(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Search [1] ['Barry Deutsch', 'David Michigan', 'A Pagan In Arizona', 'News Corpse', 'Sabrina Haake', 'Belinda Ridgewood'] Date: 2026-05-21 This strip is drawn by the awesome Mike Lawrence, who really went wild with the chicken fat! I don’t have a cartoon syndicate and I’m not in newspapers. But I get to do this for a living because lots of readers support my Patreon with mostly small pledges! I also have prints and books for sale. TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON This cartoon has four panels. Each panel shows two women hanging out in a living room, on a sofa. The first wears a bright yellow t-shirt, so I’ll call her YELLOW; the second is in white t-shirt with blue jeans, so I’ll call her JEANS. PANEL 1 Yellow is reading something on her phone, while Jeans turns and begins rooting through her backpack. YELLOW: This article says that ICE agents are really unhappy… The job is stressful and they’re not getting the bonuses and bennies they were promised. JEANS: Hold on. PANEL 2 Jeans has pulled a huge electric microscope out of her backpack. YELLOW: Er… What’s that? JEANS: It’s my portable microscope. It has 300 times magnification but with digital zoom it’s more like 1000 times. PANEL 3 Jeans enthusiastically describes her microscope. JEANS: It has a built in stabilizer and eight levels of LCD lighting! With this, I can see even the smallest objects. PANEL 4 Yellow is puzzled. A snarl on her face, Jeans turns to the microscope’s screen. YELLOW: Okay, but why? JEANS: I’m looking for a violin tiny enough. CHICKEN FAT “Chicken fat” is long-dead terminology for odd little details cartoonists slip in art. PANEL 1: The lamp is a “leg lamp,” like in A Christmas Story, except that it’s a hairy leg in a sneaker and gym sock. There’s a cat napping on the sofa. There’s a framed picture of Dr. Teeth (from The Muppets) on the wall. There’s a little doll with a green face hanging by the neck from the lamp pull. Jeans has a tattoo that says “tattoo.” The magazines on the coffee table are “US” and “THEM”; the person on the cover of “THEM” is pointing a finger at “US.” The side table drawer is open, and in the drawer a couple of mice are sitting on a tiny sofa and watching a TV with mice news hosts on it. PANEL 2: The cat is reading a book entitled 43 Places To Hide a Hairball. The backpack’s brand name is “Manspürt.” Jeans has a tattoo that says “Advertise Here.” PANEL 3: There’s a framed picture of “Bleeding Gums” Murphy (from The Simpsons) on the wall. The cat is playing with a paddle ball, but instead of a ball there’s a panicked mouse. A magazine on the coffee table is “THINGS,” with a coffee mug and a rubik’s cube on the cover. Jeans’ tattoo now says “Eat At Joe’s!” Jeans is wearing one of those t-shirts with a list of people in Helvetica font, which says “Hel & Vet & Ica.” PANEL 4: The cat is looking over their shoulders at the screen. The apple logo on the back of the microscope has now turned into an apple core logo. TATTOO PROGRESSIONS: The leg lamp has a tattoo that says “Debbie.” In panel two, “Debbie” is crossed out, with “Donna” written beneath it. In panel three, “Donna” has also been crossed out, replaced with “Donny.” Jeans has a tattoo of a baseball bat in panel one, which is a bat (the mammal) in panel two, and Batman in panel three. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/21/800042675/community/the-search/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/