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.

What is "agency"?

“Women must have agency over their own bodies” is shows in a banner held by three women in the illustration. The women’s hair is created with blob collaged bits of watercolor paper. Below, the text says, “Agreed, absolutely, a million times YES! Except…I have trouble with this phrase.”

Text says, “Why? It’s the term “agency” used in this context. Even though “agency” in philosophy (and in the general understanding) is the ability to act independently, with FREE WILL, it throws me off that the same word has a different meaning in law. Illustration shows some collaged bits of watercolor paper and the words “free will.”

The text at the top of the page says, “What does agency mean? The legal concept of ‘agency’ is where one person is given the power to act on behalf of another.” The illustration shows two blob characters, a red and an orange one. The red is labeled “principal, person with power” and is saying “please do things for me.” The principal is giving another set of collaged bits to the orange blob, the “Agent, the person who can act for another.” The Agent says, “yes, ma’am.” The thing being given from the principal to the agent is labeled as “power on loan” and it is pink.

The text says “the agent, the employee, the sports rep, the executive agency ACTS FOR (in place of) the principal, the employer, the athlete, the executive branch of government. The text is lined up so that you can reach this sentence in many ways. Below it says “these are all forms of agency.” Above we see some repeating patterns from the prior illustration, some orange, red, and pink collaged bits of paper.

The text says, “In law, agents do not act for themselves. The power they use is loaned to them, it’s not theirs, and it can be taken away. Below is a text bubble saying “Don’t get too comfortable! It’s on loan only!” The illustration shows an orange character holding up the pink blobs, thinking “But it’s so appealing!”

The text says, “The legal understanding of ‘agency’ is exactly the opposite of the philosophical meaning, the way we use it in our daily lives. The illustration shows little collaged bits of paper that we’ve seen in prior illustrations. On the left is a pink set of blobs labeled “power on loan,” then the word “vs.” then yellow and blue collaged shapes circling around the words “free will.”

Text says “are you starting to see why this term makes me uncomfortable in the context of women having full control over their bodies?” Illustration shows a woman with red hair holding the pink blobby shape that represents power on loan. She is saying, “ehhhhhhhh?”

Text says, “Considering that th law is used as a tool for controlling women’s bodies, I can’t help but see the term ‘agency’ in its legal definition. I can’t help but cringe at how unfit it feels to argue for ‘agency’ in light of laws that encroach upon us, when, in law, ‘agency’ is just a form of BORROWED power, not inherent to the person using it.

Text says, “I suppose the realms of law and philosophy aren’t about to change their respective contradictory definitions of the words, so…let’s just stop using the law to control women’s bodies.” Illustration shows woman looking weirdly at the text and saying, “Mkay? Cool, thanks.”