Advanced Magic

 

Yep, that's the sorcerer's apprentice from Fantasia there (as a person, not a mouse). Where is the iconic hat? Well, that belongs to the sorcerer, and he'll be in the next comic (if I schedule these correctly...). Also, a throwback to a comic from 2012 wow. That's an oldie. Pretty close to when I started drawing these comics. 

Explanation: The king's request (which he thinks he's giving to the chef) is clearly to be given a fresh cup of coffee, but it's worded in a way that could be a request to be turned into a cup of coffee. Thankfully, the magician's apprentice is not skilled enough to transmute a person into an object. That seems complicated. 

Text:
K: Make me a cup of coffee.
A: That is advanced and I'm only the apprentice. 
K: ... you're not the chef.

A Whole Lot Better

 

My pastor preached on this passage a few weeks ago (2/15), and I jotted down this comic during the service. He titled his sermon "Kings' Dominion" and focused on Biblical Reflections to Prime Us for Spiritual Warfare (Our Lord is sovereign over unstable nations, Our confidence is not in rulers but in God, Our love and faith inspire courage for battle). 

Explanation: In Genesis 14, there's a war and Abram's nephew Lot is captured. Abram finds out and rallies his people to get Lot and the plundered people and goods back. He does and, clearly, is a whole Lot better once he has his nephew Lot back. This comic is not quite biblical because it's depicting Abram telling a dad joke, and he is not yet a dad (hence his name is Abram and not Abraham).

Text:
Title: Genesis 14
R: Abram, I heard you went after the guys who took your nephew - how are you doing?
A: I'm a whole Lot better!
L: *facepalming in shame at that dad joke from his uncle*

Dessert Island

 

I learned the difference in those words by remembering "nobody wants extra desert but they do want extra dessert, so that's why one has more letter S's in it." Yes, this comic is a play on how desert (the dry wasteland) and dessert (sweets after a meal) are spelled very similarly. I would look up why that is, but I want to play a new co-op computer game (Overcooked) so I'll delay that research for another time (if ever). 

Extra: is this a deleted scene from the 1998 tv show Young Hercules? Maybe? That show was on my mind when I went down a rabbit trail about shepherd's pie for St. Pat's day (there's an episode I recall from my childhood about the guys running the inn for a day and they only know how to make one thing so that's what they recommend to everyone and I erroneously thought it was shepherd's pie but it's actually chicken salad). 

Text:
A: How did you end up on a dessert island?
B: The king wanted me exiled, and his magician made a spelling error.

Wrong Gas

 

Trying to explain to my kid that we have different names for how the gas exits our body... Never thought I'd have that conversation. The joy of being a parent - so many unexpected conversations. 

Text:
R: *toot*
O: You burped in your pants!
R: *confused* ?

Parking Spot Proximity

 

I realize I look like an able-bodied person, but two young kids count as an allowance for close parking spots. I believe that if you have a baby car seat in your car, you should be eligible for handicap parking (but obviously that's not the law). Because you need the extra space to get that carrier in and out of your car! But I understand that a change like that would shift the balance of how many handicap spaces are needed for a place. So maybe just push for more places to be like IKEA parking and have a "parent and baby" parking section with wider spaces for families. 

Text:
A: Have you considered leaving the closer parking space for those who really need it?
L: Have you considered that I really need it?

*redrawn with two young kids clinging to me*

Jurassic Names Part 2

Thankfully I did not need to re-draw my banner since I had it for the earlier comic. Also, I realized after making this that the DNA was extracted from a mosquito not gnat in the amber. Whoops.

Explanation: Terry, Rory, Amber, and Nat are all normal names. Pterry, Roary, and Gnat are not normal names. Amber fits in both categorize in this context.

*did you see this posted last week? No you didn't, because I surely would not forget to schedule and just straight-up post a comic. Surely, I would not do such a thing and I'm gonna make my blog agree with me.

Text:
Banner: WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH
A: There are my kids - Pterry and Roary.
B: Wonderful! My kids are Amber and Gnat. 

Jurassic Names Part 1

 

Well, that's one opinion. Also, I took far too long trying to make that banner look like the one in the first Jurassic Park movie that falls down as the T-Rex roars in the atrium. 

Explanation: Terry and Rory are fairly normal names. Pterry sounds like the name of a pterodactyl and Roary sounds like a loud child.

Text:
Banner: WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH
A: Why so sad?
B: He said I'm not a real dino fan since I didn't name my kids Pterry and Roary.
A: ... How pterrible. 

Puffy Coat

 

I got a puffer trench coat from Costco a few years ago and it has sufficient pockets. Trying to find a particular thing can be difficult, and removing just the desired thing can be tricky, but I love this coat. It's so warm and can hold all my things. 

Explanation: In Doctor Who, his "Time And Relative Dimension In Space" ship looks like a Police Call Box (basically an opaque phone booth) and is "bigger on the inside" as there's a whole multi-room, multi-level space ship in there. There also is one Doctor who likes bow-ties and thinks they are cool.

Text:
D: Wow, your coat pockets are stuffed full!
L: All the winter essentials - hat, gloves, chapstick, DD gift card, tissues, pen, change purse, and such.
D: ... is it a TARDIS?
L: And glowsticks, clean Pull-Up and wipes, cough drops, ...

Gym Humor: Knee Edition

 

So glad this is not a True Story, but I did think of it at the gym and I do wear a wrap on my left knee when exercising (specifically when on the treadmill). 

Explanation: the opposite of right can be either left (direction) or wrong (correction). But that does not mean left equals wrong.

Text:
Title: At the Gym
PT: You're wearing that brace on your wrong knee.
L: ... what???
PT: Because it's not on your right knee!!!

Home Project: Toddler Helper

 

Happy Birthday Eve to my Dad! He taught me many home repair skills, and has repaired and improved so much of my house.

You know what they say: teamwork makes the dream work, except when your teammate is a literal two-year-old. But you let them help now (when they really aren't helpful but have the desire to help), with the hopes that they will keep helping later (when they have the skills but often not the desire to help).

Text:
Title: Home Projects
O: Want to help you!
M: I know you do, but this is something you currently don't have the skills to do. *SNAP* And apparently, neither do I.

Change that Heart

 

True story - Ori has done this. We did not respond quite like this (more like saying the sun is not up so our son should not be up). 

Explanation: we change into day clothes when the sun is above the horizon, definitely not when it's closer to midnight than noon. 

Text:
A: What do you do when your toddler comes in your room at 3am demanding to change out of his pjs?
L: Tell him the only change happening at this hour is a change of heart.
M: Regeneration!

Winter Olympics Amp Up

 

I'm writing this while watching the Olympics Figure Skating Exhibition Gala so my attention is a bit split. The Italian pair started with the macarena and ended with cotton-eyed Joe. You just never know what the next act will be. Apparently it's Greatest Showman, which is fitting for this event. 

Explanation: The halfpipe is a slope built up on the sides to resemble the bottom half of a circular pipe. A whole-pipe would, in my mind, be like a Hot Wheels loop-de-loop track. 

Text:
A: How can we make the Winter Olympics more exciting? Snowboarding ideas?
B: Halfpipe is OUT! Wholepipe is IN!
A: Like a Hot Wheels track!!!

Chocolate Coins

My kids received chocolate coins for Christmas and they have actual currency emblems on them. Some confusion happened. But the coins are tasty.

Explanation: The emblem of a country can be called a seal. Some emblems have birds on them, like eagles. A seal is also an aquatic mammal. So a seal can be a bird but the other seal can not be a bird.

Apologies for any typos - I'm watching the Olympics Figure Skating Exhibition Gala while writing this up and it's such a delight to watch professionals just have fun and be amazing. I highly recommend looking up past Winter Olympic Galas on YouTube. 

Text:
R: What is the bird on this chocolate coin?
M: It's an eagle because that's the seal.
L: Well, is it an eagle or a seal? Those are different animals. 
M: *unimpressed*
R: *confused*

Grayson Truth

 

Happy belated Birthday to my niece!
My kiddo has a gray dinosaur named Grayson. Answers in Genesis has some great Bible verse songs. Misunderstandings can happen. 

Explanation: As I point out in the comic, "Grayson" and "grace and" sound rather similar. 

Text:
Title: John 1:14
Song: We have seen His glory - full of grace and truth
R: That's my dinosaur's name!
L: Grace. And. Truth. Not Grayson truth. 

Bear Trees

 

Or should it be:

But perhaps:

I could not decide which version I liked best so here are three of them. When drawing these, I was reminded of an old commercial for Discover Card where there's a guy with loads of frogs in his house asking about frog protection and the agent over the phone is like, yeah we have fraud protection.

Explanation: "Bare" means empty, like a tree in winter. "Bear" is an animal. Both words sound the same, hence the confusion in this set of comics.

Text:

Patron: I commissioned a landscape painting of bare trees - what is this?!?
Artist: These are bear trees - see them peeking through the leaves?
OR
Artist: There is at least one bear in every tree - what more could you want?!
OR 
Artist: "Bear Trees" features several varieties - this tree has a koala while this one has a grizzly.