DISSENT!
Noble contrarians, this is for you
It’s me, Sofia Warren, lone wolf. I was born alone and I’ll die alone. That’s right, you heard me: I birthed myself. It was sort of a spontaneous combustion thing. The science is too complicated to get into right now, but you can ask me about it later.
As a lone wolf, I can’t be swayed by popular opinion. For instance, the prevailing attitude was that I should have sent out this letter last week, but I couldn’t do it, because I had a hot date with the moon. And you know what? I don’t regret it. The moon is foine. Arooooooo, if you know what I’m saying.
We cartoonists have no shortage of opinions, and this week (well, last week), I asked those in the Toonstack Extended Universe to weigh in with their most dissenting toons.
A dissenting opinion that changed the course of history is Justice John Marshall Harlan I's dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court sanctioned legalized segregation by race, but Harlan I wrote that "in respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law". In this case, he changed the world. In the case of Chatfield v. T-Mobile (2024) the court sanctioned legalized exchange of terrible reception for earthly dollars. The dissent in this case did not change the world. It did, in fact, end in a shaven Shiba Inu and a very lengthy stay in the Lincoln Tunnel lock-up at 7am. It's a long story for another day.
Hilary Campbell
WILL YOU AGREE WITH RICK? OR WILL YOU DARE TO GO OUT ON YOUR OWN TO THE OTHER SECTION KNOWN AS POP????
Sara Lautman
This is a really old one. I think I had imagined a town hall scene where the townsfolk are all arguing and saying rabble rabble, and this iconoclastic gentleman springs to his feet and says something that brings everyone together. I'm not sure if there's anyplace else for this to go. It's the kind of cartoon where the language came to me like a little melody and got stuck in my head. We all cleave loosely to our opinions!!! The townsfolk would not appreciate being represented in such a light. So I guess this is a Guy Who cartoon about the worst possible iconoclastic gentleman to stand up in a town hall meeting.
Theora Kvitka
When I am scheming to turn what could be a 30 minute Tuesday night meal into a kitchen extravaganza where I use every pot and pan, make the sauce from scratch and try a new recipe with three sub recipes… the first and true opposition comes from all my kitchen appliances.
Jared Nangle
The porcupine on the left used some nest egg cash to buy an extra controller for their ps5. They only had one controller and could never play games together. With the second controller they could play co-op games like "It Takes Two" or "Portal 2." The porcupine on the right never expressed any interest to play co-op games on the ps5 and thought the nest egg money would go towards a vacation to the sequoias. The porcupine on the left explained that they wanted to spend more time together, which was sweet. The porcupine on the right smiled at the sentiment and said "It's just one controller. How much could it cost, 25$?" The one on the left told them it was actually 70 bucks before shipping. 80 total. The porcupine on the right didn't talk to the one on the left for two days. After the one on the left returned the controller to get the money back they returned home with flowers and chocolate, which cost 55 dollars.
Ellis Rosen
Oh sure, everyone wants to rebel against the king, but when it’s their turn to be king they start whining. (Quick question: everyone gets a chance to be king, right? That’s how monarchy works?)
Sofia Warren
Fine! Stop pressuring me! I admit it: I didn’t birth myself. I’m not even a wolf! I’m a human lady with a human mom, who most certainly went through the whole pregnancy-labor-rearing-you-for-eighteen-whole-years-thank-you-very-much rigamarole. Thank you, Mom. And, fine: I didn’t have a date with the moon. I just had a weird and busy weekend. Anyway, here’s a cartoon I did for The New Yorker.
We’ve got NEWS!
TODAY is the last day to order from Ellis Rosen’s LIMITED PRINT RUN! Get your holiday shopping done early with these hand-signed, high- quality prints.
Jason Katzenstein and are your hardcore cartoon drill sergeants: join us on the afternoon of Sunday, November 3rd at the Center for Fiction for Cartoon Boot Camp (in person!).
Coming up at the New Yorker Festival: see cartoonists draw live at Cartoon Improv! We’re honestly not entirely sure what this event entails, so whatever you see will be truly once-in-a-lifetime. Featuring Toonstack regulars and Colin Tom on Saturday, and and on Sunday.
The unmatchable Sara Lautman has a new story collection out! It's called Support Craft and you can buy it from Parsifal Press, or from your local comics shop.
Hilary Campbell releases Cartoons by Hilary every Friday!
Want more Amy Kurzweil? You can watch her new TED Talk, read her award-winning graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story, and sign up now to join her Patreon Creative Community, with new classes every month.
Check out Navied Mahdavian’s critically acclaimed graphic memoir, This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America.
Jason Chatfield has two substacks: New York Cartoons (Cartoons about life in New York) & Process Junkie (Lessons on the creative process) and has a book coming out in Fall 2025 called "You're Not A Real New Yorker Until..." You can get a discount on your pre-order here.
Cartoonists, like Tinkerbell, only exist if you believe in us. Please, show us you believe!
The Kitsch Kings are monsters!
These are just wonderful. What a brilliant selection.