Science cartoon: DisconCERNted*

"Run! I've discovered the Higgs bison."

I make no apologies for the groan-worthy pun in this cartoon. Why should I? It's not my fault if cartoon editors pick puns over all the other eruditely witty and bitingly satirical cartoons that I submit ...

Actually the passage of this cartoon into the August (and indeed august**) Prospect magazine may have been smoothed by the fact that it features a piece about the Large Hadron Collider at Cern where they're trying to find this Higgs boson wotsit. I didn't know that when I sent the cartoon in, it was a happy coincidence.

I was quite pleased with the drawing, which I think is fun. Hopefully it makes up for the pun -- for which, two paragraphs later, I am still wholly unrepentant.

*That's a bonus groaner that features alongside the cartoon on the website.
**Sorry, I've just read Stephen Fry's autobiography.

Warning: May contain puns

Rationalist cartoon: A little bit of toast

"I know our brains see patterns where there are none, but you must admit that looks like Richard Dawkins."

Here's a cartoon from the new issue of Prospect magazine. Is there a point being made here? Probably not. It's just a silly joke. I am not a religious person and agree that images of deities on toast etc are nonsense. But if it looked like the face of someone you know, it would still be a bit weird, wouldn't it?

Royston's portfolio website

Science cartoon: The gravity of the situation

Newton discovers comedy

This, I suppose, is really a cartoon about cartoons. Animated Looney Tunes-style cartoons, that is.

It's odd that such a violent image as getting hit by an anvil, safe, piano etc, can be seen as the pinnacle of comedy. But, of course, we laugh because it's not us being hit by the anvil.

Royston's portfolio website