3 Wishes

Puns are fun. By Chris Booth.

End Mormons

This part of the "How the US will end" series had to do with the scenario of Mormons taking over the US, or, more accurately, Mormons taking over after some other event incapacitates the US. The premise is along the lines of the Catholic Church carrying on many of the elements of the Roman Empire in its structural make up. I know from personal experience that many Mormons do, in fact, believe this scenario to be quite plausible, and actually quite likely (and not just in the "Romney 2012" sense). While I am LDS, I don't entirely buy this scenario. The enlarged ego this might create in SLC would almost certainly be insufferable.

End warm

The article in this part of the series concentrated on the possibility of global warming ending the US, or at least severely changing it. Alaska is already experiencing some rather significant effects from rapid climate change (massive wildfires on what used to be permafrost earlier this year). Other parts of the country are already, arguably, already experiencing some significant changes as well. I'd be interested to see if Florida goes under (water) but even that could be on the extreme end of things. Mother Nature still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve even without having to resort to big climate change scenarios. For example, much of the western US is long overdue for some major earthquake activity. But will any of that end the US? I'm thinking maybe not.

End saw

This illustration was the one that started the series on Slate. It didn't have a specific story associated with it. It kinda sorta has that whole Bond thing to it ("No, I expect you to die!") but that was a laser, not a saw blade.

End Nazis

Monday's a good day for Nazis, right? A couple weeks ago I posted an illustration from a series of articles about how America might end. I'll post the rest of the illustrations for that series this week. The article that went with this illustration was about how the US could become a totalitarian state (http://www.slate.com/id/2224333/). That particular idea is immensely popular, or at least at the forefront of the imaginations of a depressingly large number of Americans. I am continuously astounded at how many people think it's not only plausible, but immanent. It would be utterly laughable if so many people didn't take it seriously.

Can I just say for the record here and now AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN! There's many dozens of scenarios that are far and away more likely, foremost of which is that the US will be just fine for a long while yet. Looking for Nazis in the bushes is counter-productive and an enormous waste of energy. Move on!

Atlas Hike!

Since we are in football season. But since he's Greek , shouldn't it be a soccer ball? By Mort Gerberg in 1993.

Pun Circus

Here one is! A few weeks ago I lamented the fact that I didn't have an example of one of The Family Circus' "pun maps" that I remember from my youth. And then I found one... although this one had to have been recent... well at least recent enough to include "Shia LeBluff". Well, at least I liked 'em when I was little.

Atlas beach

Atlas at the beach. By Mischa Richter in 1988

Has been?

Is it fair of me to call this one cynical and last week's factual? More from Busted Tees.

Atlas soldier

I've posted Atlas-themed comics before. Here's another. And we'll have a few more this week. This one is by Robert Mankoff, published in The New Yorker in 1991. Seems so long ago... when we only had the one, quick, Middle Eastern war and the only other world superpower had dropped out. Where are we now?

Multiverse

If it's hard to read, it says: "Well, this mission answers at least one big question: Are there other planets like ours in the Universe?" This is a presentation by Henry Martin of the "Multiverse" theory that there are an infinite number of universes and therefore it's possible that there could be plenty of earths that are "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike" ours. And, yes, that's a Hitchhiker's Guide reference which, considering the plot lines in the 5th book in the trilogy, is entirely appropriate here. And, yes, I've heard there's to be a 6th book (is it out yet? Due this month apparently). I've enjoyed Eoin Colfer's other works (Artemis Fowl anyway) . And his rationale for doing the 6th book is as good as any, I suppose (effectively: I'd hate myself if somebody else did it and it sucked, so I might as well do it). But few people seem to have high hopes for it... except maybe the soul-less publishers (who seem to me to be exactly the sort of person so thoroughly panned throughout Adams' original work).


This also reminds me of the dozen-or-so "almost Earth" episodes that I vaguely remember from the Star Trek series, especially the original series.

Has been

More from Busted Tees. This time a pun. And a harsh one at that. Butchaknow, there is that old saying: "The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire", meaning, of course, that Her Majesty's holdings are so vast that it is always daytime in at least some corner of the British Empire. Might it still, somehow, be true? After all, Britain still lays claim to a wide scattering of islands and bits all across the planet. The biggest gap in daylight would be between Pitcairn Island and the British Indian Ocean Territories (but then again those are claimed by other nations). Maybe Old Britannia has merely lost (a lot) of weight.

Central

This is an ad from 1939 for... Grand Central Station? I didn't know that place needed an ad campaign. Or is it an ad for the '39 World's Fair? Or for New York tourism in general? Whatever the case, it's a bird's eye view of Grand Central Station and environs from the collection of old print ads at AdClassix.

Portland

Yes, this is a bit of a stretch, in terms of this being a map-related comic. But it is about a place. And it does mention "directions". OK? Look, it mentions my beloved Portland, in an appropriately funny way. So I'm going to include it. So there!

Mental

This one isn't strictly a cartoon, or at least not a visual cartoon. Here it is:

Guy #1: I told him exactly how to get here. A monkey could follow those directions.
Guy #2: Dude, there's no way in hell he'll find us...he's not a monkey.

--Stan's Sports Bar, River Avenue

Overheard by: Johnny Babes

This is from the site "Overheard in New York". So this is a snippet of a conversation that somebody in New York overheard, and posted to the site. It paints a fun mental image, no?

I heart

Similar to the relevant parts of the XKCD post earlier, here is a sweat sentiment lovingly expressed by Rosie Brooks. Good enough for a greeting card, no?

End Secede

This is actually only one of a series of cartoons that were made for a series for Slate examining various ideas about how America might end. This particular drawing, of course, goes along with the episode dealing with American secessionists. In my humble opinion, however, these secessionist movements are all doomed to fail. I mean, the biggest, baddest secessionist movement in US history didn't succeed despite massive amounts of determination. Maybe, just maybe, part of one state might secede from another. But none of them are likely to secede from the Union. It's far more likely, in my opinion, that DC will become a state along with Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, Samoa, etc., etc., etc. In fact, my wacky theory is that some northern Mexican state might some day apply to be admitted into the US. Or possibly some other nation somewhere in the world might decide admission into the US might solve some (or all) of their problems. Drawing by Jason Raish

4 Seasons

The famous March 29, 1976 The New Yorker magazine cover entitled "View of the World from 9th Avenue" is not, of course, the only Saul Steinberg map-related drawing for The New Yorker. This one is from 1982. Of course, this one is more obscure. But what would The New Yorker be without comics that make little sense. Or was this simply an art piece?

Risk!

RISK! I spent way too many hours pouring over that game when I was younger... and getting completely destroyed at it by my older brother... Who now works for the US State Department, currently in Nicaragua. That is one of the very many reasons I'm very glad his ruthless soul is working on behalf of my government, not against it. And also why, though I love him, I'm glad he's thousands of miles away.

Busted Tees strikes again. Could one get this with any other Risk! "nation" displayed?

Liberia left behind

This is another version of the joke about Bush's "Roadmap for Peace". I like this one by Patrick Hickey better than the previous one posted. It's along the same sad lines as Clinton going all out for Kosovo while completely missing on Rwanda.

Cross

The always wonderful Dan Piraro in his Bizarro strip hits the nail on the head with this sympathetic comment on the lack of sustainibile lifestyles by the planet's dominant organism.

Bling

The back-to-school heebee-jeebees is an old comic strip standby (can't really experience the end of summer without it). This Adam @ Home strip by Brian Basset brings in the GPS angle (also the juvenile criminal angle).