Greetings, you trunk of humours, you bolting-hutch of beastliness, you swollen parcel of dropsies, you huge bombard of sack, you stuffed cloak-bag of guts, you roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly, you reverend vice, you grey Iniquity!
My grandfather was in his forties when the Cuban revolution upended his life and uprooted his family. They fled, and eventually landed in a definitely non-Hispanic corner of Connecticut. Starting from zero, my grandfather set out to learn English from only the finest sources: Ernest Hemingway, and William Shakespeare. I am told that he plastered the sides of the family car (at this point it would have been either the repurposed police cruiser or second-hand hearse) with pages of Henry V and The Old Man and the Sea, so that he could work on memorizing them at the stoplights. As you can imagine, he wound up with a pretty singular vocabulary, particularly when it came to slinging insults.
All this to say: this week's theme is GROSS, and thanks to my particular family history, whenever I need to vividly conjure all things putrid, I know exactly from whence to borrow (in this case, Henry IV Part I.)
Read on to see this collection of cartoonists reveal themselves to be the whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catches I've always known them to be.
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Outdoor art festivals are these fascinating microcosms of the world where whole economies form and dissipate in the span of a weekend. Remember mini society in third grade? It’s kinda like that but you get to drink booze (at the fun ones at least). There’s this great custom of swapping wares with your neighbors and you meet really interesting people from all walks of life. Sometimes, you also meet their drunk relative manning the tent who insists on bartering a conspicuously DIY-packaged baggie of weed that you carry around in your backpack for months before throwing out because it feels impolite. Perhaps, it would’ve been transcendent. I’ll just have to live with that tinge of regret forever.
I always wonder if surgeons are judging us all while they're operating. They see our liver and are like..
Akeem Roberts
All jokes aside dissolving quickly would be a good thing!
Amy Kurzweil
What is smarmier, the mansplaining feminist or the consumerization of activism? Did you know that the root of the word smarm is to "to smear or bedaub" eg. the hair with pomade, the ground with oil, the cartoon with words like "sartorial" (hi, English major).
Colin Tom
This cartoon is really, really smart. It’s also very layered. He fell AND he’s pooping everywhere. It works on many different levels of smartness. It’s gross but in a classy way.
Navied Mahdavian
Like Colin's cartoon, this is also very smart. It has the word "Eureka" in it, see, which is Ancient Greek (smart!), and was famously used by Archimedes while on the can.
I am not easily grossed out. My dog has puked into my own hands. I've cleaned up a lot of baby shit. I calm down at night by watching ear cleaning videos on TikTok. But the thing that gets me screaming, gagging, and squealing is something I didn't know was possible before I moved to New York. Giant fucking cockroaches. G-R-O-S-S!!!!!!!!!
Li’l Plugs!
New Yorkers: catch Hilary's free, monthly comedy show, Real Live Girls, THIS WEDNESDAY at Young Ethel's! And Hilary releases
every Friday!Find Akeem on Instagram, and check out his chapter book series, JD the Kid Barber, here!
- ’s graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story, was named a best book of 2023 by The New Yorker, NPR, and Kirkus!
Navied Mahdavian’s graphic memoir, This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America is out, and it’s getting rave reviews. Also, when I asked if anybody wanted me to plug anything this week, Navied said "this broken heart," so everyone please send him a virtual eye roll.
Check out Jason Katzenstein’s Patreon!
- teaches cartoon classes on Patreon! Sign up now to get the recording of every past class!
- has a new Substack about making art called Process Junkie! And Subscribe to Jason’s regular weekly Substack at NewYorkCartoons.com
- 's got an advice column! Read it here.
If you enjoyed this missive, then you’re a certified freak. Why not let your freak flag fly by boopin’ the buttons below?
That is some funny sh!t. Love it! =)