The Secret Private Lives of Teachers
Cartoon by Barry
Another collaboration with Becky Hawkins, who really went all-out with drawing classroom environments!
When you support the Patreon, you not only get the warm feeling of supporting the making of more swellish policartoons, you also get the warm feeling of an extra arm growing out between your shoulderblades, and admittedly I can’t think of a single situation in which that would be pragmatically useful but what a conversation piece!
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels. Each panel shows a schoolroom, although not always the same schoolroom. There’s also a tiny “kicker” panel under the bottom of the strip.
PANEL 1
A schoolroom (I know, I know, I just said that). In the background, A freckled, red-headed little girl wearing a red shirt is peering into a fishtank. There are big windows, and outside the windows we can see the tops of green trees.
In the foreground, BILLY, a reddish-blonde-haired little boy, is smiling as he talks to the teacher, Billy’s wearing a black v-neck tee shirt and green shorts. The teacher, MRS ABEL, is also smiling, leaning down to talk to Billy.
All three of them have feathered early-80s hair.
BILLY: Do you remember me from last year, Miss Thompson?
MRS ABEL: Of course, Billy! But I got married this summer, so now you should call me Mrs. Abel.
PANEL 2
A different classroom and a different teacher – but we’re still looking at Billy and his freckled classmate. They’re both leaning on the teacher’s desk; Billy is pointing to a framed family photo on the teacher’s desk. Freckles is wearing a red vest over a collared shirt, and Billy is wearing a green shirt.
The teacher is smiling and gesturing with an open hand as he replies to Billy. In the background, there are large classroom windows, and out the windows we can see the trees are yellow and orange – it’s now Fall.
BILLY: Mr. Smith? Who are the people in this picture?
MR SMITH: They’re my family, Billy!
PANEL 3
We’re back in Mrs Abel’s classroom, looking at the same people as panel 1 – Billy, his freckled classmate, and Mrs Abel. But time has passed; the trees out the window are green again. Also, Mrs Abel is now very obviously pregnant, and has a hand on her belly as she talks to Billy. It looks like Freckles was playing with a toy school bus, but she’s paused to listen to Billy and Mrs Able.
The girl in the background is wearing a red shirt under jeans overalls, and Billy is wearing the same green shirt, but with different pants.
BILLY: But why won’t you be teaching us next month, Mrs Abel?
MRS ABEL: Because I’m having a baby, Billy!
PANEL 4
A caption box at the top of the panel says “BILLY, FORTY YEARS LATER.”
An adult Billy, with a tidy beard and mustache and his hair going white at the temples, is in a classroom, yelling at a teacher, waving his arms. Billy has green pants.
The teacher, who has short red hair, freckles, and is wearing a button-up red shirt, is leaning back against her desk, away from Billy. She looks unhappy and surprised. On her desk, there’s a photo of her with a woman, presumably her wife, and two children.
BILLY (yelling): When we were kids, we never knew anything about teachers’ private lives!
TINY ADDITIONAL PANEL UNDER THE BOTTOM OF THE STRIP
Adult Billy is talking to the panel 4 teacher, looking a bit histrionic.
TEACHER: But we always knew about–
BILLY: We didn’t! That would have destroyed our childhood innocence!
Posted in Becky Hawkins collaborations, Conservatives, History, LGBT cartoons |