HeatStack!
Warm up with these toasty toons about the Heat!
Hello! It’s me, , your resident Aussie cartoonist and editor for this week’s edition of Toonstack.
Last week our teeth chattered over toons about the cold. Here in New York, it's snowing. I'm typing this with one warm left hand and one frozen right hand because I just got back from a walk and I can't use my phone with gloves. But, in honor of my family back home where it's the middle of summer, I thought it might be nice to dive into some cartoons about the heat. These toasty toons should get you warmer than a Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse...
I think I’m the only person who thinks this is funny. I love to be in the heat but truly no matter what temperature I’m in, my feet are cold.
Funny story! I got the ‘O.K.’ on this one while I was on the set of a TV show. I was sitting around between takes with Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (above) and, tired as hell, we both filled the time between scenes drawing cartoons to stay awake. I inked it in on my sketchbook before getting called away to finish the show.
Actual interesting part of the story: When this cartoon was first pitched, it was June and people were just starting to complain about the heatwave that had just engulfed New York after a particularly frosty spring. So, the original cartoon was actually reversed. After it sat in the drawer at the New Yorker for the Summer (In comedy, timing is everything… same with publishing cartoons!) I decided I might switch the gag around and re-send the artwork to use when Fall decided to snap into place.
One thing I would like to share with you is that I am allergic to the sun. This is not like a "haha I'm a cartoonist vampire" thing, no. This is a real, true medical condition I have in which I will get a rash all over my face if I'm in the sun for too long, especially if the sun is shining directly at, idk, a large body of reflective water from which there is no escape. Consequently, I'm super fun at beach parties.
I'm actually going to my cousin's wedding at a beach location in Mexico in a couple of weeks and I'm concerned that I'm going to be expected to do things like stand between the sun and a large reflective body of water wearing a skin-baring party dress. Is that what you do at beach weddings? The sun will probably set at some point, right?
I'd also like to share with you that as a child I was very afraid of, and did not ever finish due to fear, Where the Wild Things Are (and also all Dr. Seuss books, but that's a topic for another time). What I'm trying to say is that the above New Yorker cartoon, as sweet and appealing as it looks to all of you, is actually my living nightmare.
Navied Mahdavian
Matt Diffee and I exchanged like 40 emails about this cartoon, which appeared in his book, "The Rejection Collection." All of them had to do with the robot's penis. In the end, we decided that a suggestion (a whisper?) of a penis worked best. As a kid, I wanted to design robots when I grew up. I wish I could tell that little Navied that we did it. Dreams really do come true.
Everything has a price!
Newstack:
Hilary releases
every Friday!- ’s graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story, was named a best book of 2023 by The New Yorker, NPR, and Kirkus!
Check out Navied Mahdavian’s critically acclaimed graphic memoir, This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America.
- l 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.