Bicycle Comics

A color slide or presentation graphic. Text reads: “’I had hoped that with time, the new NIH leadership would find their voice and stand up for the importance of NIH as a bastion of scientific progress free from political influence….This is not happening.’ –former employee National Institutes of Health" The logo of the National Institutes of Health occupies the lower left corner

A color slide or presentation graphic. Text reads: “’I appreciate all of you! I ask you one more favor (for now). Be good to yourself and others around you. If we are going to get through this, it will only be if we do it together with love and respect.’ –former employee US Fish & Wildlife Service“ The logo of the US Fish & Wildlife Service occupies the lower left corner

A color slide or presentation graphic. Text reads: "'This is not how I wanted my federal career to end, but I could not stay at CBP and implement this policy. My best wishes to the extraordinary and diverse workforce who carry out CBP’s difficult mission, and to all those who protect and serve.' -former employee Customs & Border Protection" The logo of the US Customs and Border Protection agency occupies the lower left corner

Our next book will catalog and celebrate the best-written federal resignation letters of 2025. If you know someone who wrote a funny, poignant, or pointed resignation letter last year, please ask them to reach out!

www.bicycle-comics.com/pages/resign...

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a bar chart. X axis is "Total Letter Received," Y axis is "Two week period ending." The chart shows no activity during two-week intervals from early November 2025 into December, then steadily increasing quantities from January into late February 2026. The graph closes with 21 letters received.

We have received 22 letters from our online submission portal, plus another 16 that we have solicited through direct outreach. Getting there, folks! Once we get to 80 letters, we will likely close submissions.

www.bicycle-comics.com/pages/resign...

John Dickerson had the good sense to get off that ship, though he surely takes no pleasure in its foundering.

A black and white screenshot. This is a five-item list titled "Trending" with the five items being 1. Browt 2. Pokémon 3. Pokemon 4. Nintendo 5. Farage and Greens Note that items 2 and 3 are both "Pokemon," but there is an accented é in the first instance.

You need to get your diacritical marks sorted out, gang.

#pokémon #pokemon

For the folks in the back:

📣 Poetry slam is not a genre, not a style of writing. Poetry slam is a selection mechanism, a bar game, a way of giving the audience a vote. That a certain vocal cadence tends to emerge in poetry slams is a result of that approach resonating with the audience. 📣

Jesus.

You know what’s better than free two-day shipping?

Knowing you’re the reason your local bookstore still exists.

If at all possible, please try to track down a copy of Glyn Maxwell's poem "Out of the Rain." It is a darkly comic poem, and it makes a different Arc/Unicorn joke that pairs nicely with your lovely cartoon.

Can it maybe not remain a problem, Mobes? We've already got a full plate this week. Thanks…

Love it.

Book Bans ‘Kill Creativity,’ Sow Self-Doubt in Authors For the past few years, author Charlotte Sullivan Wild has been working on a picture book about an LGBTQ+ family who learns to cope with one member’s deployment to the military. The story is inspired ...

In interviews with PEN America, authors who have experienced book bans called it a creativity killer. While many said they refuse to self-censor, they still find themselves second-guessing their choices and bracing for backlash.

Read the full story at: pen.org/book-bans-ki...

A color illustration. Shown are the US government agency logos for National Park Service, DHS, DOJ, FTC, IRS, Social Security, Department of Energy, and USDS. There is one more seal full of question marks. Text reads "Over 150,000 federal workers resigned in 2025. Some did not go quietly…"

Over 150,000 federal workers resigned in 2025. Some did not go quietly.
If you left your US government job last year, there might be a place for you in our upcoming book.

www.bicycle-comics.com/pages/resign...

This is /exactly/ what we have always suspected. Google PageSpeed just needs /something/ to nitpick, else you'll feel you didn't get your money's worth.

(Google PageSpeed reports are free, but still…)

Thank you for that lovely daily dose of pentameter, Rattle.

Underrated joke.

👆This is the way.

“I wish I still knew how to find joy in the pure thrill of the ten minutes before your favorite cartoon comes on, the rush against time, the body so suddenly delayed, cumbersome yet present, the embodiment of coiled anticipation.”

—Ocean Vuong

nobody talks about how exhausting it must be to be immortal. to watch humans discover fire. invent money. invent God. invent VC funding. same mistake, different font.

#bluesky #thinkingoutloud

And the ee's in "descreet" are sitting next to each other so they can whisper secrets unobtrusively.

(h/t to poet @mightymikemcgee.substack.com for this mnemonic, many years ago)

$50 to the first person to correctly diagram that sentence on player’s choice of loose leaf or graph paper. No AI, please.

A color flier. White text on a blue background reads “Did they make you resign in 2025? Come be in our next book!” There is a QR code and a company logo.

Did you leave your federal government job last year? There might be a place for you in our next book.

Come see what we're working on: www.bicycle-comics.com/pages/resign...

The phrase that comes to mind is "Bell, book, and candle."

Congrats! That has to feel good. Love that you shout out the cover designer, too.

Poem 'The Ideal' by James Fenton

We have no grand metaphors, just an insistence to say where we come from without shame.

The plain and direct language is the emotional core of the piece

He acknowledges facing your past is difficult and that the bravest thing is not reinvention, but recognition.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

massive media mergers —> censorship

Gorgeous brushwork (or maybe conté crayon?)

A color illustration. Shown are US government agency logos for Department of Education, State Department, Department of Justice, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, Food and Drug Administration, Health and Human Services, and US Department of Agriculture. There is one more seal full of question marks that is labeled "You?" The caption reads "Even though you left, you still have agency." There are several stylized eagles in the various colorful seals. There are no people or vehicles in this picture.

Former federal employees: If you left your job during the DOGE cuts and DRP chaos of 2025, we'd like to hear your story. There might be a place for you in our next book.

www.bicycle-comics.com/pages/resign...

Q: Do we tell him about Ireland?
A: No, let us be merciful.

Happy Monday from Tuesday. 🔴🟡🌹