The Uncarved Blog

Cartoonist Dave Coverly has a clever knack for anthropomorphizing animals with ordinary human speech. Here’s an example with a dog that just cracks me up.

He uses a similar approach blending both worlds when humanizing a crash test dummy in this New Yorker cartoon.

Here are a few more of his funny cartoons I’ve enjoyed in the past: about an old wolf that any senior can relate to; what a young wolf tells another will happen if they play nice with humans; what your dog is up to wondering when you’ll be back home; the frustrations of a wannabe author; and contemplating the central question in the Directory at the Institute of Philosophy, which complements an earlier one about the Center for Reincarnation Studies. That cartoon was so good, I used it to highlight a post about Coming Back for Love in Five Romantic Films.

His work was named “Best in Newspaper Panels” by the National Cartoonists Society in 1995, 2003, 2014 and 2022. In 2009 the same organization gave him its highest honor, the prestigious Reuben Award, for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year”. (See his impressive bio.)

Follow Dave Coverly, aka, speedbumpcomic, on Twitter and Instagram. Visit his website, www.speedbump.com. Amazon lists his 11 book titles.

I later sent Dave a tweet asking him which book the dog cartoon appears in and which one he’d recommend with this kind of human transference to animals sense of humor since I wanted to buy one. I’m adding this information in case you’re also interested in ordering one of his books for yourself or as a gift for someone.

He replied: “This one is in Dogs Are People, Too – my local bookstore is set up so I can personalize copies if you’re interested (they do that for all my books). Just let me know in the comments box how you’d like it inscribed!”

Update: I’m glad I ordered it, but that cartoon was not in the book. Dave later apologized recalling that it must’ve missed the deadline to make it into the book and offered to send me a print of it. He also sent me a digital copy of it along with copies of some of the dog cartoons I liked from the book for posting.

I asked him if it was in Speed Bump: A 25th Anniversary Collection. It was not. The Foreword was written by fellow cartoonist and friend Nick Galifianakis at his mother’s hospital bedside. You can read it on Amazon, along with cartoon samples from the book. The Foreword is so well written, the cartoons so funny, I ordered a copy from Schuler Books, where Dave will personalize it with an inscription.

Also see: Funny cartoons make us laugh ‘cuz they’re true. They include links to many others. I later added: Gary Larson’s cartoons are funny because they make us see the unexpected humor in things. Then followed up with Cartoonists show us the pressure some people put on their pets and how they try to deal with it. Just added this new one: A clever twist on a classic fairytale by Kate Curtis. And this latest one, which contains three of the ones Dave sent me: Dave Coverly makes dogs appear smarter than humans in these cartoons @speedbumpcomic. Added these Dave had sent me: Cartoonist Dave Coverly shows dogs begging for food from two perspectives—humans and dogs. Followed by these: More funny Dave Coverly Speed Bump cartoons on how tied up we are with our digital devices.

— Written and compiled by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.