Shen Comix is known for its funny, absurd, and painfully relatable takes on everyday life. Created by Massachusetts-based artist Shen, the comic began during his college years, when he started sharing strips online and came up with the name during a late-night moment of inspiration – partly because it was simple and affordable.
Scroll down to dive into Shen Comix’s hilarious and absurd world – each comic perfectly captures the ups, downs, and awkward moments of everyday life. From laugh-out-loud observations to relatable little truths, these 39 comics have been loved by readers for their humor, honesty, and unmistakable style. Keep scrolling – you won’t want to miss a single moment!
Sometimes we all need to escape reality, whether you’re sitting in the office trying to pass the time, or you come home after a long day doing adult duties, or you’re simply tired of everyday struggles and keeping everything together. And what’s a better way to escape reality for a minute than to read a few funny comics? Today, we present to you these dark humor-filled comics by a webcomic artist best known as toothy.bj on his Instagram account. Scroll down for Bored Panda’s interview with the artist behind these comics!
“Dark with good intentions. Although it is not rare to find some wholesome or introspective comics, you have to keep people guessing,” ToothyBj describes his comics. These well-drawn comics depict modern life struggles such as paying bills, doing homework, dealing with negative comments on social media, caring too much only about looks, or even seeing pineapples on pizza (we all know the never-ending discussion about that). All of these struggles are interpreted in a darkly humorous manner, making us see them from a different perspective and ask ourselves whether, maybe, they’re not that bad?
Even though ToothyBj had some thoughts about creating comics in 2017, his artistic career started only in 2018 following a breakup. He says that his comics have changed over time and become more complex, which got a positive reaction from his 81.7k followers on his Instagram account. “The style might be rough, but it takes a good two hours if everything goes OK. It’s a struggle to find time. Drawing is drawing. Sketching might be quick, but inking demands attention, then coloring, then (the worst) adapting it to different formats. At the beginning, everything was loose and quick, but it got more complex with time and people really responded to that. It amazes me to this day how much people liked this style and that gave me the courage to show my drawing account, which has more illustrative pursuits.”
When asked how the artist comes up with ideas for his new comics, he says: “Whenever I see a funny recurrent daily situation, I think ‘uhmm, that would make a relatable comic,’ so I discard it because relatable humor is done to death and does not really carry a joke (in my opinion). I like absurdism, it’s amazing and comes out of nowhere. There’s no recipe for it, but maybe I can offer a piece of advice: always take notes, you won’t remember it later. I’m genuinely concerned that my memory is this bad. If I don’t write something down, it’s gone.”
“I’ve said this in the past, but I will repeat myself: English is a weird language. Someone draws or paints and people call him an artist instead of calling him a painter or a ‘drawer’ (is that even a thing?). An artist is a person who makes art. I’m not an artist, I’m a cartoonist at best. I think that the word gets thrown around so much it loses its value. That being said, my philosophy would be to make people laugh as often as possible, nothing deep,” he explains his philosophy as an artist.
“The community—I don’t wanna get all cheesy and stuff, but they are amazing. It has reached the point that it’s actually like telling jokes among friends. And remaining anonymous makes it all the better. Finding people from your home city in the comments (I found a lost friend commenting how much a comic had affected her)—you can’t buy that stuff. Love those guys.” So if you’re not afraid of dark humor and some dark twists, these comics will surely help you to pass some time and escape reality for a minute!
If you’ve ever had a dog, you know how funny and unpredictable they can be. Rupert Fawcett’s “Off The Leash” comic series brings those moments to life with humor and heart. His cartoons capture everything from the confusion of dog logic to the pure joy of having a furry friend around.
Whether it’s a dog’s obsession with a squeaky toy or their random bursts of energy, Rupert’s comics are easy to relate to for any dog owner. With his lighthearted and clever style, he shows us the lovable chaos that comes with having a dog in the family.
Bored Panda reached out to Rupert to gain insight into his creative process and learn more about him. While his cartoons often depict quirky, cute, and humorous dog behaviors, we were curious about his perspective on what makes the bond between a dog and its owner so unique. “Dogs give their owners unconditional love and devotion and communicate with their eyes and body language, which connects with people at a deep level,” the artist shared.
Some of the situations in Rupert’s comics might make you realize that your dog’s quirky habits are actually quite universal! With that in mind, we asked the artist if he ever considers that certain behaviors or quirks might not be as common across all dogs when creating his comics. “Some dogs have individual behaviors but I don’t depict them as most people wouldn’t connect. I like to draw behaviors that are universally recognized.”
Rupert’s comics often focus on the lighter side of dog ownership, but are there any moments or behaviors that he thinks are important to address, even if they’re not as humorous? “I draw cartoons to give people a moment of happiness and laughter in their day so I don’t do anything dark,” the artist responded.
While the “Off the Leash” comics have wide appeal for dog lovers, we asked the artist if he believes his humor also resonates with people who don’t have pets. “My cartoons are aimed at dog owners for the recognition factor; if you don’t love or own a dog you might not have that recognition.”
Sometimes it is necessary to take a break from the rush of the day and relax by taking a break with “light” and calming content. To help you with this task, we bring you the fun, relaxing, and inquisitive comics by Daniel Murrell from Southern California.
This webcomic series named “Danby Draws Comics” was started in August 2020 and is currently updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. According to the artist, it is a “gag-a-day” comic book that focuses mainly on life, family, games, and geek culture. The goal of Danby Draws Comics is to deliver lighthearted comics that make people happy.
Bored Panda reached out to Daniel to find out a little bit more.
“I just loved reading comics since I was a kid. And I have been drawing on and off for a long time. I used to post comics and only share with friends, but during the pandemic, I started sharing on social media. With some feedback and practice, they slowly got better. My main inspiration would be comic artists Bill Watterson and Kris Straub. The goal of the comic is to make beautiful comics that make people happy.”
We asked Daniel a few more additional questions. First, we asked the artist if he had any major influences in his life that might’ve helped her to develop and refine his style.
“Like so many others, I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes comics by Bill Watterson, and that had a great impact on the kind of comics I like to create. I still use the dark, inky outlines because I loved the way it looked in his work. I wish I could fully emulate the watercolors, but that’s hard to do digitally. Other major influences would be Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade and Kris Straub of Broodhollow. I’m a big fan of their works.”
Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked Daniel how long it takes him to fully finish his comics.
“It can take some time just deciding what comic to make next, because I have maybe too many ideas, and they’re definitely not all good. I usually sketch it out, and show my wife for her approval. Then it might take me three to ten hours to finish the comic. I usually try to keep them simple, but they can get pretty intense art-wise.”
Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask Danby about his ideas for the comics.
“Generally, I just wait until I find a humorous situation, or observation, and then I try and build on top of that. For example in my comic with the people needing a unicorn’s healing tears, I just ask, what if the unicorn had trouble crying? What would happen then? You take this to its eventual conclusion and try to stick the landing. I usually like it when comics go in a direction you’re not expecting.”
As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how he dealt with that as well.
“Yeah, sometimes it’s hard when you spend a lot of time on a comic, and it doesn’t turn out well. It’s frustrating, and it’s easy to take it personally. Creating art is also challenging because you’re constantly pushed to put out more and more by your own desire to meet expectations. Sometimes I do have to take a step back and just spend some time on myself. I’ve only been doing this consistently for about a year, so I haven’t experienced anything like what some other creators have dealt with.”
We also asked Daniel about how people reacted to his work.
“Positively I hope! I’ve gotten a fair share of nice comments from people on the internet. I really appreciate those. Sometimes I get rude comments, but the healthiest thing is to just ignore them. I’ve also seen a handful of memes and amusing alterations of my art. You never know what’s gonna happen when you put out stuff like that.”
The creative process is not easy, but there are many enjoyable parts to it.
“Definitely the art. I wanted my comic to feature humans in a more realistic depiction, even though it’s a challenge to draw. I love it when you can get the picture in your head onto the screen. I would say that’s where I’m the happiest. And sometimes the backgrounds end up too fancy because I just enjoy painting them. With digital art, you have a lot of wiggle room to make that effort to get the work where you want it to be. At the same time, keeping a schedule has given me a healthy amount of acceptance when things aren’t entirely perfect. You have to let it go and move onto the next comic.”
We also asked about the inspiration behind the artist’s Instagram account.
“Actually, at first I didn’t like Instagram, because you couldn’t really browse without an account. But then I saw that it really is a great place for artists to showcase their work. Twitter’s image restrictions are kind of hard to work around, but Instagram basically acts like a little gallery. Since joining, I’ve also enjoyed communicating with other comic artists, that’s been a big plus.”
Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of patience, time, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented comic artist started his own career in digital art.
“It all started with my first Wacom over ten years ago. Now I just do everything on a humble little Surface Tablet. In the past, I’ve tried my hand at other traditional forms of art such as painting, but I keep on coming back to comics. I have a lot of respect for other artists who can pull so much out of a single image.”
Artists tend to get motivated by a lot of things such as curiosity, the search for beauty, or even meaning. Therefore, lastly, we asked Danby about that too.
“I would say that I mostly enjoy telling stories. Even when you have limited space, you still have the opportunity to be poetic in your own way. You can still capture a feeling that resonates with people. Though it’s not present in every comic, I often try to have it feel like my characters occupy a world that is larger than just the four panels you see.”
Nick Filippou’s simple but accurate comics are about his life with his cat Minnie and their day-to-day interactions. Those who own a cat already know what pleasure felines bring to their lives. But there’s no harm in reminding everyone. And for those of you who don’t know, now you may know.
The comics are called “I iz cat,” spelled in the vein of “cat-speak” similar to “I can haz cheesburger,” a meme that was viral in what would seem like ancient times of the internet. Though the comics have a very rudimental drawing style, they’re not about showing off the skills of the artist, but about showing how great his life with his cat is.
From classics like a cat in a box, and their undying hunting instincts, to Minnie’s psychedelic escapades on catnip, and other things, the comic covers just about everything in the spectrum of feline life with its beloved owners. But what’s more, they add a dash of humor and cuteness that every cat owner (and not only them) may relate to.
Nick explained the reasons and context behind his comics in an interview for Bored Panda. “So, the comics star my real-life rescue cat, Minnie. I adopted Minnie 5 years ago from a shelter in Baltimore. She was a former stray and part of a TNR program (trap neuter release) that spent most of her life living outside. The clipped ear in the comics is real, and is from her being a part of the TNR program. My first comic came from a Christmas poem I wrote about the cat’s perspective of ‘‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ and have been drawing them ever since. Minnie is always the inspiration.”
Of course, the artist is an avid lover of cats. “My favorite thing about cats is how zen they are but also, at the same time, they’re little agents of chaos. Cats both relax me and make me laugh.”
And Minnie isn’t the first cat to rule his household. “I adopted my first cat in college (also a rescue from Baltimore) and snuck him home. I named him Binx. Of course, I got caught sneaking a cat into the house, and my dad, who was very anti-cat, wasn’t a fan. He warned me if that cat scratched any furniture, or things like that, that he would take him back to the shelter. Then, a few days later, I come home from class and see my dad snuggling with my cat in my bed. They’ve been best friends ever since. Even when I moved out a few years later, my dad told me I couldn’t take Binx with me because he loved him too much and that this was his home. It was pretty adorable. I let Binx stay with my parents and moved into an apartment.”
He loves cats so much that he even volunteers at a local rescue organization, and that’s where he found the lovely Minnie. “I then started volunteering at a local rescue in Baltimore, and that’s where I met Minnie. Minnie was a very adventurous girl who still was living outside. The shelter owner would call out ‘Minnie!’ and I’d see this adorable cat hop over the fence, returning from the woods meowing up a storm. I fell in love. I remember the shelter owner saying, ‘Minnie would give anything to be in a loving home.’ So when I had things situated at my apartment, I knew I had to adopt her. I also adopted another cat, a tortie named Sylvia who only had 3 legs. The two lived in my apartment for a few years, until Sylvia unfortunately passed away. Sylvia was a sassy girl who I still very much missed. I was glad I was able to give her a home even if it wasn’t for that long.”
He told a little about his personal life, and his wife’s experience with Minnie. “When I started dating my soon-to-be wife, I remember her telling me she wasn’t really a cat person. She much preferred dogs. That was until she met Minnie. Minnie is the sweetest cat I’ve ever met, and is quite similar to a dog. She follows you EVERYWHERE, is very vocal, and loves to snuggle on your lap, your chest, even your head. She’s very loving. My wife was impressed. When we moved into our house, Minnie loved it. She had so much more room to explore and play.” Nick also tells about how his lockdown went. “Lockdown has been tough for sure. Luckily, both my wife and I have been able to work from home and keep our jobs. We feel lucky. It also has allowed us to reevaluate what’s important. We had to have a small backyard wedding in June 2020 and it turned out to be a really intimate and beautiful ceremony. Of course, we took wedding photos with Minnie and Dany on our special day as well!”
Nick and his wife have a dog too, as you can tell from some of the comics. “We eventually adopted a dog, a boxer rescue also from Baltimore, who we named Dany. Dany is a very sweet girl, and MY first dog ever. I was very worried about how Dany and Minnie would get along. We read plenty of articles and watched videos on how to introduce cats and dogs and followed all the steps. We found out Dany is also a sweetheart and the two have become great friends who enjoy snuggling on the couch together. Minnie is still the queen, and Dany is her subject.”
