Hark, A Vagrant!

March 13, 2009 8:40 AM

Kate Beaton, Historical Cartoonist
posted by flatluigi (70 comments total)

She hasn't been here yet! Arggh! I tried to rssubscribe (is that a word yet? now it is) to her new site last night and it was completely messed up. Hopefully that'll be fixed soon.
posted by DU at 8:45 AM on March 13

Also, mentioned in this week's Macleans. They should give Feschuk or Amiel the boot and have Beaton do a page, might make that magazine worth paying for.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:46 AM on March 13

[Kate Beaton is good]
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:46 AM on March 13

Ye Olde Poste
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:47 AM on March 13 [2 favorites has favorites]

She was posted early last year, but she just created this new site and there are many, many comics (including some early MS Paints) that weren't on her last site or on her LiveJournal.
posted by flatluigi at 8:48 AM on March 13

I don't want to put pressure on her, but I just realized I put her in the same category as Quentin Blake (about whom we've had a post recently). Her drawings are technically pretty...sketchy, let's say. But she somehow manages to capture expressions and posture perfectly.
posted by DU at 8:49 AM on March 13

Thanks for the link, EMRJKC'94.
posted by flatluigi at 8:49 AM on March 13

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss, finally all my favorite MS Paint IN ONE PLACE!
posted by isnotchicago at 8:50 AM on March 13

YAYYYYYYYYYYY
posted by Greg Nog at 8:52 AM on March 13

Hmmm, DU, I always got a Jules Feiffer vibe from her, but Quentin Blake is apt too.

I love Kate Beaton and I love the fat pony. I aspire to be either of them some day.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:52 AM on March 13 [2 favorites has favorites]

I know I've linked her in at least one history or comics related discussion. Still, a new post is good by me.
posted by emjaybee at 8:54 AM on March 13

Also, I like to call her "Cake Beatin'."
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:56 AM on March 13 [1 favorite has favorites]

The comics where she talks to her younger self are my favorites, I think.

MAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING
posted by Greg Nog at 8:57 AM on March 13 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm in love with this person.
posted by Pecinpah at 8:59 AM on March 13 [2 favorites has favorites]

Oh yeah, Baby Beaton is the best. Also, I would really like to have an Excited Victorian t-shirt.
posted by DU at 8:59 AM on March 13

More Kate Beaton is always good.
posted by tommasz at 9:02 AM on March 13

If all internet comics were somehow outlawed except Kate Beaton and Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics (and, if it were still active, Perry Bible Fellowship), I really would be OK.
posted by ORthey at 9:07 AM on March 13 [2 favorites has favorites]

Sometimes I check her site in the morning, and even when there's no new comics I end up being late for work, because I read through the archives backwards to the very beginning. EVERY TIME.
posted by The Man from Lardfork at 9:10 AM on March 13

ORthey: KC Green.
posted by flatluigi at 9:11 AM on March 13

Kate Beaton is my one true love. She is the smartest, funniest, and cutest lady in webcomics.
posted by Caduceus at 9:20 AM on March 13

Kate Beaton is just plain awesome is what she is.
posted by Spatch at 9:21 AM on March 13

The napolean+cookie comix are better than war and peace if you ask me.

Also, I have this.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:27 AM on March 13

Oh, this is fantastic. How did I missing this last year?
posted by cimbrog at 9:41 AM on March 13

Kate Beaton is the best at facial expressions. That woman is to facial expressions as the German language is to words. Fat pony's face in Metroid Baby's link when he's looking up at the king, so sincere and fat-cheeked, singlehandedly makes my day.
posted by zoomorphic at 9:45 AM on March 13 [5 favorites has favorites]

With scarygoround going 4 days from 5 (I'm really sad about this) and the achewood guy seemingly giving up I am happy to discover new comics that are not about video game players or self-absorbed over-endowed 20-somethings. This is a good one, I like the style. Thank you!
posted by neustile at 9:46 AM on March 13

I *heart* Kate Beaton. I suppose it's the same reason I love Eddie Izzard - smart, often obscure humor that skews heavily toward the historical. FTW!
posted by sundarikali at 9:48 AM on March 13

Whenever a head of state is scheduled to visit the Canadian foreign ministry should hire Beaton to make fun of their country's history. The heads of state will be so charmed by the cartoons that it might make up for Harper's own lack of charisma.
posted by ardgedee at 9:53 AM on March 13

I don't know what to say other than I <3 Kate Beaton.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:53 AM on March 13

lol...those are brilliant! thanks.
posted by sentinel chicken at 9:58 AM on March 13

She is rad. She makes beautiful lines. Love her.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:06 AM on March 13

She steals all her punchlines from the History Channel forums btw.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:08 AM on March 13 [5 favorites has favorites]

There are History Channel forums?!

How long have they been discussing Hitler and Jesus?
posted by graventy at 10:11 AM on March 13

Topics in the History Channel Forum:

+ Hitler's niece: the contents of her sock drawer
+ Post pics of your kids dressed like Rommel! [pages 1, 2, 3, 4, ... 65]
+ Whats the best music to listen to while looking for the code in illuminated manuscripts? (dont say enigma!)
+ jesus was gay [deleted]
+ jesus was black [deleted]
+ where would jesus recommend eating in Manchester on a budget?
+ Do you know who else liked flowers? I can only think of one person.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:36 AM on March 13 [5 favorites has favorites]

+ TANKS!!!! [sticky thread]
posted by DU at 10:47 AM on March 13 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is great!
posted by brundlefly at 10:51 AM on March 13

You are going to ruin everything! is still my favorite of her comics.
posted by FunkyHelix at 10:59 AM on March 13 [1 favorite has favorites]

Kate Beaton is the fucking best.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:08 AM on March 13

i have had a gigantic crush on this woman for quite a while now. i'm glad her new site is all up and groovy.
posted by es_de_bah at 11:09 AM on March 13

Kate Beaton is the best.
posted by minifigs at 11:09 AM on March 13

So, here I am, the only one who doesn't think this is funny. Sitting here in my dark, lonely corner. Hmmm. I wonder why this is. Perhaps I have a genetic flaw.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:23 AM on March 13

I take it back. I went and read the first comic and now, I have found the funny.

DuChamp's Breakfast.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:24 AM on March 13

If Sarah Vowell and Jeffrey Brown were ever to collaborate, Kate Beaton could sue their asses.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:43 AM on March 13

You Saucy Nuisance!
posted by clockworkjoe at 11:46 AM on March 13

(For any non-Canadians, this is a reference to this. Claiming as our own anything that's only peripherally related to our country is A Part of Our Heritage.)
posted by Sys Rq at 11:49 AM on March 13

I posted this last time, and I don't mind seeing this update, especially since a number of the old links have gone stale. And of course Kate's comics deserve the attention!
posted by Songdog at 11:49 AM on March 13

Should I assume this is hilarious to Canadians?
posted by flatluigi at 12:10 PM on March 13

Absolutely fantastic. Glad to see she's getting recognition nowadays.
posted by Mali at 1:08 PM on March 13

Should I assume this is hilarious to Canadians?

Pretty much. I can see how it might not work so well if you didn't know that a) Peter Mansbridge can come off as a pompous ass, b) David Suzuki has posed nude (more than once) to promote The Nature of Things, and c) Rex Murphy is so over the top that it is pretty hard not to find him hilarious.
posted by ssg at 1:31 PM on March 13

I like Kate Beaton, but why do all the links from the old thread now go to that damn Nelson/Hardy cartoon, and how can I find the Ondaatje one I liked so much a year ago?
posted by languagehat at 2:17 PM on March 13

I HATE MUSICIANS SO MUCH

Laughed my ass off. Thanks for stuff.
posted by ZakDaddy at 2:28 PM on March 13

Ergh. Thanks for *this* stuff.
posted by ZakDaddy at 2:45 PM on March 13

languagehat, I can't find the Ondaatje on the new site, but it's available on her Livejournal account.</a.
posted by rewil at 3:14 PM on March 13

No one linked to "Tesla, The Celibate Scientist" yet?

It looks like someone has thrown a pair of bloomers into the machine!

Or another favorite of mine:

OK, so, try to find a place here that I haven't put my penis in. It's not easy.

Also, Nthing the praise on the awesome facial expressions. Just look at Richard III in the second panel and tell me that's not awesome. He is excited for party times.

I only discovered Kate Beaton earlier this year, and hers has quickly become one of my favorite comics. I'm glad she finally has a proper website instead of just the LiveJournal.
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:49 PM on March 13

languagehat: I like Kate Beaton, but why do all the links from the old thread now go to that damn Nelson/Hardy cartoon, and how can I find the Ondaatje one I liked so much a year ago?

If it's the one rewil posted above, she didn't put many of her journal comics on the new site because people were being really creepy.

Sometimes it has been too much. Most of her fans are complimentary, but some of them are “jerks,” she says. “Some people are really out of line,” she explains. “You get comments like ‘Your comics are good, but I want to sleep with you.’ ” Eager to protect her privacy, Beaton has stopped drawing the journal comics that revealed details about her personal life.

posted by flatluigi at 4:14 PM on March 13

One my personal favorites... And quite educational as well.
posted by davros42 at 4:25 PM on March 13

I want to be yet another person to say, "Wow, no one has linked to Kate Beaton yet? I <3 Kate Beaton."

So:

Wow, no one has linked to Kate Beaton yet? I <3 Kate Beaton.

I really like her commentary about her job at the Alberta tar sands too. Kate gives nice insights into what it's like on the front lines. I've often wondered what the culture is like among all the Cape Bretoners and Maritimers there.

(I can't find it now, but Kate's got a cartoon somewhere about two people speaking almost exclusively in Cape Breton slang that makes me laugh whenever I see it.)
posted by painquale at 4:25 PM on March 13

painquale, are you thinking of L'Anse aux Meadows?

languagehat, her cartoons as previously posted were variously spread across her LiveLournal and her katebeaton.com site. The new site organizes and centralizes things and offers easier-to-use archives. Some of the old links were no longer working anyway, and since the new site launched many seem to have been bulk-redirected to its home page. I with the old links were equipped with more specific redirects but that might not be practical to set up.

I'm really sorry to hear people were being creepy, though she'd hinted at it in various cartoons. I liked the journal comics as well as the history ones.
posted by Songdog at 6:23 PM on March 13

Also, Nthing the praise on the awesome facial expressions. Just look at Richard III in the second panel and tell me that's not awesome. He is excited for party times.

Or the fourth panel in this one.
posted by rifflesby at 7:28 PM on March 13

(or fifth, I guess)
posted by rifflesby at 7:28 PM on March 13

I'm really sorry to hear people were being creepy, though she'd hinted at it in various cartoons.

Yeah, I hate being like, oh. The internet is so terrible it has effectively ruined this person's trust in humankind.
posted by 235w103 at 8:20 PM on March 13

Or the fourth panel in this one.

Or the seventh in this one ("sometimes I pretend to be Neptune!"). Who knew Jean-Paul Marat could be so adorable?
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:58 PM on March 13

Yeah, I hate being like, oh. The internet is so terrible it has effectively ruined this person's trust in humankind.

I don't think it's the Internet as a whole so much as she was hosting the comic on LiveJournal. For every one socially adjusted adult who still uses LiveJournal, there's fifty pedophiles, American hikikomori, fursuit lifestylers, and people who are militantly serious about their belief in having the soul of an anime character. It's largely become a niche community for people who can most charitably be called "poorly socialized". I'm surprised "ur comic is funny i see ur a girl wanna fuck?" was the worst she got. I would have expected more like "I enjoy your comic. I want to tear your flesh, to wear your flesh, to be born into new worlds where your flesh becomes my key."
posted by DecemberBoy at 9:12 PM on March 13

Actually she was getting the same sort of comics over on SA. Even this post has some sketchy comments.
posted by flatluigi at 9:24 PM on March 13 [1 favorite has favorites]

first 'comics' should be 'comments'
posted by flatluigi at 9:24 PM on March 13

Joining the glorious orgy of Beatonlove. My favourite is the one with the guy with the lute.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:42 AM on March 14

Nobody seems to have posted her fantastic Darwin comic
http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenum=20&storynum=4

Kate Beaton in colour! (plus awesome, awesome expressions).
posted by steerpike at 11:15 AM on March 14 [1 favorite has favorites]

Just adding on to say that her comics are indeed awesome.
posted by MsMolly at 6:45 PM on March 14

painquale, are you thinking of L'Anse aux Meadows?

No, I found it, it's this one.
posted by painquale at 10:03 PM on March 14

Belatedly: Thanks, rewil!
posted by languagehat at 9:15 AM on March 15

Oh man, she's putting together a book! I will buy the crap out of that!
posted by Greg Nog at 1:24 PM on March 17