Valerie M. Jackson writes,

"Dear Phillip,

How are you? I really enjoy reading your cartoons. I like how the penguin seems to succeed by just going with the flow, without worrying about every little detail. It's sort of Zen-like. Anyway I was also curious about what you enjoy doing in your free time, when you're not drawing cartoons?"

I'm doing well, Valerie, thanks for asking. I have several hobbies and interests, but the thing I enjoy doing most when I'm not cartooning is what I like to call "Bomb-Time."

Contrary to what the name implies, I do not spend any time whatsoever designing, fabricating, purchasing, or detonating bombs. "Bomb-Time" is when I take random pictures I come across on the internet and creatively turn them into bombs. Here's an example.

Below you see an electron microscope image of the compound eye of the antarctic krill. Pretty cool stuff, huh?




By utilizing some highly advanced imaging techniques, I can transform this antarctic krill's eye into a bomb:



Next, we have the computed tomography of a soccer ball, better known as a football anywhere outside the United States:



And, post-image enhancement:



The funniest part is that the bomb is resting on some guy's cleats! It's like, Hey Mr. Football Player, that's not a ball, that's a bomb resting on your foot!

This technique also does not need to be limited to only altering pre-existing objects into bombs. Bombs can be created out of thin air to add more sense to an otherwise ambiguous picture.

Below is Edvard Munch's classic expressionist painting, The Scream.



Of course, one must pause and ask, just what is the person in the foreground screaming about? After Bomb-Time, this painting will make a lot more sense.



Why is the person screaming? Because there's a bomb falling on his or her head!

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