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We’re excited to present the newest cartoons by the one and only Nate Fakes! If you appreciate a good sense of humor and clever jokes, you’re in the right place. This single-panel series brilliantly combines both qualities. Nate’s Instagram account, where he posts his work daily, has gathered over 90k followers who love his style.

You may have seen our previous posts featuring his work, but if you haven’t, you can still catch up and enjoy his earlier comics.

Now, without further ado, scroll down and explore the newest collection of comics by the artist from California, and let us know in the comments which one made your day!

More info: Instagram | Facebook | nfakes.com | x.com

We reached out to Nate, who agreed to give us an interview and share more about his recent work. From our observation, single-panel comics rely heavily on visuals. For this reason, we wanted the cartoonist to explain how he decides when to let the art carry the joke versus when the text plays a key role. Fakes shared with us: “It really just happens naturally when writing. Sometimes, I’ll think of a funny visual and write a gag based on that, or I’ll write the comic and have to determine what art works best. I’m also thrilled when I can come up with some comic that has no text at all that works. It only happens sometimes, but I’m always a bit giddy when it does.”

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We were also curious if the single-panel format ever feels restrictive for the artist. Nate provided more insight into balancing the challenge of conveying a full story or punchline in his cartoons: “Having a gag comic doesn’t feel too restrictive most of the time. If it does, I take advantage of my Sunday comics -- which are much bigger. Sometimes, I’ll include multiple panels in those. The fun part about gag cartooning is the challenge of creating something that’s hopefully funny for the audience in such a short segment. Converting most of the story in such limited space isn’t always easy, but it keeps the gears turning in my head. That said, I enjoy longer-form content, too. Currently, I’m developing a comic strip with a friend of mine, along with another graphic novel.”

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This Comics Artist Makes People Laugh With Single-Panel Jokes (New Comics)

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TheForrestGreene (he/they/it)
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2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

imagine if this followed cartoon show physics and she hangs in the air for a few seconds and while death takes her picture, she looks down, notices where she is, and then falls.

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When asked about how his humor has evolved since he started making comics, Fakes responded: “Some of the funniest material I’ve ever done has been things that no one else except a very limited audience would find funny. For example, when I used to work at restaurants in my early 20s, I’d create comics about all of the crew members I worked with and what we had to deal with regularly. I’d include customers [who] were known, complaints we have to deal with, daily struggles, and things like that. If I took that anywhere mainstream, no one would get it. However, for about ten of us, it was hilarious. So, as I’ve grown older, I’m trying to expand on some of that in my mood but make it relatable to anyone. That’s coming together in some forms in the gag comics and my new strips in development. A lot of it is edgier, which I like.”

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The cartoonist continued: “In general, though, I think my syndicated panel, Break of Day, has been pretty consistent for over the decade-plus I’ve worked on it. The mood evolves and changes as new technology, or circumstances, comes around. In a nutshell, I try to create work that relates in some ways to what we humans have to contend with, even if it’s a gag that features an inanimate object that, in reality, can’t communicate.”

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Finally, we wondered if the artist has ever been surprised by readers interpreting a comic differently than he intended. We learned that: “I see this a lot! There are some interesting takes on the comics that blow me away, and I’m surprised by them. For example, some take them out of context completely and get insulted over me drawing a cute teddy bear or something. Or, they think there’s some deeper meaning in them or something else. At the end of the day, there’s no ill intentions in any of them. I try to make people laugh. Period. There are no dark or hidden messages in the comics. Although...maybe there are. Yeah, I’ll go with that! That’ll get any conspiracy theorist thinking.”

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This Comics Artist Makes People Laugh With Single-Panel Jokes (New Comics)

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This Comics Artist Makes People Laugh With Single-Panel Jokes (New Comics)

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This Comics Artist Makes People Laugh With Single-Panel Jokes (New Comics)

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Danish Susanne
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2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How ashamed I feel now. I only ever thought about how annoying it was to me, when one of a pair og socks was missing, I never thought of it's poor partner.

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Andrew
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine if it stabbed, but it was still coming out. 😈

#20

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Lotekguy
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2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He was happy about escaping from Sea World, but the years in captivity occasionally caused moments of missing human contact.

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This Comics Artist Makes People Laugh With Single-Panel Jokes (New Comics)

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Apatheist Account2
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2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shouldn't there be at least one eye visible on the man's face, to the left (or our right) of his nose?

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This Comics Artist Makes People Laugh With Single-Panel Jokes (New Comics)

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Lotekguy
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2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My upvote comes with a groan... as you must have intended.

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Lotekguy
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2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In some bars, they must still call their offerings firewater.

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Note: this post originally had 65 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.