TONY: Hoo boy… 2020 was an absolute train wreck, wasn’t it?
TATI: Do you think so?
TONY: Totally! You don’t agree?
TATI: Nope. (Give me Fresh Salmon please…)
TONY: Really, Tati?! So, you loved 2020? (Erm… here ya go.)
TATI: It is not the year that makes us, but we that make the year. Do you agree, Button?
BUTTON: Bring on 2021, I say!
TONY: Hm. I never thought about it that way. Makes sense, I suppose…
TATI: Let’s not think about what 2020 took away from us. Let’s recall what we added to 2020.
TONY: Making lemonade from lemons, huh? Yeah, let’s do that. You start!
TATI: I am pretty proud of relaunching Trottersville. (Okay, Pale Coral now…)
TONY: Yeah, that was pretty cool. (Pale Coral comin’ right at ya… I guess?) And we made a new postcard series with the characters from that strip too. I love those postcards! Do you, Button?
BUTTON: Hells no! Nothin’ but silly talking pigs. (And their pinkest piggy arses!) You should make a comic about me instead.
TONY: And we joined Tapas and WebToon, two cool comics websites that are now home to Trottersville. It’s great to have somewhere to put this strip after reworking many of the old scripts, then redrawing and recolouring them.
TATI: I participated in a translator’s contest. I also began translating our comics into Russian and Ukrainian. And we contacted some comics publishers and got some rather warm feedback. It’s cool, don’t you think, Button?
BUTTON: What?! Why bother with silly translations when you could be ghost writing the memoirs of my extraordinary life?
TONY: All of this kinda makes 2021 seem more hopeful, right?
TATI: Don’t you feel so? And we’re in the middle of preparing some new books and launching a cool new video channel too! (Tony, that’s Shadow Rose! Can’t you tell the difference?)
TONY: How the hell are we managing to do all this?! We must hate sleep or something… (Sorry. Is this it?)
BUTTON: Sigh. Why does no one listen to me?
TATI: I don’t know… but, Tony, do you still think 2020 was a train wreck and gave you nothing but a deficit of hand sanitiser and toilet paper? (And I asked for Fandango, not Flamingo! Even Button knows the difference!)
TONY: God. Those empty store shelves still haunt my dreams… Still, I have to agree. It hasn’t been all bad, has it? What do you think, Button?
BUTTON: That’s nothing! I’ll show you what a real wreck is!
TATI: I agree that it hasn’t been all bad. And I believe our dearest Readers will have at least one nice thing to remember from 2020. (Crazy Strawberry now please…)
TONY: We can hope! (Jeez. Aren’t they all just the same stupid pink?! Just point at the correct freaking one already!) And anyway, we should at least wish all of our Readers a Happy New Year. May 2021 be a year of renewal and reconstruction!
TATI: As for us, we promise to continue making cool stuff—despite pandemics and closed borders—and (hopefully) bring you some joy with our creative effor…
TATI & TONY: BUTTON!
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2021
unbolt me 
A great year for staying indoors, a bad year for making money. But gramps time doesn’t care, he just marches on.
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Gramps is pretty curmudgeonly that way. 😛
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Read this while I was cooking tilapia then I saw salmon… I think sea food is my transition into the new year. Love the art!
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Sea food is an excellent way to transition into 2021! Thanks so much for reading, J.! 😀
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Wow!
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😛
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You have been busy, guys. Best of luck for 2021! Hugs.
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Aw, thanks, Inese! We hope 2021 is all that and a bag of potato crisps for ya! Rock on! 😀
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Thank you! ❤
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Creativity in the face of adversity or fuelled by adversity?
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It’s a classic ‘chicken or the egg’ conundrum, isn’t it? 😉
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Happy New Year to all three of you
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And to you, Andy! 🙂
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Nice work on all your accomplishments this year! It’s nice to see someone focussing on some positivity
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Aw, thanks, Tom. We try! 😀
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Yep 2020 was a year I will never forget and for me personally it was a very good year, in relation to all the years before. To you also a great 2021 and good to know that you won’t stop doing your thing! ❤
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So glad your 2020 was a good one, my friend! I mean, it can’t have been all bad, right? There always has to be at least a little sliver of light somewhere in the midst of the darkness, right? 😀
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Always. And darkness really helped me last year, quite literally. 😀
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Wishing you both all the best for the new year, Chris and Mark.
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Happy New Year, Chris and Mark! We hope 2021 is better for you than 2020 was!
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Very well said. I like the wisdom in..” it is we that make the year” And fabulous as always, .your brilliant artwork – ❤❤
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Thanks so much, Suzette! Yes, it’s always better to flip things on their ear wherever possible. Doing so can often reveal a way forward. 🙂
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Yes, wise words indeed. Thank you again. Cheers
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