country so directionally and culturally adrift, we can barely recognize right from wrong, or understand just how good we have it compared to billions of people living under authoritarian regimes around the world.

Bub Life

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about a lot of things. Each frame could have been its own comic. But I’ve been mulling all this over in my mind for months, and this is, I think a good way to combine it all.

Basically, it follows the road from innocent Googling to all out violence — a road some people in America are already on, and some even reached the end of that road. It really does start off innocently. I’ve done it myself. Maybe you’ve never had an issue with vaccinations and you find it hard to believe so many other people do, so you search up some articles and stats about how safe vaccines are and how helpful they’ve been over the last 100 years or so. Or maybe you’ve always been distrustful of big pharma and never get flu shots, so you search up info on vaccine side effects. And then either way, you share those findings on social and throw in your opinion. You’ll see who agrees with you. You’ll find yourself in a battle of articles with those who don’t. You’ll dig in. They’ll dig in. Soon it becomes less about the facts and more about who you identify with and as. No one wants to back down. I stand for X and you stand for Y. I am US, you are THEM. And then, egged on by those who profit off outrage, eventually sides are drawn, everyone hates each other, no one can even talk anymore, and those who simply disagree with you are now the “enemy”.

It’s a scary time we live in, because both sides of every issue seem content to limit the rights of the other side. The ideals of democracy are being abandoned in favor of “progress”. And maybe there’s no other answer. I don’t know. The world has gotten quite crowded. The rules we govern by weren’t created for a world full of so many people, all being hypnotized by 24/7 propaganda.

This is the stuff that keeps me up at night. And this is why most of my comics are about “kids say the darndedest things!” I don’t know what to do anymore. So I do what I can. And all I can do is take care of myself and my family, try to stay sane, try to be at peace, try to do what I can to make this world a better place without losing my mind and being outraged at every waking moment. The Dude abides, if you will.

Variant Gift Guide

This week’s new Dustinland comic is inspired by yet another variant, the oddly pronounced Omicron. I feel like it should have an N in it — Omnicron. But I guess that would make it some sort of ultimate variant and not just the next letter in the Greek alphabet.

But yeah, like the comic said, I am exhausted. Not so much by the virus, which is stupid and annoying and dangerous yet not terrifying. No, I am exhausted by humanity. We just suck. That’s what this virus has brought out more than anything, more than Trump, more than war, more than terrorism. Just seeing the way we are all dealing with this, it’s just sad and pathetic. So much anger, rage, selfishness, lunacy… I mean, if you had any hope for the future of mankind, this has to just completely wipe that out. Or not. Who knows. I give up.

Jokes!