Year of the Snake

Celebrating cultural diversity and delicious food

Feb 01, 2025

Greetings, Bizarro buddies.

The Groundhog Eve blog post has emerged from its burrow and predicts six more days of cartoons.

I’m uncharacteristically happy with the latest batch of comic art to cross the drawing board, so I expect to be extra critical of my work in the coming days. That’s how it goes, so I’ll enjoy the good feeling while it lasts. These cartoons included an imagined comic book cover, a bunch of musical instruments, a fortune teller, an incompetent robot, and the familiar settings of a bar and a therapist’s office.

Looking Ahead & Looking Back

When these romantic academics close out the month of March, there will be text in that balloon.

January 29 was Lunar New Year, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. I used to send Lunar New Year cards to friends and clients and went through the twelve-year cycle twice. This design from 2013 is one of my favorites.

My spouse and I like to celebrate this holiday, and we often do it at our favorite local Chinese restaurant, as we did this week. We see the date as a reminder to show appreciation to the hardworking people who share their food and culture with us. We are fortunate to be within walking distance of businesses where we can enjoy Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Mexican, Lebanese, and Uzbek meals, and we happily support them. Without our immigrant neighbors, our community would be less interesting and vibrant.

Cartoon Easter Eggs

In addition to a drawing of Virgil Partch’s Big George mentioned in the blog, I also slipped some of my old work into the note card rack in Tuesday’s Bizarro panel.

The first is taken from my 2006 Year of the Dog postcard.

The second is a 2008 self-portrait I sometimes used instead of an artist's photo. One of my few resolutions for 2025 is commissioning a legit headshot from a local photographer. Stay tuned for that shortly.

This Week in Bizarro History

A Laff from the Past

Speaking of restaurants, here’s a food-based gag from 2023 where I employed a limited color palette while indulging my palate for international cuisine.