Mayan. Might end. How often do you get to do an apocalyptic pun?
Supposedly, the Mayan Long Count Calendar predicts the world will end today, December 21, 2012. Experts have debunked the idea, and even present-day Mayans don’t believe it, but the media loves the hype, and so do cartoonists.
I had a vision of a “Mayan pencil” and a regular pencil playing tic-tac-toe. Here’s the final. Oops– I hope no one was planning to attend a New Year’s Eve party…
If you google “Mayan calendar,” you’ll find images like the ones below. Left: the Aztec Calendar Stone, also known as the Aztec Sun Stone. The Aztecs came after the Mayans and adopted their calendar. Right: folk art based on the Aztec Calendar Stone.
I based my own little Mayan characters on the above folk art. Here’s a detail image.
If it looks a bit ragged, it’s because it’s just a souped-up rough sketch. I’m working on a New Year’s card for a client, and the gag line will be, “The Mayans were wrong– Happy New Year!” This was one of my ideas. I just cleaned it up a little and added some color. Here’s the original sketch.
It seems doubtful the world will end today, which may be a letdown for some people. But look on the bright side: the dire predictions inspired a lot of humor. I’ll leave you with a couple of very funny gags by cartoonist Dan Piraro.
What do you think? Have you been putting off your Christmas shopping– you know, just in case? I’d never heard of the Mayan Calendar until recently– had you? Ever played tic-tac-toe for really high stakes?? Hope you’ll leave a comment.
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