The Top Ten, Part I

No. 10
There was a weird political climate this year, and a lot of confusion from people not knowing who they are, and a lot of name calling all across the board. That's where this came from.

No. 9
"Transparency" is a buzzword in business and government. I suppose it's big in other arenas as well.

No. 8
Back in February scientists made a breakthrough discovery when they confirmed the existence of gravitational waves.

No. 7
The Force Awakens was huge, and it left us with the question of who Rey really is. We know just the crew who can probably find out.

No. 6
Gotta love our missionaries — they're men (and women) for all seasons!

Tomorrow: The Top Ten, Part II

Be careful out there!

The Runners Up...

Normally we have five cartoons that make the Runners Up list, but this year we have a couple of extras. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

No. 8

Missionaries aren't the only ones who get a little trunky when their time is up! Special thanks to Pres. and Hermana Klein who shared their insights as they presided over the Honduras San Pedro Sula East Mission.

No. 7

Some people get a little too excited for the Super Bowl.

No. 6

Bearing down in pure testimony is way different than Bible bashing!

No. 5

This Christmas cartoon made a big impact, particularly for a companionship in North Carolina (and their moms liked it, too!).

No. 4

This one was another that was popular for a niche market. I was surprised that there were so many participants in NaNoWriMo!

No. 3

When a cartoon is good, it contains an element of truth. This one was way too true for our family!

No. 2

You can't go too far wrong when you mix family history with the Sweet Sixteen.

No. 1

The idea for this came during a Gospel Doctrine class this year.

Tune in tomorrow for the first part the 2016 Top Ten!

Top 5 from the sketchbook!

Here are the Top 5 from the Sketchbook for 2016!

5. Someone asked just how many Mormon cartoonists are there? There are probably at least a dozen of us who contribute regularly to the New Era. Then there's Brian Crane of Pickles fame, and a whole bunch of comic book artists and animators. There are enough that the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU had a display about Mormon cartoonists — and I was listed twice (apparently they thought Sis. Kerry Jo was a real person!).

4. Is this a political statement, or just a hashtag of truth?

3. Apparently I wasn't the only deacon who got nervous when I passed the sacrament to a cute girl!

2. Hymn jokes are always popular.

1. It wasn't that long ago that if you said, "Where's my phone? I want to take a picture!" people would look at you like you were crazy.

Reigning Champion:
The sketch notes from General Conference are always the favorites for the year. This is from the October Women's Session.

Top of the Others

You may know that I run a couple of other cartoon blogs: Sis. Kerry Jo's Mission Blog; Good Heavens, and Zarahemla Times. Here are the top three for each of those.

Sis. Kerry Jo
Even though Sis. Kerry Jo is home now, she still posts occasionally. Some posts are about present-day goings on, some are mission flashbacks. One series this year was about a country-wide mission reunion (that's the national anthem in the middle panels).

Good Heavens
It was a rough year for Good Heavens. There got to be so many disasters, deaths and depressing topics that I had to take a breather for a while. Two of the top favorites, though, were ripped from the headlines: David Bowie and Alan Rickman both passed away within a week of each other, and the response to the Orlando nightclub shooting struck a chord.

Zarahemla Times
It's a long story with many moving parts, but Zarahemla Times has mostly been in reruns this year. Nevertheless, here are the top three from ZT.

It's the memes!

We made a lot of memes this year, many of which won major awards (seriously!). Here are a few of my favorites.

The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars series were the award winners.

We took an obscure day — Tolkien Reading Day — and turned it into a news event, plus we got our message out about highway safety. And it wasn't just local: it got national attention. The Tolkien folks were thrilled to get the attention, and our folks were happy to geek out on some of their favorite books!

The Star Wars memes ran on May the Fourth (be with you). May is Work Zone Awareness Month, and we were able to newsjack the routine "May the Fourth" and Jedi social media posts with our series of work zone safety messages. And our folks were happy to geek out on some of their favorite movies!

Some say we jumped the shark with our "Safetymon" Pokemon messages. Maybe. But we found a good way to get our back to school safety messages to stand out from all the other back to school stuff.

And, hey! Any day I can draw cartoons for work is a good day!

Watch your step

I don't know, maybe this one should have stayed in the sketchbook (after all, Mondays are usually sketchbook days). The reference may be a little obscure. That's why I decided to run this on Boxing Day — everybody will be too busy to pay attention, so I can just slip it in and move on my way.

By the way, please come back tomorrow as we start our annual year-end countdown!

The Nativity VI

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

Merry Christmas!

The Nativity V

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The Nativity IV

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.


And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

The Nativity III

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.


And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

The Nativity II

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.


And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

The Nativity I

As per tradition on this site, here's a retelling of the Nativity.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.


And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.



* Follow this link for a good resource for materials about the birth of Christ

Sketchbook: Elder Holland's list

I'm sure there are many of us who well remember Elder Holland's talk during the Priesthood Session of General Conference!

For the folks back home

Oh, the dilemmas missionaries face!

Yet to come

Over in Good Heavens, Jack is having A Christmas Carol experience. It's going about as well as you might expect.

A chill in the weather

I know of one gal from Tahiti who got called to serve in Montreal. That was a bit of an adjustment, especially in winter!