10 Funniest Sarah’s Scribbles Comics About Navigating Adulthood

Some of the funniest comics about navigating adulthood come from the webcomic series Sarah’s Scribbles. Artist Sarah Andersen has made a name for herself in recent years with her unique takes on spooky topics. From an endearing romance between a vampire and a werewolf in Fangs to a hilarious glimpse at the lives of urban legends in Cryptid Club, Andersen’s interesting voice has given new life to familiar ideas.

Andersen’s her most well-regarded work, Sarah’s Scribbles, continues to be revered today as one of the most relatable comics on the internet. Originally launching in 2011, Sarah’s Scribbles is a semi-autobiographical ongoing comedy series that documents the thoughts and observations of Andersen herself.

Some of the series’ most notable topics include societal pressures on women, life as an introverted person and the occasional goofy joke that has no major message. However, her most iconic comics deal with the pressures that come with growing up. Her views on adulthood have given readers some of the funniest and most relatable jokes the series has to offer.

10

A Mermaid Learns the Truth About Being Human

Adulthood Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

In a comical take on The Little Mermaid, this comic by Andersen depicts a young mermaid longing to be human. Sarah’s comic self is happy to oblige as long as she can be a mermaid in return. The result is a happy-looking Sarah as she gets to swim through the ocean, free of responsibilities. Meanwhile, the mermaid is hilariously filled with regret as she realizes that being human, especially an adult human, isn’t what she expected as she does work to pay the bills.

This is a hilarious little allegory for a youthful perception of adulthood. The idea of being free to do what you want is appealing to a child, while most adults long for their carefree childhood days. Putting this idea through the lens of The Little Mermaid is a brilliant way to show that the grass isn’t always greener. Both sides have their drawbacks, and in the case of adulthood, there are a lot of responsibilities.

9

Sarah Has A Harsh, But Necessary, Realization About Reality

Most People Are Fairly Average

One of the most common observations parents will make about their children is how gifted they are. From Kindergarten to high school, kids tend to be showered with praise about how smart they are. However, the reality of adulthood is far less forgiving, and this Sarah’s Scribbles comic presents it perfectly, as Sarah is constantly praised for most of her life, before a stand-in for reality steps in and tells her “you are utterly average.”

While harsh, it’s an important observation that adults must make in order to temper their expectations. In truth, there are millions of equally-talented people capable of doing the same. While this shouldn’t detract from someone’s intelligence level, it’s crucial to realize that there are others on the same level that can do just as well, if not better, so learning this lesson can be important to setting a better path for their own life experience going forward.

8

Sarah’s Stomach Says “No” To Junk Food

Adults Can’t Enjoy What They Loved As Kids

One of the most cherished memories from most people’s childhood is the ability to eat a bunch of junk food. During those years, it was fairly easy for kids to eat as much sugar as they wanted, given their growing metabolism. However, things change when growing up, and so does the body, as shown by this hilarious Sarah’s Scribbles comic.

Here, a young Sarah is shown happily eating junk food and proclaiming that she’s going to continue eating it forever because of the sugar rush it gives her. However, years later, one bite of a treat results in Sarah’s stomach setting itself aflame in complete rejection. As people grow, their body can’t quite tolerate what they used to enjoy as kids anymore. However, the extremes that Sarah’s Scribbles takes this simple observation is absolutely hilarious, as it illustrates the pain most adults can actively feel.

7

Time Management Can Be Elusive As People Grow Older

Adults Have Too Many Responsibilities

One of the trickiest things to navigate when becoming an adult is how important time management skills can be. Sarah’s Scribbles illustrates this perfectly, in a comic where she jumps across a bar graph while checking on her greatest abilities. For the most part, things look pretty good, with Intelligence, Creativity and Memory being at a good range. However, when she jumps to Time Management, she plummets down, realizing there’s nothing to catch her.

Not only is this incredibly funny, but it’s incredibly relatable for a lot of adults. With bills, work and other responsibilities, life can be difficult to manage sometimes. As a result, a lot of people can struggle with time management skills as they try to reasonably plan things out. It’s a very real issue plaguing most adults today, and this comic is a brilliant way of showing that the struggle is real.

6

Sarah Breaks A Common Misconception about Aging

Life Doesn’t End After 30

In this comic, Sarah looks back on being told that she should enjoy her youth while it lasts because, once she gets older, life will begin passing her by. This is a fairly common thing most kids are told by their parents in an effort to embrace being young. However, the final two panels show Sarah opening a door after she turns 30, and realizing that the world is still full of color and potential.

Not only is Sarah’s quizzical appearance in this strip incredibly funny, as she realizes a misconception she was told about has been completely shattered, but it’s also a noble lesson for her readers. People are constantly told that life reaches its peak when you’re young. In fact, this has led to some fearing turning 30, as it becomes a sign that they’re getting even older. However, the world has so much left to offer even when people hit that age, and there’s so much more to discover. Life isn’t close to ending yet for them, and they still have years left to live it to the fullest.

5

Sarah Embraces Her Interests in Adulthood

Money Management is Important, but Sometimes You’ve Got to Be Happy

This iconic Sarah’s Scribbles comic features her navigating her adult life, wisely planning out her spending budget. From groceries to clothes, she’s mostly cautious of what she buys, to avoid overspending in a responsible and adult way. She even acknowledges that she’ll splurge every now and again, but she still focuses on the necessities. However, when she hits the bookstore, she tosses all her money at once to buy as many books as she can. Any book-lover can relate to this Sarah’s Scribbles installment, likely because they’ve found themselves dropping a lot of money to enjoy their self-interests at one point or another.

Whether it’s tickets to a sports game, or new additions to a collection, it’s incredibly common. While it’s funny to acknowledge the hypocrisy of cautious spending, it’s also a good message to Sarah’s readers. It’s completely okay for someone to spend money every now and again, to fund their own self-interests. Life is short, so taking the time to do things that make people happy is crucial to the time they have, even if it means spending a little more than they’ve budgeted.

4

Sarah Struggles With Forging Her Own Path In Life

Adulting Can Be Exhausting

When she first started writing Sarah’s Scribbles, Sarah Andersen was still in college. So, her first comic highlighted just how taxing and exhausting doing the responsible thing can be. This hilarious comic showcases this perfectly, as Sarah acknowledges everything she should be doing. However, instead of doing important things like making connections and planning out what comes next for her career, she’s instead just lying around, not doing much.

This is a pretty common observation made by a lot of college-aged young adults, as they can feel like they’re not doing what they should be in order to become a successful adult. There are so many responsibilities that come with the territory, and at times it can be pretty exhausting. However, they push through it anyway, even if they have to take breaks. The important thing to takeaway from those smaller moments, though, is that rest is important and not at all counter-productive, since it allows their batteries to recharge before diving back into the important aspects of adulthood.

3

Sarah Embraces the Smaller Moments As She Grows Older

Life Isn’t All About Doing Big Things

As kids, one of the most common questions people hear is what they’re going to do when they grow up. Usually, the answer is pretty big, as kids tend to think of the big picture. However, Sarah Andersen makes a stellar observation that the biggest moments in adulthood tend to come from the smaller things. In this hilarious comic, past Sarah lists off all the things she’s going to do when she’s an adult, including have “an amazing house” and achieve “world peace.” However, as an adult, she states that her biggest goal is to just grow a basil plant.

What makes this comic so funny is how true it is for countless readers. As they get older, the smaller parts of life tend to be more appealing, as they not only feel more manageable, but also more personal. Adulthood is what a person makes of it, even if it’s something as small as growing a houseplant, and there’s nothing wrong with not achieving massive dreams that a person’s younger self imagined years ago.

2

Death Tells Sarah It’s Not Her Time

Not Even Close

Following a similar pattern to Andersen’s “Life After 30” revelation, this comic features an elderly Sarah as she talks about how close it is to her death. She’s aching all over as she concludes that her body “no longer functions.” However, while she’s at peace with it, Death is shown sitting in a chair, telling her that she’s only 29. It’s not even close to her time to move on yet.

What’s funny is Sarah’s supposed pain is kind of true. People in their late-20s do occasionally begin to feel pain as their bodies get older, so the idea that she’s on Death’s door because she’s nearly 30 is not that far off. However, Sarah’s fear of mortality is juxtaposed brilliantly with Death seeming rather annoyed that yet another person thinks it’s time for them to go, when they still have many years remaining. It’s important to highlight that it’s okay to age, and being 30 isn’t nearly as old as people think it is. It’s another decade older for sure, but that doesn’t mean someone’s Last Will and Testament should be written anytime soon.

1

Sarah Learns The Truth About Adulthood

Cold Reality Sets In

In what’s arguably the defining Sarah’s Scribbles comic about adulthood, Sarah is asked by an unseen person if she’s excited about becoming an adult. At first, she says she is. However, as the voice asks how she’ll handle serious things like student loans, taxes and insurance, she begins to realize that maybe adulthood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. To add insult to injury though, the voice even states that her best friend from Kindergarten already has a baby, making her realize just how old she is now.

Adulthood can be an exciting time for many. The idea of independence makes kids want to get to it faster, but this comic shows that it’s not ideally something to rush. There are many detractors to being a responsible adult, and it can all be overbearing if not handled properly. This is what makes this Sarah’s Scribbles comic the funniest of Andersen’s works examining adulthood, because it sets the foundation for her other observations in later comics that have made Sarah Andersen an online celebrity.