2012 Countdown: Top Ten, part I

Here they are at long last: the 2012 Top Ten!

No. 10 - I did some special cartoons for Banned Books week. I'm not sure about anyone else, but the high school librarian liked them!

No. 9 - This was a silly throwaway cartoon, but it proved more popular than I expected. You gotta love Primary!

No. 8 - Another Canadian cartoon! Plus Zen guys!

No. 7 - Thanksgiving always has some fun cartoons.

No. 6 - There were a couple of good Mission President cartoons this year, too. This was one of the more popular ones.

Tomorrow we finish up the Top Ten!

2012 Countdown: Honorable Mentions

I usually call these my runners up, but this year I thought "Honorable Mentions" might be more accurate as these are some that have special significance to me.

No. 5 - One of the oldest ladies in our ward, Marjorie, passed away in May. She was well into her 90s, yet she always told the bishop that she was willing to do whatever was needed. She was awesome. I ran this cartoon on the day of her funeral, and it got way more hits than I anticipated.

No. 4 - I have a couple of other cartoon blogs that I draw. This one is from Good Heavens, which is set in the afterlife, and honors author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, who also passed away in May.

No. 3 - The other strip, Zarahemla Times, went through a transformation this year, changing from a "daily" size to a "Sunday" size, and going from black and white to color. This is one of the first ones that ran after the change.

No. 2 - Call me a geek, but I really like Pioneer Day. I'm sure that it is in part due to my heritage -- my ancestors helped establish a lot of the early Mormon Pioneer settlements, both in Utah and in Canada. This is a Pioneer-themed cartoon that probably won't run anyplace else, but it's one that I really like!

No. 1 - As faithful readers may know, we took a group of high school French students to Europe this spring -- most of whom were lovely young ladies. This particular cartoon is based on an experience one of our girls had during a nighttime cruise on the Seine in Paris.

Tomorrow: Part 1 of the 2012 Top Ten!

2012 Countdown: The Sketchbook

The Sketchbook is made up of cartoon ideas that, for one reason or another, didn't make it as full-fledged cartoons. Here are my top five from this year.

No. 5 - Fellow cartoonist Arie Van De Graaff came out for a visit this summer. We talked cartoons, and he told me how he uses his gags in his Gospel Doctrine class.

No. 4 - One of my padawans came up with this idea last January. It still makes me laugh, even though it's a little bit on the naughty side.

No. 3 - This was a hit with my readers from the Great White North. I try to provide cultural and educational tidbits whenever possible. This gag provided both.

No. 2 - The US presidential election was, of course, big in the news. There was one night of unfortunate overlap -- Mitt Romney's address to the Republican Convention was at the same time as a BYU football game. For some, it was a hard choice on which to watch.

No. 1 - My conference recaps proved popular this year. It helps to have good material to draw from. If you haven't yet, check out the sketchbooks from this year's October and April conferences.

Tomorrow: The runners-up!

What's your percent?

Be sure to tune in tomorrow as we start our annual year end countdown!

Bells are ringing!

I know a lovely young couple getting married today. This is for them, may they live long and prosper!

Sufficiency

Not this year, but we've had Christmases like this. Hope yours was great!

The Nativity, part 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!

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