an ongoing cartoon project by marleah stout & gary holme
A snappy little Look At life’s next chapter.
We have teamed up with restlessurban.com, a lifestyle media brand dedicated to adults over the age of 50, to create a series of cartoons that take a satirical look at that ‘coming-of-middle-age story’ we all eventually get to, if we are fortunate enough.
Each cartoon is based on the friction of the moment. We call our cartoon project, HOWL. When we laugh really hard at something one of us says to the other (usually daily), it sounds like we’re howling. It’s good for the soul.
The cartoons come from these natural conversations and repartees between us. I write, he draws, we tussle, then approve and publish. Art is often born through friction, tension, struggle and hard work. The collaborative process is messy sometimes. As long as there is trust and mutual respect, you'll get to where you want.
And it's not agony. It's a laugh.
For RestlessUrban, we’ll never run out of commentary about this phase of our life, because this is where we find ourselves. More than ever for us, it’s a balancing act of lifestyle changes, health issues, relationships, looking good, and all the antics that come with celebrating life’s next chapter. Laughter is essential on this wonderful journey. Hope you like the cartoons as much as we like writing and laughing them into existence.
~ M&G
Sometimes we’re inspired by people that we know, like below.
Sometimes we’re inspired by cultural moments & memes, like this one below, from January, 2021.
(above, no caption, we titled this one ‘weekend with bernie’)
Thank you to Parachute Canada for commissioning us for a series of six cartoons about fall prevention. The series won an award in 2024, a GOLD Medal in the Print Category, Fall Prevention Cartoon Series.