Clairikine Comics

August 11, 2026

Telling Berlin Seasons Apart (2026 Edition)

This September, I heartily recommend electing someone who gives a shit.

[ Charli XCX - SS26 (live) ]

(US voters abroad, that goes for you in November too).

April 7, 2026

The 2024 Easter Experience

A four-panel comic in black and white named "The Easter 2024 Experience". The first panel's caption says "90's CCM song lodged in the back of my brain: activated". It shows a pile of wood on fire at night, as seen in many outdoor services at Easter. A small speech bubble from the pile of wood says "Gondor calls for aid". The second panel shows Clairikine, a thin white person wearing a dark denim jacket over a T-shirt showing sun behind mountains and a river below, sitting at a table next to a candle with the Greek letters "alpha" and "omega" and a cross between them. While they drink from a small cup, someone calls out "The Lord is risen!" in German. They respond in German "He is risen indeed." and think to themself in English "Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!" The third panel shows Clairikine standing at an outdoor bar table, a flannel shirt tied around their waist, scrolling their phone with a tall beer next to them, waiting for food. The lyrics "Just give me something to hold on to, it's so clear now that you are all that I have" by Snow Patrol are playing from a speaker nearby. The fourth panel shows Clairikine stading in front of U-Bahn doors and taking a photo of their reflection. They have short blonde hair, are wearing a white FFP2 mask, their denim jacket, buttoned-up flannel jacket on a flat chest, and black shorts by 14 degrees Celsius. A caption says "nice."

Happy Easter! This comic is from a time when I was newly churchless and wandering through the Berlin wilderness. I'm churched again now though.

[ Third Day - Consuming Fire ]

***

I will be tabling at Comic Invasion Berlin on May 9 & 10, table 29 in the Lichthof at the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin! I will have a new zine and maybe even a couple surprises. Come say hello!

The festival's satellite programming is kicking off this Saturday, April 11 from 18:00-23:00 at the Hotel Berlin, Berlin in Schöneberg (Lützowplatz 17), with an introduction to this year's focus on South Korea!

It is also possible to volunteer at the festival - interested folks can sign up right here.

One way or another, see you there!!

***

As a reminder, French citizens living abroad have until April 24 to register to vote in councillor elections at their consulate. These elections are important not just for our local representation but for electing our senators. Spread the word!

And if you're a US citizen living abroad, have you requested your ballot yet?

February 25, 2026

Master of Survival X!

A black and white illustration showing Clairikine, a thin white person with chin-length blonde hair, standing on Berlin's Potsdamer Platz and staring up at the sky while clutching a shoulder bag. Typewriter text at the top says "Master of Survival: a trilingual autobiographical comic"

Surprise! I have been re-running Master of Survival with director's commentary on my Patreon as a way of celebrating its completion just over ten years ago!

Updates are currently posted roughly equivalent to the date of each episode, and you can sign up for them at the $2 level here.

Even ten years later, MOS remains one of my most popular projects among readers; if, like them, you've always wanted to know more about what went into making it, here is your chance!

February 17, 2026

Hourly Comics Day 2026

What The F**k Are We Doing

alt A black-and-white comic in seven panels. In the first panel, Clairikine - a thin white person with short dark hair, wearing glasses and a flannel shirt over a black T-shirt - is holding a laptop against their chest with a tiny xenomorph's head sticking out, grinning and saying hi. Clair says "So you may not believe this coming from someone who consumes dystopian fiction to escape, but something I never expected to witness in my lifetime was the mass societal drive to excise pieces of your soul in exchange for making tech overlords rich at the expense of the entire planet" In the second panel, Clair is sitting behind their drawing table, with an anatomically correct heart sitting next to them and bleeding on one side and a brain sitting next to them on the other emitting lightning bolts. Both are connected to them by tubes. Sound coming out of Clair's earbuds says "No need to plumb the depths of your soul for art and writing the machine will do it for you". Clair is making a face while saying "hahaha again with this shit." In the third panel, Clair is sitting on a log in the woods, with a speech bubble coming out of their ear that says "Who actually needs to connect with God in spirit and in truth when you can get a Large Language Model to just spit out words" In the fourth panel, Clair is sitting at a table at a bar outside at night with music playing and two drinks in front of them, frowning at their phone as they read "Why go through the effort of knowing and being known by another complex human being when you can talk with a glorified customer service bot" The fifth panel is a shot of the desert wasteland citadel as seen in the film Mad Max: Fury Road, with the caption "BTW the energy required to power all this will create water shortages, but I mean who needs water" The sixth panel shows Clair with the laptop again, raising their eyebrows and saying "And look.... I get the wanting to do, feel or think as little as possible in this day and age..." The final panel is a closeup of Clair as they make a face with wide eyes and gritted teeth while holding up their hands and making claw fingers, saying, "... but WHAT the ever-loving FUCK are we DOING"

I reiterate my stance that what's happening here is first and foremost a push to disconnect people from their most basic humanity in order to line the pockets of dudes who don't plan to stop killing the planet because they don't intend to experience the ruin of climate collapse with the rest of us. If you don't want to believe artists and writers, who were among the first to experience the wholesale theft of our work to prop up this grift, fine, what else is new, but please stop to think about what you're outsourcing of yourself in the midst of this hype train, and to whom, and how, and WHY. For the love of all that is good and nourishing and a part of who you are: WHY.

Some additional reading:

Creativity vs. Control: Bridge to Terabithia, The Boy and the Heron, and A.I. “Art”, Wendy Xu, Reactor, August 19 2025

The Priesthood of All Chatbots, Zac Koons, The Christian Century, August 14 2025

Concern UK's AI ambitions could lead to water shortages, Zoe Kleinman & Brian Wheeler, BBC, February 7 2025

People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies, Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, May 4 2025

(Also yes, that's my character speaking. I've been drawing my naturally brown hair one way in this black-and-white medium for over two decades, I figured I'd give a different approach a shot.)

(Also, if you're French and live abroad, make sure you're registered to vote? For ... reasons??)

[ twenty one pilots - Downstairs ]

August 5, 2025

From the Vault: Emo Bench

a two-panel comic in black and white. The first panel shows a park at night with bushes, a tree and a streetlamp shining. White text on the black background says "went to a former haunt to dig up some old feelings" The second panel shows Clairikine, a thin white person with short blonde hair wearing a flannel shirt, jeans and black Chucks, lying facedown on a bench in front of some bushes, with just the dot of their eyes visible as they listen to music on their phone, arms outstretched in front of them on the bench. White text on the night above them says "this is officially the most emo shit I have ever done in my entire life"

Whomst among us, etc.

Originally posted on Patreon.

***

If you or someone you know is a French citizen and residing in either Andorra, Monaco, Portugal or Spain, there is a legislative election coming up in September! Make sure to register to vote by August 22.

[ Julien Baker - Bloodshot (live) ]

July 4, 2025

Friday Fanart: Sad Fanart Xtravaganza

It's been awhile since my last official collection of Sad Fanart! In that time, I have had many feelings, literally and figuratively drawing comfort from various sets of angsty lyrics. It's time to put those heavy feelings to rest ~~to make room for new ones~~, so here is a selection from the last few years. Happy catharsis if you're in the right headspace for it! And there's a couple not-so-sad ones at the very end.

These are lyrics from Julien Baker's "Appointments".

[ Julien Baker - Appointments ]

From the vault: The Four Stages of Whatever the F**k

A four-panel black-and-white comic entitled "The Four Stages of Whatever The Fuck", with the word "Fuck" bleeped out. In the first panel, Claire is standing in their living room, looking dizzy, and saying "Oh, oh shit this is it, I've got the plague". A text box says in brackets "it's not the plague". Caption says "500-ton Exhaustion". In the second panel, Claire is sitting at their desk, except the desk is surrounded by black liquid and they are hanging on like they are about to be pulled under, and are looking exhausted and sad. Caption says "Grief molasses". In the third panel, Claire is lying wide awake in bed at night. An arrow pointing at their phone says "3:30am". A book on the nightstand has "1 Last Stop" written on the cover. Caption says "Haha never mind I don't need sleep." In the fourth panel, Claire is walking down the street in Berlin, past a garbage can, an empty bottle, an U-Bahn stop sign and a small black dog. Their fists and teeth are clenched and the caption says "Full-Body Dread (TM)".

This was originally posted on Patreon in the summer of 2023; I'm bringing it out of the vault because I figure it (looks around) hasn't stopped being relatable.

(In the time since I drew this, I did get the plague.)

[ Alkaline Trio - Bad Time ]

May 27, 2025

"You're Dead" by Alkaline Trio

A black-and-white comic in four panels, each panel bearing lyrics from Alkaline Trio's "You're Dead" as the caption. In the first panel, we see a phone lying on a table at night, lit up with one notification. The caption says "and i became nothing" The second panel shows Clairikine sitting arms crossed in a black hoodie on steps leading up from the shores of a lake. The caption says "when I found out you were dead". The third panel shows an open laptop with a blank screen and a newspaper next to it, with a photo of people protesting with signs. The caption says "when I found out I'd". The fourth panel shows a white bike propped against a fence on a street. The caption says "never see you again"

It's been a succession of shitty anniversaries.

[ Alkaline Trio - You're Dead ]

April 30, 2025

Clairikine + HX Do Qweer Xmas Market '24

A black and white comic in four panels named "Clairikine + HX do Qweer Xmas Market 2024". In the first panel, Clairikine and HX are standing behind their tables at a market. HX says "Have you heard of U-hauling but for music" and Clairikine says "Have i what" In the second panel, HX says "we're deep in Wham!halla now" while music notes play above both their heads In the third panel, Clairikine is crouching on the floor getting stuff out of a suitcase while a voice off camera says "i see you and immediately Christ starts to appear in my mind" In the fourth panel, we see HX and Clairkine from behind as squiggly lines of excitement emerge from their heads. In front of them is someone wearing what is indicated as "DISCOUNT-STORE-BRANDED XMAS SWEATER" in huge letters Bonus two-panel comic: we see Clairikine from behind while someone from the next table says "we wanted to ask you something highly personal" in German. In the second panel, the person asks "where are you allowed to vote" in German

I'm happy to report that the Clairikine + HX dynamic duo will be returning to Comic Invasion this weekend at the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin! Come witness our shenanigans at tables 33 & 34 on May 3 & 4, 10:00-18:00!

Prior shenanigans:

How Autobio Cartoonists Socialize

Clairikine + HX hit Comic Invasion 2022

April 17, 2025

Starter Pack

A black and white illustration approximating a packaging containing Clairikine as an action figure and various accessories, against a background depicting a forest above a mountain range and a lake. Clairikine is depicted as a thin white person with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing a flannel shirt over a black T-shirt, skinny jeans and black Chucks, and they are floating against a background of stars, gazing up and off to the left of the packaging. Accessories are divided up into small containers and include: noise-canceling headphones, an iPhone, earbuds, a German travel pass; an easy chair covered in stacks of books and a mug with a hot beverage; a set square, a sketchbook covered in stars, two mechanical pencils, one container of blue pencil lead and one container of HB pencil lead, a PITT artist pen with the letters S and F next to it, a black fountain pen, a smaller rectangular sketchbook, a mechanical eraser, two more artist pens; a black notebook with a thought bubble coming out of it, a composition notebook with three exclamation points in a speech bubble coming out of it, a heart in a speech bubble coming out of both, and three ballpoint pens; a 9kg weighted blanket; an old-fashioned analog TV set with rabbit ear-style antenna and the word "Blorbos" written on it; an anatomical heart sitting in blood; a church with a Bible hovering next to it; a group of people smiling, with a few hearts; a brain making a screaming face with three exclamation points coming out of it; and the Berlin TV tower with a speech bubble containing a heart.

There are and have always been emotionally fulfilling ways to visually describe your unique personhood and connect with other people through the expression of self that don’t involve pillaging the planet’s natural resources and the work of artists who need money to live, don’t let yourself be told otherwise by the tech oligarchs who aspire to normalize discounting what makes us whole human beings and render us all as severed from ourselves and dead inside as they are while they scramble to strip everything good for parts in an attempt to insulate themselves and their wealth from climate collapse. Also tbqh I'd love it if I could keep getting paid gigs instead of everyone assuming they can just use ChatGPT et al., which is already what happened to a vast chunk of translation work and is clearly going to happen to every industry I freelance in because people keep unquestioningly using this shit

[ Thrice - Lost Continent ]

March 25, 2025

prayer

A five-page comic in black and white. First page: the first panel shows a lake set against the backdrop of a forest and some mountains in the background. The lake's water is dark, as is the forest. The second panel shows Clairikine, a thin white person with short blonde hair, wearing a flannel shirt over a black T-shirt, jeans and black Chuck Taylors, walking out of the woods towards the lake shore, a curious look on their face. The woods they're walking through are strewn with pine needles, stumps, bushes, rocks, broken branches and other vegetation. Third panel: Clairikine is seen from the side, standing at the edge of the woods next to a tall pine tree, their hands in their pockets, frowning. Handwritten text next to them says "Since I left home," and ends at the comma. Fourth panel: same view of Clairikine as they walk down the hill towards the lake, still frowning.

Hourly Comics Day 2025 ... three days later

How 2024 went for me (more or less)

We Interrupt This Broadcast

A four-panel comic in black and white. In the first one, Clairikine is sitting at their desk, wearing a plaid shirt and short hair, and drawing in a notebook next to a mug of coffee while their phone says "We'll be back after a short break!" In the second panel, Clairikine jumps in surprise as the phone is suddenly shouting (in German): "Hello, German-language advertising here, are you perhaps interested in our online sales platform". The mug also jumps in the air, spilling coffee. In the third panel, the phone continues yelling in German: "for some inexplicable reason I sound like an ad for a dating webs-" and suddenly crackles and is silent as Clairikine raises their glasses to blast it with pink lasers from their eyes. In the fourth panel, Clairikine resumes drawing, smiling, while the phone says "and we're back!"

Lokalisierte Podcast-Werbung was a mistake, make it stop.

***

Ganz ehrlich ich weiß ich sollte was zur US-Wahl sagen, aber wir haben ja unmittelbar danach den Koalitionsabbruch bekommen und es stehen nun zum zweiten ****** Mal seit Juni vorgezogene Wahlen an, also erstmal keine Zeit gehabt diesen spezifischen Untergang zu verkraften. Die Lage ist ernst, daher hier ein paar Ansagen.

Wenn ihr das liest, deutsche Wahlberechtigte seid und im Ausland wohnt, ist es für euch jetzt die Zeit, den Antrag auf Eintragung in ein Wählerverzeichnis einzureichen. Wenn ihr Leute kennt für die das zutrifft, sagt es bitte weiter. Infos dazu findet ihr hier und hier. Der Antrag muss spätestens am 21. Tag vor der Wahl eingegangen sein. Die Wahl findet am 23. Februar 2025 statt.

Ob ihr im Ausland wohnt oder nicht: Fragt euch was ihr bei jedem Wahlergebnis bereuen würdet getan zu haben oder nicht getan zu haben, und macht was ihr könnt, damit ihr nach der Wahl nichts zu bereuen habt. Und: haltet dabei bitte diejenigen im Sinn, die am direktesten von den Wahlergebnissen betroffen werden, auch diejenigen, die euren Alltag teilen und nicht bei der Wahl mitentscheiden dürfen. Uns betrifft ja auch die deutsche Bundespolitik. Danke euch im voraus.