Andrea's Buzzing About:

Robot is about to experience a major change in their life!

DESCRIPTION: Two-panel comic strip. First panel:  Dung beetles Egwunn and Fecundity are waving to their eight adult offspring who are flying away to start their own lives. Egwunn, “Goodbye children”. Fecundity, “Goodbye!”  Second panel: Egwunn starts to fly off, telling Fecundity, “I’m off to see how my friend Robot is doing.” She tells him, “Be care over there, Egwunn!” and thinks to herself, ‘It’s a scary place!”

Apparently Robot’s accent is similar to its Maker.

DESCRIPTION: Colour comic strip in two panels.   PANEL ONE:  A small shack with a rusting tin roof is set amongst green grass and a distant tree line in the Australian outback; the sky is dark and stormy, and rain has begun to fall. The shack has been updated with solar panels and broadband receiver mounted on the roof.  The Maker is a native woman dressed in jeans, black tee, leather gloves, and hat. She’s wheeling her bright red wheelchair along the paving back to her front door. Cradling Robot in her right hand, she says, “Why there you are!” PANEL TWO: Inside her door, we see a dresser with a cat sleeping atop it, bed, and posters on the wall. All three have robots on them, “Metropolis”,

As Egwunn and Fecundity start their family, we catch up with Robot:

Dung Beetle and Robot  No. 063-066  “1 Is the Loneliest Digit”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 059-062 “Boy Meets Girl”

I’m not keen on pink and blue sex-typing, and all the binary sex role nonsense that goes with them. But, there’s a reason I used them today.

Male and female Onthophagus gazella dung beetles are nearly identical, except the males have longer gazelle-like “horns”.  (The females have bumps.)  I gave Fecundity more gold on her head, but let’s face it: a big bunch of beetles All. Look. The same.

So, Egwunn’s dialog balloons are blue, and Fecundity’s are pink. It’s easier to tell who’s talking.

Worse, the beetles are camouflaged to their environment.

Now there’s a 20-point monochrome outline, to prevent the beetles from blending in with the similar sandy soil speckles. There’s also a lighter outline around the legs on the dung ball.

I hope all this makes it easier for you to tell what’s going on!

Please leave your thoughts about the cartoon in the comments. Thank you, Andrea

Wow. Sorry about the long cartooning gap; when the nurse said it takes six weeks to get over the Australian flu, she wasn’t kidding. But back to our story …

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 058 “Fly Ball”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 058 “Cartoonist has the lurgy”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 053-057 “What A Dungless Day”

CARTOON: Dung Beetle and Robot No. 048-052 “He Went There”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 045-047 “Origami”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 041-044 “Large Larvae”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 034-040 “Beetle Battles”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 018-022  “Solar”

Dung Beetle and Robot “Christmas 2017”

Dung Beetle and Robot No. 005-008  “Dung Beetle’s Name”

Dedicated to all my trans friends who are becoming their real selves.