The Glorious North Woods

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.

First page of zine or picture book by Maddy Buck. It is in the shape of the state of Minnesota. Illustration includes a woman with her arms raised, saying “The Glorious North Woods!” With collaged watercolor blobs, the illustration shows lakes and green trees.

Illustration from Minnesota-shaped zine shows a person in shorts and a yellow t-shirt saying “The glorious north woods,” while slapping themselves in the arm, clearly killing a mosquito.

Illustration of woman laying in bed, dreaming “The glorious north woods” as mosquitos buzz about all around her.

Illustration of woman in Minnesota-shaped zine. She looks a little unhappy, there’s a pink exclamation point about her head, and mosquito bites on her leg.

A page of a Minnesota-shaped picture book, where the illustration shows a woman in multiple poses trying to itch her new mosquito bites. She doesn’t look happy and her legs are turning red.

In a Minnesota-shaped picture book, the illustration shows an enormous mosquito saying, “The glorious north woods!” and flying above a green north woods landscape. The illustration is done using watercolored collage.

Last past of Minnesota shaped picture book. Illustration is done using ink, marker, and watercolored paper that is collaged. There are a few pine trees, a sun, and a lake.

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.

I want to know it all!

I was a bit obsessive with the news when Russia first invaded Ukraine. That obsession inspired this little comic.

Text at the top says: I want to know it ALL! And I want to know it NOW!

Below is an illustration of a woman looking at a large tablet. She is looking quizzically and wearing a blue shirt. Illustration is very loose and messy and the tablet is made out of a collaged piece of paper.

Text at the top says: What is Putin thinking? Who killed Jon Tenet?

Illustration shows a bubble (a thought bubble) with magazine covers, including “Who killed Jon Tenet” with her face on it, another one called “Trump lies A to Z” with a man with a collaged bit of paper to represent orange hair. There is also, “Is Johnny Depp Lying? (He Must Be!),” “Inside Putin’s Brain,” What was life like in 1321?” And “The inside of the KGB.”

Text at the top says, “Where did Amelia Earhart go? Will we solve climate change? Is there life on other planets? Why is my dog looking at me like that?!

Illustration shows a woman with flight goggles saying “hi!,” a collaged world that is saying “You did it! You saved me!,” some collaged green columns saying “We’ve been watching you for years, we come in peace,” and a black dog drawn in curlycues looking quizzically at the viewer.

The text at the top says, “I want to know what’s true, what’s fake, what’s foggy, and why.” The illustration shows a blonde woman looking anxious, with a thought bubble that says, “Too much uncertainty! Help me understand!” Around the thought bubble are more collaged bits and lots of question marks.

The text at the top says: If it’s unknowable, I want to know that. If it’s unpredictable to the experts, I want to know that text. The illustration shows the blonde woman looking at a book called “Expert perspectives” with other books called “primary sources” sitting next to her.

Text says: I like to think that when we die, we get to know everything. As if, instantly, you’re gone from this world, but now you get to know the truth behind all the secrets, things lots to history, the mysteries, the future. Illustration shows a gravestone that says “R.I.P. Now I get to know everything.” Next to the gravestone is the blonde woman saying, “Tell me Grandma, what have you learned?”

Text on this page says, “But I don’t want to wait until then to learn everything. Tell me the secrets! What aren’t they saying? What don’t I understand? Illustration shows the blonde woman with a big smile, saying “I’m all ears.” Her ears are very prominent because they are collaged pieces of paper that stand out on top of the ink drawing.

Text on this page says, “I want to know it all, and I want to know it now, so that I can make better decisions, understand the nuances, and satiate my curiosity.”

Illustration shows the blonde woman with her brain opened up. We see collaged bits of paper representing her brain, and she is grabbing at it. Next to her, it says “I’ll just store all the info here so I can use it…”

This page says, “I want to know it all!” This illustration reuses illustrations from prior pages of the woman.

The day they took away a fundamental right

On Friday, June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court took away a fundamental right from Americans when it overruled Roe v. Wade. Those who were watching closely had seen it coming for years, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a complete blow, to our senses of dignity and the legitimacy of the court, when it did finally happen.

The text in the middle of the page says, “this morning, I woke up with a FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT under my nation’s Constitution. Tonight, I go to sleep without it.” Illustration shows a woman waking up in the morning and then laying in bed, sad.

Text says, “What does it feel like to have had more rights than your daughter, fewer rights than your mother,”

Illustration shows a woman with a bob holding a blue blob, a collaged piece of paper. Next to her is a younger woman reaching for the blue blob, with torn up blue bits next to her.

Text says, “fewer rights than YOURSELF,”

Illustration shows a woman with tears coming down her face, tears created with collaged blue paper. She has her legs and arms crossed. Next to her are younger versions of herself, holding intact blue blobs (collaged paper). Text above each of them says, “a day ago, 6 months ago, 15 years ago,”

Text at the top says, “and a legal system that smashes a half century of legal precedent.” Illustration shows collaged bits of paper, mostly blue, some orange. They are pointy and all over the page, like an explosion. Under them is a Supreme Court bench, with 6 justices behind it, saying in a single voice, “Look what we can do!”

This page simply says, “This.” There are no illustrations.

In the middle of the page, it says “This is what it feels like.”

Below, towards the bottom, are a few of the collaged bits of paper from the prior drawing, in a tiny pile on the ground.