When we think of law as science

A comic. I don’t like philosophy but I may have waded into the territory of legal philosophy here…

Text says, “Growing up in an age of science and math, we get accustomed to, and rely upon RULES and LOGIC!” Illustration shows a woman with blonde hair, next to a dog. Above the dog is an apple, with dotted lines going down to the dog’s heat. The woman is pointing to the apple, saying “That’s going -9.8 m/s squared, even if I don’t believe in gravity.”

The illustration shows a blonde woman pointing at a circle that has a face, and is sitting on the grown. She is thinking, “The circumference of this emoji is 2 times pi times r. Always.”

The text says, “It’s natural, then, to think that laws are always rules of logic of the same kind as science and math.” The girl is sitting, reading from a propped up book. She is thinking, “So if the Supreme Court concluded this here, in this analogous situation, they have to come to the same conclusion!”

The text says, “Of course, laws do have some logic and the rule of law can work.” Below is an illustration of a no speeding sign, then a car that is caught speeding, then a ticket that is issued.

Text at the top says, “But there are always humans involved in this set of rules, how they are used and understood. Illustration shows a man saying, “Well from my perspective, you violated that law.” The woman is saying, “That view is incorrect because…”

The text at the top says, “And that means the meaning of the law is left to whoever doesn’t have their decisions reviewed, instead of whatever is the most inherently logical.” The illustration below shows the Supreme Court, with three members as ghosts. The text bubbles from the Court are saying, “We no longer need that part of the Voting Rights Act!” And “Abortion is no longer a right!”

I don't think I'm a morning person...

A comic.

The text says, “It seems like all the things productive people should do, are supposed to happen in the morning.” Illustration shows a woman in bed, with her alarm going off and the sun coming up.

The text says, “That’s great an all, but is it realistic to do some sit-ups, make the bedding, do some yoga, write morning pages, write in a dream journal (the moment you wake up), read the paper…” Below each of these items is a drawing of the blonde girl doing each of these things.

The text says, “go for a run, take a shower, do a habitual one-hour art practice, get ready, drink orange juice, eat a health breakfast EVERY morning AND get at least 8 hours o sleep?” Below each of these items in the list is a small illustration representing it.

The text says, “especially as long as this is my favorite button.” The illustration shows a hand hitting the “snooze” button on their cell phone, which is beeping.

When Are They Coming Back?

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!

Cover shows two women hugging hearts. They are standing inside the shape of Minnesota and from them are dotted lines in all different directions  connecting to more hearts. The cover says, “When are they coming back? By Maddy Buck.”

Text says, “Minnesotans LOVE being from Minnesota.” Illustration shows two people with MN shirts on, with a thought bubble thinking of Minnesota.

Picture book text says, “Yet so many of us get lured away.”

Illustration shows different states outlines with arms and legs all saying “this way, this way, you do you, you know you want to move here!”

Picture book text says, “prestige, opportunity, adventure, heat pull them away.” Under each word is an illustration of that concept.

Picture book text says, “Meanwhile, their people back home have one thought:” Illustration shows some parent heads thinking about their kids in California and New York.

Illustration shows three women holding drinks, chatting, all of them saying in the same text bubble, “When are they coming back?!”

Illustration shows a tiny person saying, “How long has he been out there now?” And another tiny person is saying “when was it she moved away?”

Illustration shows for tiny people, each in a corner of the picture book, all saying together, “WHEN ARE THEY COMING BACK?!”

Picture book text says, “Great schools, humane voting, lots of lakes, nice summers,” Illustration shows a bunch of collaged pieces of blue paper, denoting lakes.

Picture book text says, “Why wouldn’t they come back?!!!” Below is a person bundled up in their warm jacket, scarf, and mittens, with the words, “blizzard, brr, cold, chilly, ice, 10 below” floating around them.

Picture book text says, “That’s great that they’re thriving, that they have a life, a career, a community, out there…but…”

Picture book text says, in large text, “WHEN ARE THEY COMING BACK?” Illustration shows a very distraught mother.

Picture book text says, 2 year, 10 years, 30 years away, when are they coming back? Illustration shows shocked people.

Picture book text says, “Some of them return! We celebrate, we sing! Then we shift our focus…there’s hope for the rest of them yet!” Illustration shows a gleeful person, saying “You’re back!”

Picture book text says, “Our yearning may be annoying. It may hurt the cause. It may be futile.” Illustration shows a person pushing their cell phone away, saying “Stop!” The cell phone is saying, “WHEN?! COME BACK! We miss you!”

Picture book text says, “But we can’t help it.” Illustration shows woman with funny face, in “I heart MN” shirt, shrugging her shoulders.

Picture book text says, “We want all our people BACK!” Illustration shows a woman standing inside a square of houses, thinking “everyone I love in 1 square mile, k, thx, bye!”

Picture book last page shows more heart that connect to the first page illustration.