Back To Work

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the current debate on whether we should all start going back to the office or not. And in this strip I literally debate myself, because I do see both sides of the issue.

All joking aside, if you ask me — which nobody will — I think what people want is freedom. They want to be treated with respect and given the ability to make their own decisions about how to be successful at work. For some people, that may mean 5 days a week in the office. For others, 1. Or zero. Of course, that is a very difficult thing for a large organization to achieve. Big groups thrive on order and routine, so it’s unlikely there will be a lot of “do whatever you want.”

But I think frame 7 of the strip really nails it — no matter what, you still won’t be happy.

Dead Aminals

Yup, I drew a new Dustinland comic about roadkill. I know, just what you’ve been waiting for, right?! Well, if I can make this subject fun to read about, I’ve won. What I’ve won, I don’t know.

That’s The Breaks

This week’s new Dustinland comic was not drawn, but instead built from Legos and photographed. It was fun, I have to say. A nice change of pace. But I’m still eager to have my drawing hand back. I wonder how long I’ll have this cast on, and what I’ll do next week for my comic. Legos again? We’ll have to see…

Move Your Sack

Let me get into the interesting details behind this week’s Dustinland comic.

See, I drew the first half based on my daily annoyances that are pretty well spelled out in the strip. But then, after it was all done and even uploaded, this morning I listened to an episode of This American Life, which I never do on my commute, because I never do the podcast thing, always opting for music instead. And this episode, it was about a French comedian trying to make it in America. At one point Jeff Garland is critiquing his set, and just goes off. “He’s a craftsman, but he’s not an artist because I don’t care about what he’s talking about. He doesn’t care! Talk about what you care about! That’s interesting!”

And I was inspired to go deeper with this strip. Because as you can see, I do care. It’s about the principle. Not just the bag, not just the minor inconvenience. Every time this happens, I think about all this stuff, all this human nature misery. It riles me up. That’s why I care. And now you know. Thanks, Ira Glass!