Nonfiction comic in French (bande dessinée) by Maddy Buck, originally published in the Québécois comics journal Planches. The comic explores what it’s like to have grown up going to a French immersion elementary school but not live in a Francophone location.
Full post available here. Sketchbooks and Legal Pads is Maddy Buck’s illustrated newsletter explaining the overlap of law, art, and technology. It is housed on Substack. The background is always on a legal pad (created digitally), and includes simple illustrations that explore some idea in this space. Popular topics include the impact of AI on art.
Excerpts from Maddy’s illustrated newsletter, Maddy Not Mommy. 2023. Maddy maintains a newsletter on Substack, where she explains life as a new parent, from her perspective: one who is reluctant to be called “parent” or “mama.” The illustrations often include a lot of lettering, and are done digitally. Illustrations from this newsletter have been used to create “New Baby” greeting cards.
Excerpt from the graphic Interpretation of Shaping AI, a vision paper about the future of AI, by Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, Jeff Dean, Prof. John Hennessy, Prof. Finale Doshi-Velez, Dr. Andy Konwinski, Prof. Sanmi Koyegi, Pelonomi Moiloa, Prof. Emma Pierson, and Prof. David Patterson. 2025.
To create this comic, I studied the paper and then broke it down into a script that would fit into 6-10 panels. I then created digital illustrations for each panel. Each panel is a single square file, so it can be used modularly across different platforms.
The final project was compiled into a simple book (one panel per page) and redesigned into a comic book, both of which were used as supplements to speaking engagements and events related to the Shaping AI project.
This illustration was created for Laude in 2025 to be used as the back page of a comic book illustration and explaining a vision paper written by a team of computer scientists specializing in AI. The goal was to make the page very busy and colorful, akin to the back page of kids’ comic books. All of the authors of the Shaping AI, a vision paper about the future of AI ( Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, Jeff Dean, Prof. John Hennessy, Prof. Finale Doshi-Velez, Dr. Andy Konwinski, Prof. Sanmi Koyegi, Pelonomi Moiloa, Prof. Emma Pierson, and Prof. David Patterson) are included in the illustration.
Maddy has created a series of comics breaking down the experience of attending a prestige-oriented law school in the United States. The full comic, which is forthcoming, details Maddy’s experience in law school.
The illustrations are created digitally, black and white, with panels, in a relatively traditional comics style.
An excerpt of the full comic will be available at the LDC comics fair in July 2025.
A pandemic winter, some Posca markers, and four blank studio walls transforms into an enormous mural of whimsical creatures. 2021
Title IX. 2022. First appearing on Maddy not Mommy, this is a nonfiction comic in panels that explains Title IX and its impacts, in graphic nonfiction narrative form. The comic tracks Maddy’s childhood as an athlete and explains how Title IX became law.
The comic was created digitally, with panels, based on Maddy’s research into Title IX and its history of becoming law.
Book of Anger. Illustrated book/zine. 2019.
This picture book was created using a painted watercolor paper collage technique. The book breaks down the feeling of anger, showing how it can be a useful emotion for us to harness.
American Illustration 39 Chosen Winner.
Showcased in Minnesota Center for Book Arts’ 2019 New Editions show.
Book of Anger is part of the Hennepin County Library’s circulating zine collection. 2023.
Excerpt from the explainer comic adaptation of Shaping AI, a vision paper about the future of AI, by Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, Jeff Dean, Prof. John Hennessy, Prof. Finale Doshi-Velez, Dr. Andy Konwinski, Prof. Sanmi Koyegi, Pelonomi Moiloa, Prof. Emma Pierson, and Prof. David Patterson. 2025.
To create this comic, I studied the relevant section of the paper and then broke it down into a script that would fit into 6-10 panels. I then created digital illustrations for each panel. Each panel is a single square file, so it can be used modularly across different platforms. The final project was compiled into a simple book (one panel per page) and redesigned into a comic book, both of which were used as supplements to speaking engagements and events related to the Shaping AI project.
Commission to draw mural on nursery wall for a new baby girl. The mural was created using Posca markers and was mostly improvised, adding animals requested by the homeowner. 2023.
See blog for full story.
Fundamental Right. Zine. 2022.
This comic/zine was created in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the decades-long precedent of Roe v. Wade and constituted the first time a fundamental right was rolled back from the American people’s bundle of rights.
Selected for inclusion in the Center for Book Arts New Editions Exhibition 2023 and previously on sale in their shop.
Visual timeline of the litigation surrounding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). 2019. Created for use by the University of Minnesota’s Immigration Response Team, formerly a part of the University of Minnesota’s Global Programs Alliance. This timeline was created for a newsletter to students, and was heavily inspired by the collaged blob version on the same topic.
Collage illustration created in memory of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and with hope that there may one day be a U.S. Supreme Court that is all women. 2020
This piece was created in response to Justice Ginsburg’s untimely death, which set in motion a stark change in U.S. reproductive rights. Maddy’s thoughts on Ruthless Times and mourning RBG through art.
Collage created with painted watercolor paper blobs.
Excerpts from The Book of Mom, a picture book about mother-daughter relationships, based on a few decades of research. 2020.
The Book of Mom was made in a collage style, using watercolored blobs of paper and ink drawings.
These illustrations have been used to create greeting cards.
Excerpts from Impeachment Basics. 2020.
This digital comic breaks down the law surrounding impeachment. In a series of panels, it explains what needs to happen for someone to be impeached and convicted.
Excerpt from comic explaining the Federal Quarantine Powers. Created April 2020. First published on Graphic Medicine’s Covid Comics, 2020.
This comic was created digitally in an ink and watercolor style.
Illustrated book explaining DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an immigration policy) and the litigation surrounding it in Fall 2019. 2019. View full book on LetsDrawLaw Blog.
Fill in the Fill in the Buck (Mad(dy) Libs). Zine. 2021.
Remember Mad Libs? Fill in the blanks on each page and make yourself giggle! Make sure to read this zine with a pen (or pencil if you want to repeat the fun) on hand!
The illustrations for this zine were created using collaged, painted watercolor paper, on top of ink drawings.
Paternity CLE Illustrations. 2019. Illustrations created to supplement online continuing legal education presentation by Marian Saksena and Theresa Farrell-Strauss.
The illustrations were done digitally in an ink and watercolor style.
Lake in Limbo. Illustrated explanation in small picture-book form analyzing Bde Maka Ska lake-renaming litigation. 2019. Published in Hennepin Lawyer Magazine, January/February 2020.
The illustrations were created using painted watercolor paper collage on ink drawings. The text was created to explain the litigation based on Maddy’s research.
Those page shows Maddy Buck’s coloring book, entitled “A Coloring Buck.” The coloring book is heavy with lines and includes animals and whimsical creatures.
