January 14, 2025

How 2024 went for me (more or less)

A three-page comic in black and white. The title is "How 2024 went for me, more or less." The first panel shows Clairikine, a white person with short messy hair wearing flannel, looking up from being folded over their desk on which they are visibly liquefying. Next to them we see a notebook and the keyboard of a laptop. Clairikine says "... Oh, hello y'all. Where do I fucken start. Don't mind me I'm just liquefying right now."

The caption for the second panel says "there was an election". The panel shows a ballot box with the European flag on the front, with a speech bubble that says "remember me lol". The caption for the third panel says "and another one". We see Clairikine standing outside wearing flannel, jeans and Chucks and looking at their phone. A text bubble emerging from the phone says "Macron dissolves National Assembly following European election result". Clairikine says "He WHAT". A text caption points to Clairikine saying "about to get on a plane" The caption for the fourth panel says "and another one". The panel is filled with a smudge of black ink as drawn by a large brush pen. The caption for the fifth panel says "and you're not gonna believe this, but".  We see Clairikine standing outside again and looking at their phone, this time wearing a black hoodie. A text bubble emerging from the phone says "German governing coalition is over, new elections imminent". A text caption points to Clairikine saying "about to get on a plane".  Clairikine says "Is this a bit".
The second page shows Clairikine on the bottom left of the page wearing flannel and sitting on a couch under a weighted blanket, watching their big-screen TV, with a poster behind them that says "3X - 2024", a larger and a smaller stuffed shark perched on the couch, and a mug sitting next to them on a tray. Above and next to them are different panels. The first panel says "watched a show about the moral decay of a religious institution that taught people to be unfeeling soldiers," and shows a drawing of the Jedi temple on Coruscant as seen in the TV show The Acolyte, with a X-Wing off in the distance. The panel next to it says "a show about people compromising with evil, people waging destruction with their egocentric power trips, people being lied to about what's happening right in front of their eyes," and shows Mount Doom in Mordor as seen in the TV show The Rings of Power. At the bottom of the panel we see a drawing of Vought Tower as seen in the TV show The Boys, with a speech bubble saying "make that two, actually". The third panel says "a show about people imperfectly loving each other and themselves," and shows an exterior shot of The Bear restaurant as seen in the TV show The Bear. The fourth panel says "and other shows that just blew my freaking mind" and shows a drawing of a house tucked away in the woods at the end of a path as seen in the TV show Agatha All Along, which segues into a drawing of a courtyard containing a large sculpture and huge trees, with a character sitting on a bench, as seen in the TV show Arcane: League of Legends.

The third page contains six panels. The first panel has the caption "posted on six (crossed out) five social media platforms, all of which are ultimately beholden to decisions made by human beings." The panel shows Clairikine sitting and typing at their desk wearing a black hoodie, thinking to themself "sigh". The second panel has the caption "went back to xoxo for the final time" and shows Clairikine standing in front of Revolution Hall in Portland at night for the xoxo festival, wearing a mask, thinking to themself "How has it been five years" and with a speech bubble containing a heart. The third panel has the caption "have I mentioned I was on planes a lot" and shows Clairikine sitting on a plane, wearing a mask, a black scarf and a black hoodie, watching a movie glowing on their screen in the dark and with their hands foded over each other gripping their knees with interest. A text bubble emerging from the screen says "Hey! Asshole!!" The fourth panel says "wrote comic, drew comics, read comics, comics, comics, comics, comics" and shows Clairikine standing behind a table outdoors that is covered in a checkered tablecloth and zines. They are wearing flannel over a black shirt, holding a zine tight to their chest and smiling with their eyes closed, thinking to themself "comics" with a heart underneath. The final panel shows Clairikine sitting on a grassy ledge looking expressionless over a desert with a dry riverbed running through it, and a mountain in the distance at the base of which there looks like there could be either fire or foliage. Text throughout the panel says "and while everything keeps feeling like it's just going to be harder from here on out, there's no going back, so here we go."

[ twenty one pilots - Oldies Station ]

 

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The mountain in the last panel here is a metaphor, part of the imaginary landscape I've been drawing for years. Initially there was supposed to be a forest at its base, but when I toned this comic early last week I found that it looked more like fire, and given what this past year decade has been like, it felt more appropriate given what the landscape means to me in my work, so I left it that way. This is before news started coming in a week ago about the wildfires in Los Angeles.

If you have the means to help, the Mutual Aid LA Network has a list of resources and of orgs that need donations and volunteers. I think it's clear moving into this year that institutions, companies, and people believing themselves capable and virtuous simply because they have more money than God are not the places to look to for help. They need us. What the rest of us need is each other.

If you're in France and Germany, the same will apply. In the meantime, please do your part in Germany and vote on February 23 if you can. A lot of the people you care about cannot.




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