I put up with the mosquitos and the winters for these. Love them.
You know those times where the bugs actually aren’t that and you pretend you’re safe and it’s just lovely? And then a few days later you discover they were there all along? Based on a true story.
Transcript:
Page 1: An exuberant woman stands in a collaged north woods environment, on the front page of a Minnesota-shaped book, as she proclaims “The Glorious North Woods!”
Page 2: The same woman happily slaps at a single bug that is shown buzzing around her arm, all while proclaiming with a simple “The Glorious North Woods!” She’s unperturbed.
Page 3: The same woman snoozes with a smile, dreaming “The Glorious North Woods.” She’s completely unaware of the the few bugs shown buzzing around her.
Page 4: The same woman, stands surprised and alert with an exclamation point over her had and “itch me, itch me, itch me” coming from a red bump on her leg.
Page 5: In five drawings, the same woman is shown discovering more and more mosquito bites all over. She gets increasingly angry.
Page 6: An enormous mosquito character is show flying above a collaged north woods environment saying happily “The glorious north woods!”
Page 7: By Maddy Buck 2022, amidst some collaged trees, a lake, and dotted lines indicating bugs.
When grandma’s dementia, penchant for euphemism, and dream of great grandchildren all come together.
As an analytical, creative person.
I feel most creative when making things in physical handmade books. Accidental things can happen and when I know I don’t have to make something sleek and perfect, it seems to turn out more fun. So when these words popped into my head, I decided to go back to the book format, which I hadn’t been doing as much lately.
I seem to be having the “When are they coming back?” conversation over and over and over again lately in every social context, so I had to poke fun at it a bit. I hate and I love this conversation at the same time.
A few years ago I made a Minnesota-shaped book about how everyone seems to move away from Minnesota, so this is the sequel!
I recently had a comic published by The Rumpus, in their Spotlight series. I started this two years ago, then put it in a box for a year, finally pulling it out and getting enough courage to send it out.
It’s called “Everyone Wants to Know” and I’m glad to have released it into the world!
