Artithmeric 9 Issue #2

45 Why am I going on about this? Well, I suppose it’s a way of saying I really admire people who can put out daily cartoon strips week after week, month after month and year after year. Respect! I love to read daily cartoon strips still and there are some fabulous ones out there that these days are so easy to access on the internet if you just know where to look. Some are funny, some serious, some mind-bending (like Randall Munroe’s XKCD) and some even quite sad and depressing, but compelling too. For me though, there is one strip that constantly makes me laugh and that I keep going back to. It is called Amanda The Great. I have been reading the Amanda The Great strip nearly every day for a few years now. I first found it quite by accident and was almost immediately hooked. It is quirky and always amusing, but quite often hilarious. where she lives with her husband Dan, her two cats and her imaginary personal demon Angermemnon as well as Young Amanda, a child version of herself that while not actually living in her house clearly lives in her head. It is drawn by the eponymous Amanda El-Dweek, a denizen of North Dakota (the west side) All of these characters appear in the strip along with cameo appearances by Amanda’s (physically distant) parents and other equally distant family members and acquaintances. It seems odd in writing at first glance, but quite normal and rational once you’ve been reading the strip for a while. The strip has taken us on a long and winding journey through her courtship and marriage, her day job at the hospital and on to her current life as a full-time artist. It’s life-affirming and dead funny sometimes too. I’d recommend it to anybody, especially other cartoonists. You can get to read it every day on GoComics at https://www.gocomics.com/ amanda-the-great if you want, or you may want to follow her WordPress blog https://amandaeldweek.wordpress.com I’m sure that once you’ve started reading her never-ending daily stories you’ll become a fan just like I am. And like me, I’m pretty sure you’ll find yourself looking forward to the day when Ms El-Dweek gets things together and perhaps publishes a few volumes of her collected strips thus far.