Narwhals, the ‘inherently cartoonable creatures’

Whether it’s her viral “Garlic Essay,” daily October rat cartoons, or witty queer ramblings (sorry, not sorry), the algorithm gods have always found a way to bring cartoonist and writer Gabrielle Drolet onto my social media feed. Ever since I was gifted her beautiful illustration of the Palestine sunbird, I also get to see her work offline. Gabrielle’s debut book, Look Ma, No Hands: A Chronic Pain Memoir, will be published in 2025 — and I can’t wait to get my hands on that too.

So when The Narwhal’s creative director Shawn Parkinson happened to mention that he’d commissioned some cartoons from her for our end-of-year fundraising drive, I was beyond thrilled to see them.

I asked Gabrielle what it was like working with Shawn, and she said they ran into only one problem: the pair dreamt up more ideas than they knew what to do with.

“Narwhals are such inherently silly and cartoonable creatures, and there are so many jokes to be made about investigative reporting that lend themselves well to narwhal characters,” she told me. “They dive deep! They expose dark underbellies! They spearhead stories! They’re swimming through a sea of sources! They look at more than just the tip of the iceberg! You get it.”

Investigating problems. Exploring solutions

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Investigating problems. Exploring solutions

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.

It seemed like a waste to only use these cute cartoons in our fundraising efforts — which you can chip in to support here! — so we put them all in one place for you to enjoy:

Cartoon title: Risks of reading The Narwhal. Illustration of a woman sitting with a computer that has a Narwhal sticker on a park bench. A narwhal sitting next to her reads her computer screen over the shoulder. Text reads: "Wait — the government did WHAT?"

Illustration of two narwhals hanging, one busy reading, as a whale swims over them. Text reads: "I think you're taking the whole 'investigating dark underbellies' thing too literally."

Illustration of two narwhals in the ocean, watching a seal and two penguins on ice enamoured by a unicorn and its horn. Text reads: "I'll be more impressed when he has a scoop."

Illustration of two narwhals talking, one wearing a second tusk like a party hat. Text reads: "What? I thought double up was in right now."

Illustration of an anglerfish (with a light hanging off its head) and a narwhal wearing a headlamp with a dark background to emulate the bottom of the ocean. Text reads: "Oh, I thought the 'our investigations dive deep' motto was figurative."