Laugh Lines, Coming Near You

The Charming-Yet-Infrequent Newsletter, April 2025

What Happened This Tuesday

I brought my pre-made salad to the register. The cashier rung me up.

“Wait, it’s Tuesday,” he said, striking another key on the machine. “I forgot the Senior Citizen discount. You’re over 65, right?”

I love a bargain, but at what cost? I’m a full decade away.

“One day I hope to be,” I answered.

“It’s a sensitive question,” he replied. Then he charged me full price.

In addition to looking “years beyond my wise,” here are two of the most memorable reviews I’ve received in my life.

“You’re a lovely girl, but you’re slow, and you seem to invite trouble wherever you go.”

—The manager at the Dublin pizza joint, as she was firing me.

“She has a placid, almost sleepy, demeanor.”

—People Magazine

(The reporter was such a dick.)

I’m just sharing, but maybe the takeaway is that it doesn’t serve you to let others define who you are.

Single Panel Cartooning Secrets Revealed!

I don’t buy it when pros say “Humor can’t be taught,” or “Only be a comedian/artist/actor if you absolutely can’t imagine doing anything else.” Every June, I teach a dozen brave souls how to pull on their cartooning pants and get to work. The class is five days in beautiful Vermont at The Center For Cartoon Studies. The focus is process over product. We make a ton of work and laugh a lot. There are a few spots left. Come join me!

What Sand Tastes Like

This December I was at a holiday party, and saw an old friend I hadn’t seen in years.

“H.P.,” she said in her Boston accent. “I remember twenty years ago asking you what would happen to the newspaper comics now that the internet was here.”

“What did I say?”

“That as long as people couldn’t bring their laptops to the toilet, newspapers were safe.”

That was 2005. In 2007, the iPhone arrived. Bathroom habits changed.

As the act of consuming news has morphed from flipping the page to scrolling down, comics no longer serve as the sweet treat at the end of the news-reading experience. (Damn you, funny cat videos!)

I remember one cartoonist shrugging his shoulders and saying, “I guess I’ll just ride the wave until it ends.”

We’re now at that part of the wave where it has hit shore. For newspaper cartoonists, the only modestly viable model that’s emerged is through individual online subscriptions. So here’s the pitch: if you want to support Rhymes With Orange, and don’t get a newspaper, let Rina and I deliver a fresh cartoon to your inbox every morning. It’s $2.99 a month. Subscribe here. Thanks!

Sweating With Fun Home Cartoonist Alison Bechdel

Southern Methodist University had the smarts to invite Alison Bechdel to their hallowed halls this past January. Many folks know Alison’s graphic novel Fun Home, which was adapted to Broadway. I’ve been a fan since the early 90s, and joined her in Dallas to grill her in front of strangers. (I’m told introverts like Alison love that kind of thing.)

Of course, I packed my pickleball paddles. As a bunch of us laughed, chased balls and pulled muscles in the Quad, one student remarked, “So this is what people used to do before phones.”

I’m excited to share that Alison’s new comic novel Spent comes out this May!

In Case You Wondered What Cartoon Gift Prints Look Like

They come rolled up in tissue paper in a sturdy cylinder. The paper is nice and the color is vibrant. If you want a print, I’ll help you find the date!

The New Auxiliary Dwelling Unit

Which Substacks Do You Read?

Drop a note in the comments about which Substacks you like and why. I like Jason Chatfield’s weekly New York Cartoons. Talk about artistic hustle! Jason’s new book comes out in three weeks. Max and I can’t wait to read it while we snack on freeze dried liver.

Here’s Max, waiting for his liver.

(Photo by Coley Cary @berkshires.on.film)

Thanks for reading! Happy Early Spring!

xo Hilary