Conservative cartoonist Lisa Benson and liberal Clay Bennett reflect on a year that is thankfully coming to an end.

Perhaps a little humor will set the stage for a better 2024.

The moment came in a “Pearls” strip when Rat, a character who’s become president of the United States, is overthrown in a coup staged by a pith helmet-wearing duck. Pastis wrote this plot in 2020 but, due to advanced scheduling, they were slated to run right after the Trump-fueled D.C. riots.

“If you do a strip about a plane crash, it’s always a risk because you never know what’s going to happen in the news when the strip comes out much later,” Pastis says. “But when you do a strip about an attempted coup in the federal government — you NEVER think that’s going to happen. That was so strange and unexpected.”

The syndicate wound up temporarily pulling the strips. But you can find them in Pastis’ newest comics compendium, “Pearls Seeks Enlightenment,” where they fit right in with the artist’s blend of political commentary and railings against American stupidity (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $19.99). The book is actually Pastis’ second of the year. He also put out “Looking Up,” an illustrated children’s novel about a girl fighting gentrification and latte-sipping hipsters to save her neighborhood (Simon & Schuster, $13.99).

Pastis is gearing up for a 19-city book tour across America — he’s appearing at Danville’s Rakestraw Books at 6 p.m. on Oct. 9 — but found the time to speak from his Santa Rosa home about his busy year, his Jack Reacher-esque travel ethic and his eerie knack for prophesy.

Q: This book tour is a little different in that you’re appearing at a lot of schools. Are kids a harsh audience?

A: Nah, they’re great. For grade-school children, when you draw in front of them it’s like you’re doing magic. The character appears and you’ll hear “Ooh! Aah!” like I pulled a rabbit out of my hat. You forget how impressionable kids are at that age. Now I think once you’re in high school, that’s all gone. So if you do a kid’s book, don’t go to high schools.

Then of course they’re so blunt in their questions. Sometimes it’s easy, like, “Do you have a dog?” But my favorite one, which gets thrown out at least once a city, is, “How much money do you make?” I always say, “Enough that I can be on the road and travel and meet all of you.”

Q: Nineteen cities is a lot. But it seems like you enjoy traveling?

A: I read a ton of travel books. I think I’ve read every Paul Theroux book, and Bill Bryson, and I’m a big Anthony Bourdain addict. I think when you drop yourself into a new city, particularly if it’s in a new country — like I was just in Cambodia — you’re very alive, because the input is constant and the unknown is exciting. All of that goes into an adrenaline high, which I live for. I think for anyone creative, if you’re not experiencing new things your work is probably going to go stale.

Q: The new “Pearls” treasury includes your travel photos, like the Sod House Museum in Oklahoma. Is there a rhyme or reason to where you go?

A: I tell you exactly what I do. I’ve divided up the country into 14 zones. I pick one of those zones and put hundreds of pins into Google Maps, then plan out how many days it would take me to see all those things. It’s not always obvious things, but odd places like where a president has died, or Three Mile Island, or where Jesse James pulled off the first train robbery, or the Field of Dreams in Iowa.

This serves two purposes: One, I love seeing that stuff. And two, I know I’m going to write about it. I actually have a travel book I’m working on, already have 400 pages written. It’s almost like a David Sedaris book — if I could be half as funny as him, it’d be great.

Q: What inspired your new kid’s novel, “Looking Up”?

A: I’d never written a book about a little girl. and I always wanted to try that. I had this girl who absolutely loved this toy store she goes to, and it gets torn down because the neighborhood is changing and gentrifying and it just crushes her. I liked that. There’s something in there that’s a little bit Don Quixote — she’s tilting at windmills and trying to save her neighborhood, but she’s a little kid so it’s going to be hard.

Q: Is gentrification a big concern of yours?

A: I spend more time in New Orleans than anywhere else except home, and it’s a real problem there. The Airbnbs come into a neighborhood, they’re successful, so investors come in buy up more properties and rent them. Before long you realize you’ve lost what’s special about the city. You’ve lost the person who’s the trumpeter in the band, or the person who marches in the Mardi Gras parades, or the great cook at the restaurant you like.

Q: This is a children’s book. To what extent have your own kids influenced your work?

A: A lot, especially when they were younger. They were always the first people I showed stuff to. I would — boy, they found this annoying, and for good reason — watch when they read it, so I could see when they’d laugh or didn’t laugh. I’d ask why or why not and, based on their responses, would often tweak the book.

Q: Do they demand royalties for their childhood input?

A: Effectively they’re getting it — my support of them. So, yes.

Q: Aside from an attempted coup, is there anything else you’ve recently predicted?

A: In “Pearls,” at the very end of 2019 I had Baby New Year — you know, the little baby with the sash and top hat — coming up to Pig at the front door and saying, “New Year.” Pig says, “I think the expression is, “Happy New Year.” And the little baby says, “Yeah, but I can see what’s coming next year,” and drinks so much he passes out. Then of course the pandemic hits. That was a strange one — sometimes it just happens.

Consider this. Since Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” in 1991 landed a best picture Oscar nomination — the first ever animated film in that category — only two other animated films have managed to squeeze into that prestigious contest. Both came came from the creative team at Pixar: 2009’s “Up” and 2010’s “Toy Story 3.”

Instead a kvetching, let’s focus on some of the animated films that deserve to be bathed in artistic praise, especially since more than a few of them are part of “The Art of Animation: Storytelling in the Digital Age,” an upcoming series at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

The August program celebrating high-quality animation and storytelling includes three free outdoor screenings and seven inside the Barbro Osher Theater. As an added bonus the co-authors of “Making the Cut at Pixar: The Art of Editing Animation”– Berkeley-based indie filmmaker Bill Kinder and New York-based author Bobbie O’Steen — will be introducing the films and providing context and insight at the in-theater screenings.

The Berkeley program includes a diverse offering, some aimed for families, some for adult audiences. Perusing the program, you can’t notice how animated films sometimes tell a story better than their live-action brethren.

“Animation is an approach to filmmaking based on creating a work frame by frame with the ability to control every aspect of a film’s production,” says Susan Oxtoby, BAMPFA’s director of film and senior film curator. “All creative choices are completely malleable: rhythm and timing, use of color and light play, characters’ voices, sound and layered sound effects, and the possibility of incorporating live action material using rotoscoping techniques.”

Here’s a look at the some of the entries in the BAMPFA series and what makes them so special.

“Ratatouille” (2007): Emeryville-based Pixar animation studio’s gem is about a rat named Remy aspiring to be a chef, whipping up Alice Waters-like entrees and delivering a message about society needing to embrace open-mindedness. The animation is exquisite and the story shifts between funny and touching; all in all it’s one of the best in the Pixar vault. (Recommended for all ages).

Screening: 4 p.m. Aug. 5.

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009): The fanciful work of filmmaker Wes Anderson can sometimes get too precious for his and the audience’s own good. But his stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel sidesteps that trap and even plays to his strengths as a storyteller who showcases eccentrics — this time in fox form. George Clooney is perfectly cast to voice the sly Mr. Fox. Anderson’s appreciation for stop-motion animation also led him to make 2018’s “Isle of Dogs,” another one his better films. (Recommended for ages 8 and up.)

Screening: 7 p.m. Aug. 10

“Spirited Away” (2002): Director Hayao Miyazaki remains one of the best animated filmmakers of all time with a canon that’s a treasure trove of classics —  1988’s touching “My Neighbor Totoro,” 1997’s epic “Princess Mononoke,” 2004’s highly inventive “Howl’s Moving Castle” and many more. But it was the 81-year-old Japanese auteur’s incredible journey featuring the inquisitive 10-year-old Chihiro that gained him an Academy Award and wider exposure in America. Watching “Spirited” is like venturing into a dream world where anything can happen. It’s one of my favorite films of all time. (Recommended for ages 8 and up.)

Screening: 4:30 p.m. Aug. 12 (English version) and 7 p.m. Aug. 18 (in Japanese with English subtitles).

“My Life as a Zucchini” (2017): In this Dickensian tale, a traumatic childhood event thrusts a withdrawn, fragile boy nicknamed Zucchini into the warm folds of a caring foster home where other pre-adolescents try to cope from bad parenting and/or tragedies. Director Claude Barras’ feature doesn’t merely tug on your heart, it all but yanks it out. This is a beautiful film about surviving the worst horrors imaginable and how some families are defined no by blood but love. It’s gorgeous, but isn’t for really young children. (Recommended for ages 12 and up.)

Screening: 5 p.m. Aug. 19

“Flee” (2021): For proof that a documentary can get pushed into exciting and innovative directions, check out director Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s heartbreaking account of a gay Afghanistan refugee’s extraordinary plight. Rasmussen mostly leans on animation to create a poignant, relevant and all-too common refugee story, one about a displaced man seeking to find roots in a new land and with a new love. (Recommended for ages 13 and up.)

Screening: 7 p.m. Aug. 25

“The Incredibles” (2004): Are you suffering from Superhero Fatigue? It’s a common malady hitting filmgoers throughout the nation. But it doesn’t mean you should skip this Pixar gem that introduces us to the hardworking brood that’s living incognito in suburbia — The Incredible couple of Elastigirl (voice of Holly Hunter) and Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson). Both spring back into action, of course, while tending to the kids in this fast-paced adventure that nostalgically tosses us back to the ‘60s burbs in another Pixar classic. (Recommended for ages 7 and up.)

Showing: 4 p.m. Aug. 26

“Waltz with Bashir” (2008): Stark, disturbing and guilt-ridden, Ari Folman’s tricky feature takes a surreal look at the historical and psychological fallout from the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel, which resulted in the slaughter of refugees in camps. Folman — who was in the Israel Defense Forces when this happened — starts to wonder if the version of events he’s been told is the truth. The imagery in “Waltz With Bashir” will haunt you. Obviously this is not for children.

Showing: 7 p.m. Aug. 30

Free outdoor screenings

“Toy Story 2”: Pixar’s lovable sequel centers on Andy going to Cowboy Camp while Woody winds up in the clutches of a toy collector. Originally slated to be a straight-to-video effort, the studio realized it had something special on its hands and released it to theaters. (Recommended for all ages)

Screening: 7 p.m. Aug. 3

“Finding Nemo”: Andrew Stanton sends us under the sea where a fish named Nemo gets lost and meets some unforgettable characters, including the incredibly forgetful Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres. (Recommended for all ages.)

Screening: 7 p.m. Aug. 17

“Persepolis”: Marjane Satrapi adapts, along with Vincent Paronnaud, her acclaimed graphic novel about being young and bearing witness to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. (Recommended for ages 12 and up.)

Screening: 7 p.m. Aug. 31

The San Jose resident and East Bay native is in demand, with people clamoring for his thoughts on Disney+’s eight-episode adaptation of his award-winning 2006 graphic novel “American Born Chinese,” which debuted May 24.

Yang has also been hobnobbing with people in high places, including a recent stop at the White House for a special screening where he met, among others, President Joe Biden and Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan (who’s a co-star in “American Born Chinese”). Yang also appeared this month onstage at the Castro Theatre for a Q&A and screening as part of the CAAMFest Asian American film festival.

In between all that, he’s been hustling on two prominent projects. One is writing a series of books with illustrators Les McClaine and Alison Acton that “further fleshes out” the popular “Clash of Clans” and “Clash Royale” games by Supercell (the first release is due out May 30); the other a rom-com with children’s book author and illustrator LeUyen Pham.

It’s a lot to juggle but the 49-year-old UC Berkeley alum who received a Master’s degree at Cal State East Bay doesn’t mind at all. He’s having a grand time riding this wave.

“It’s been a very strange few weeks,” he admits during a Zoom interview. “The last couple weeks have been really, really weird in a good way — a very good way. In some ways I feel like I’m living somebody else’s life because things are so unexpected.”

Then again, unexpected things have been happening to Yang, a 1996 MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, since the release of “American Born Chinese.” The work was the first graphic novel to win a Michael L. Printz Award, which recognizes excellence in teen-oriented fiction, and first to be named a National Book Award finalist. All the awards and attention has left Yang a tad distracted, he admits. He’s also shifted away from teaching computer science (he taught at Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland), now devoting full time to a thriving career in the comics industry.

“I’m a little bit behind on my deadlines,” he laughs.

Laughs certainly aren’t lacking in Disney+’s version of  “American Born Chinese,” which is also chock full of exciting martial-arts action, emotions of all sorts and sharp commentary about what it’s like to be an Asian American high school student.

Although Yang has an executive producer credit on the series, it is Kelvin Yu, an actor and the executive producer and writer of “Bob’s Burgers,” who ran the show.

Of course, changes had to be made, with the three separate stories told in Yang’s mind-bending book now interconnecting from the start.

“My hope is that the book and the television series kind of dialogue with each other,” he said. “Like part of that dialogue is what has happened to us as a community in the intervening 17 years (since the graphic novel came out). I think some things have gotten a lot more complex. In some ways, it feels like we’re moving forward and in other ways it feels like we’re falling backwards in time.”

“American Born Chinese” does stay true to the book’s central themes and the juxtaposition of the everyday life of uncertain teen-ager Jin Wang and the dynamic presence of Chinese mythological characters.

Given that the series runs eight episodes and Yang’s book is a mere 240 pages, there’s more time for massaging other elements of the story, exploring more about Jin’s relationship with his parents. Yang appreciates that as well.

“I’m so grateful for that because the parent-child relationship is such an important part of being Asian American.”

Talented Ben Wang makes a perfect fit as Jin, a compliant sophomore who’s starting to flex a rebellious streak after hearing one too many offhand racist jibes from classmates. His soccer buddies rebound — or so they think — by saying they’re not racist, you know, they’re just joshing. When nerdy new student Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu) from China arrives, educators put the two together even though they have little in common. Soon after, a series of fantastical situations happen, including the arrivals of the Monkey King (played by Berkeley native Daniel Wu) and the mystical Guanyin (Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh). Oscar winner Quan pops in as a sitcom star who’s a stereotypical TV character and remains the butt of winceable pratfall jokes that come with a canned laugh track. He finds himself in an existential crisis of sorts. Other “Everything Everywhere All at Once” players Stephanie Hsu and James Hong also appear.

Since Yang’s graphic novel took place before social media took on such a commanding presence in everyday living, the series has to tap into its influence, including when a dreaded and embarrassing viral video of Jin gets shared and mocked.

Social media wasn’t around while Yang was growing up in the South Bay. But he did experience, at points, the ugliness of racist remarks. While those don’t inflict physical damage, they do do harm, he said.

“It didn’t happen super often,” he recalls. “But it happened often enough that it affected my childhood. I remember being a kid and then somebody yelling something out of a car window as they drove by. That kind of stuff happened more than once. Or we would walk down the halls and we’d pass like a group of kids and they would yell something racially insensitive.”

While he says that still happens today, it’s less accepted by society, and the old fallback response that it’s “just kids being kids” isn’t accepted either.

But in some ways, it does feel like the community is failing backward at the same time, he said.

“When I was a kid I don’t remember seeing news story after news story about elderly Asians and Asian Americans getting beat up in the streets,” he says. “Whereas I have seen that over the last year and a half. So it’s both progress and also moving backwards.”

The present and the past do collide in “American Born Chinese” – the book and the series – with lessons being learned from both.

As for possible future adaptations of Yang’s work — such as 2013’s “Boxers & Saints,” 2020’s “Dragon Hoops,” or his 2019 DC Comics project “Superman Smashes the Klan” — Yang is asked if he’d want to take a more prominent role in their development.

“That’s definitely interesting to me, but at the same time I do primarily think of myself as a comics guy,” he said. “So I’m super excited and happy to explore storytelling in other media. But at the same time, I also hope that I will always find my way back home.”

Their former employers thanked the pair in their respective statements on the firings.

“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” Fox News said in a short statement that did not offer an explanation for his ouster, adding only that his last show was on Friday, April 21.

CEO Chris Licht in a memo to CNN staff

“Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years … We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

Here is how cartoonists reacted to the sudden departures.

CNN is offering tips for establishing and enforcing boundaries with encroaching relatives.

The Washington Post is reminding its subscribers that the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends 1 pound of turkey per dinner guest among those celebrating the 400-year-old tradition.

The Bay Area News Group, meantime, is here to explain why cranberries are the only regular Thanksgiving item that went down in price amid this year’s record inflation, provide travelers with last-minute pointers to save money, help you find beverages to elevate and eliminate worry over what goes well with turkey and bring you these holiday-themed political cartoons.

1. Most candidates for top election posts are against hand counts

“The vast majority of candidates running to become their states’ chief election officers oppose hand counting ballots, a laborious and error-prone process that has gained favor among some Republicans embracing conspiracy theories about voting machines.

“An Associated Press survey of major-party secretary of state candidates in the 24 states found broad skepticism about hand counting among election professionals of all ideological stripes. Of 23 Republicans who responded to the survey, 13 clearly said they opposed implementing a statewide hand count of ballots instead of a machine count.” Click the headline to read more by Nicholas Riccardi | Associated Press

2. Threats to US election security grow more complex

“Top U.S. election security officials say protecting the nation’s voting systems has become increasingly challenging since millions of Americans embraced unfounded conspiracy theories and false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

“With the midterm elections just days away, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, and other officials say they have no evidence that election infrastructure has been altered by hostile actors to prevent voting or vote counting, compromise ballots or affect voter registration accuracy.

“But they’re not lowering their guard. Disinformation is rampant. Foreign rivals are capable of potent cyber mischief. And the insider threat is considered greater than ever. On top of the physical threats and intimidation of elections officials — which is authorities’ overriding concern — security experts are particularly worried about tampering by those who work in local election offices or at polling stations.” Click the headline to read more by Frank Bajak | Associated Press

3. So far, Californians aren’t rushing to vote early

“With just days to go until Tuesday’s election, the state has yet to see a big surge of people voting early — but experts say numbers will pick up as the deadline approaches for Californians to choose a new governor, weigh in on seven ballot measures and cast a vote in multiple congressional races.

“Only 17% of ballots had been returned as of Friday, according to Political Data, Inc., which tracks voter data from every county in California. With little time remaining until Nov. 8, that’s a far cry from the 55-60% overall voter turnout expected in this election. A low turnout could give a bump to Republicans in competitive races, as historically the GOP tends to do better when fewer people vote.

“But the low numbers also could simply reflect voters procrastinating.

“Turnout so far has been higher in some parts of the Bay Area — 23% in San Mateo County, 22% in Santa Clara County, and 20% in Contra Costa County.  San Francisco and Alameda are about average, at 18% and 17% respectively, according to Political Data, Inc.” Click the headline to read more by Marisa Kendall | Bay Area News Group

He also clapped back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) with a taunt about paying for her blue checkmark and pleaded with famed author Stephen King to pay for his checkmark.

That all followed Musk seizing control at the social network by ousting senior leadership, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and policy head Vijaya Gadde one week earlier. And two days after Musk promised advertisers the platform would not become a “free-for-all hellscape,” he gave credibility to and spread disinformation about the recent attack on Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, in a tweet replying to former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential election popular vote winner Hillary Clinton. Musk later deleted the tweet about Paul Pelosi.

Since then, Musk said the company would not allow “anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks.”

See what cartoonists from around the world are saying about the new Chief Twit:

Check out our regular cartoon gallery featuring some of the best cartoonists from around the world, and across the political spectrum, covering current issues and figures.