This one is extremely silly. But, honestly, the Fox News view of how the world works is also extremely silly. (I mean, terrifying and horrible, too, but also silly).

My favorite gag in this cartoon is the eager border patrol guy in panel two running to give the immigrants balloons. 

Panel three is privately titled, in my mind, "how to use the panel border cut-off to imply that a swimming pool is there without actually having to draw a swimming pool." (And I can report from experience that very similar techniques can be used for bicycles!) 

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I was sitting outside a local diner (it's still warm enough for outside seating, thankfully) and coloring this cartoon. Becky, sitting next to me, leaned over and said "oh, nice limited palette." That's the nice thing about having cartoonist friends - they notice stuff like that. :-)

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I mean, sort of "thankfully" it's still warm. I'm enjoying the weather, but also... It really shouldn't still be 80 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-October, should it?

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All the books have been shipped! (Well, all except for three books, because I'm waiting on a response to an email about shipping issues from those three people). And I know some of you have received the books this week. The remaining folks should receive their books soon.

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This cartoon will be published in Dollars & Sense Magazine. For that reason, I'll be waiting a month to post it in public, and please don't share it before then. 

Thanks so much for supporting these cartoons! Even the silly ones. It's an amazing privilege for me to be able to do this for a living, and that's all because of you folks.

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I'll be going to California on Wednesday for the Humboldt Country Children's Author Festival, which is a very interesting four-day event I've been to twice before (but this will be the first one since Covid began). 

One thing they do is bring authors to schools that are too small and remote to normally get author visits; one time someone drove me up a mountain for two hours so I could visit a school with only eight students. 

There are other events that are just dripping with charm - for instance, each year a local school picks out one of our books to adapt into a short drama performed by kids. We, the authors, don't know which of us is the lucky person whose book is adapted until it happens. I've never been the one selected, but maybe this year!

Plus, I get to see redwoods! 

Despite the trip and the adorable school children, I'm still planning to finish three more political cartoons this month - I've got two more cartoons partly drawn, and Becky is drawing one as well. But we'll see how it goes. Stay well!

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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels.

PANEL 1

A large caption at the top of the panel says "SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF THE BORDER."

Two cheerful-looking people are standing outside and talking. One is a woman with dark hair drawn back into a ponytail, glasses, and a polka-dot skirt; let's call her GLASSES. She'd holding out a smartphone.

The other person is a man with a mustache and a broad-brimmed straw hat, smoking a cigar. He also has dark hair, but his is a little reddish. Let's call him CIGAR.

GLASSES: Joe my friend who's a Democrat in the USA just called and invited us to sneak over the border! He says it's easy!

CIGAR: We've got no pressing need to leave, but let's go anyway!

PANEL 2

Glasses and Cigar are now at the US border, which we know is the US border because there's a signpost that says "USA" with an arrow pointing. A grinning man with short-cropped blonde hair, waring a border patrol uniform and sunglasses, is running towards them with helium balloons.

A huge sign is hanging over everyone, which says "WELCOME IMMIGRANTS" in huge letters (the "i" is dotted with a heart), and in smaller letters below that says "Don't Forget To Vote!"

GLASSES: Wow. We can just walk right in!

CIGAR: Look at that huge welcome sign!

BORDER PATROL DUDE: Welcome to Texas!

PANEL 3

Apparently some time has passed, because Glasses and Cigar are now in different outfits. Cigar is relaxing in a reclining chair next to a swimming pool; Glasses is walking up to Cigar and proudly pointing a thumb at herself. (Glasses is now pregnant.)

GLASSES: I just stole a job from a decent hard-working American!

CIGAR: I'm not even working! The government is just giving me welfare cash! Ha ha!

PANEL 4

The border between panels 3 and 4 is a thought balloon, leading to the head of a character in panel 4 (indicating that the entirety of the first three panels were in his imagination).

We're now looking at two entirely different characters. Both are white. One, wearing a red MAGA cap, is punching his fist into his palm and looks angry. The other, wearing a necktie and button-down shirt, is rearing his head back and yelling as he shakes a hand at the sky.

MAGA DUDE: I'm sure that's how it happens!

NECKTIE (very loudly): DAMN YOU LIBERALS!!