Tooned Out

This week’s new Dustinland comic is my response to all the idiots out there who think it’s cool that this has been the warmest winter ever in New York (and surely some other places). I see it all the time, in comments on every social platform… well, sure it’s abnormally warm but hey, isn’t life about the universe conforming to my personal preferences? And when that happens, shouldn’t I just enjoy it and ignore the causes of said abnormal conditions? It’s truly painful. It’s like there’s a tornado coming and people are just standing there enjoying the breeze before it hits because hey, isn’t this a nice breeze on a hot day?

Man, we are dumb. It’s really sad. We are so doomed. The only mildly satisfying part will be when all these morons realize how wrong they were, but sadly that won’t even happen because just like with the war in Iraq, a few decades later and no one will admit they supported it. Oh well, it was a nice run. And we really did have everything, didn’t we… if you think about it.

PS If you’re a Ren & Stimpy fan, you should notice a ton of references in this strip, including the backgrounds. I was a huge fan of those first two seasons, and I really do feel that Ren’s simmering rage and irritation sums up my feelings personally. Also yes I know the creator was cancelled for doing scumbag things. I can still like the show though.

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.

Malaising Grace

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about that feeling you get every morning when you wake up and realize it’s still 2020 and you have nothing to look forward to besides more stress, strife, fear and loathing. Sometimes I try to get excited about something… like, hmmm… maybe I can go by myself a donut today. That sort of thing. The little things. That seems to be something to live for when the big things are all horrible and you can see civilization collapsing before your very eyes.

Happy Monday.

Post Civil War II Map

This week’s new Dustinland comic is not really a comic. It’s a map. A map of what I imagine the US could disintegrate into after another civil war. But not like, a real one. Just a funny one. After a real one, we’d probably just wind up with one country in shambles under a military dictatorship. But this map is way more fun than that.

*Note I put a few jokes in there for music nerds. Couldn’t help it. It’s just my thing.

This Land

This week’s new Dustinland comic is a rewording of the famous folk song, This Land Is Your Land. Trying to keep some similarities with the phrasing and wording of the original, I updated it to speak to the anxious and divided country America has become. Not that we were ever some perfect nation of peace and love, but at least in my lifetime, things have never been this bad.

I guess I should give people some words of hope and encouragement now, but things are looking pretty grim to me. But… prove me wrong! How about that. When things turn out just fine because of your actions, you can laugh at the stupidest negative cartoonist. Does that inspire you to make a difference? Because that’s all I’ve got right now.

Naustolgia

This new Dustinland comicis about having nostalgia for the 90s. But the dumb kind of pop culture nostalgia that fills the Buzzfeeds of the web, although I put some of that in there for the funnies, but nostalgia for an era before 9-11, before Trump, before social media… a time where your biggest worries were personal and petty, not global and apocalyptic. And that’s not to say there weren’t awful things happening in the 90s. It’s just that on one hand, we weren’t quite as aware of them, and on the other hand, they didn’t seem to be threatening the entire fabric of our society.

Unqantifiable

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the QAnon conspiracy, which is essentially a massive troll effort meant to destabilize America. On one hand, this is obviously absolutely frightening and depressing, but on the other hand, I think it’s more important to examine the state of our country and discuss why so many people were in the kind of mental state that this sort of madness would appeal to them. Because this is the real problem — and it’s a big one without a simple answer.

The Beginning

This week’s new Dustinland comic was inspired by a recent blackout my neighborhood experienced. Only for a few hours too. But it got me thinking… well… one day it’ll start just like this, but things just won’t come back…

Denied

I drew this latest Dustinland comic in response to Trump’s recent trolling of Greta Thunberg, which she did handle amazingly well and in a very clever fashion. Still though, I do think nothing gets me going as much as this. The red hats may say I am now “triggered,” which they think is hilarious. Yes, they think it’s funny that people like myself and Greta and hundreds of millions of other people around the world believe in science and don’t want to see all life on Earth extinguished as the planet turns into a miserable burning hellhole due to our selfish, shortsighted activities. HAHA those wacky liberals!

I mean, really, on one hand, I just wonder how stupid these people could possibly be. But it’s much more than that. The truly scary part is how brainwashed Trump supporters are. While of course, these days, everyone has their own little bubble to hide in, the MAGA bubble seems much more dangerous and detached from reality — which is how you even have farmers saying “well, the weather is getting really odd these days and messing up all my crops, but I still don’t believe in global warming.” Which leads to the biggest concern over this issue — it’s just too big. It is so big, so scary, so sci-fi apocalypse, people don’t want to believe it. And as we are seeing right now, people choose to believe what makes them feel better.

So yeah, as we’re facing the biggest threat to civilization mankind has ever seen, millions of people are choosing to respond by pretending everything is okay, we don’t have to change a thing, and while we’re at it, let’s blame all our problems on people from other countries. Good times, everyone. Happy holidays!

Summer of 69 + 50

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the mental fortitude required to not lose your mind amidst the madness of life in 2019. Not daily life for most of us, but rather the news cycle. The horrible things we hear happening to other people day in and day out, whether it’s Americans getting mowed down in Walmart or people in third world countries getting blown up on their way to work or any of the other awful things we learn about 24/7. I hear that hope is essential for inner peace, but man, it’s hard right now. Things look grim. I mean, Siberia is on fire right now. We really are super fucked. But I guess hey, soldier on, right?!

#YOLO