T-Shirt Guy

Lizard punk concert

After illustrating and readapting classic literature and science fiction stories, we wanted to attempt a more objectively satirical cartoon. I decided to flip through some of my journal sketches and I came across doodles of people and places I have encountered. One that I came across stood out to me, as I recalled a night I met a guy wearing a shirt that he created himself. The shirt read:

Romeo and Juliet

Syd and Nancy

Kurt and Courtney

You and Me

I didn’t even have to ask this guy to take a picture of him and his frankly ingenious shirt. He wore it proudly, as concert goers of a punk show glared and danced around him. I found him to be quite a character. Initially the message of his shirt didn’t completely sit right with me, but as I relived the experience through my sketch of him, I had a greater appreciation for his statement piece. To better encapsulate the atmosphere of the concert, I added in some eccentric and otherworldly characters. What completed the visualization of the scene for me was adding in not only the punk kids of the Bay Area, but also the lore of the characters that roam the main streets. Locals, nomads, and enrolled students of universities talk of the hippie times of Haight-Ashbury and Telegraph Avenue, as well as the stories of hallucinations from their “experimental explorations” and conspiracies adopted from the imaginations of hyper-spiritual personalities. A frequently discussed imagined theory says that the lizard people who roam the core of the Earth somehow harness light power from our gravitational pull and secretly control the societies of the world. If these lizard people have infiltrated our planet, then they surely can be found at a punk show!

The lizards’ attitudes towards the guy with the t-shirt highlights the irony in having judgement towards others in such an environment. Just as I laughed at a guy of daring fashion at a punk show while I myself was also dressed for such a place, the lizards might just be as laughable as the guy they’re eyeing down. This cartoon reminds me of the appreciation we all must have for our surroundings. The humor and joy you seek can be found right in front of you if you set aside your expectations.

Lily King