First Published: November 26, 2007
You may have experienced this yourself with strong coffee or a sugary energy drink. I don't drink coffee, however.
Mate amargo is sipped through a metal straw from a gourd. That's what the thing in the first panel is supposed to be. First you pour chopped mate leaves into the gourd, then you place the straw and add hot water. Wait for a minute, then start drinking. Keep adding water until you're awake or you run out of liquid.
The beverage is most popular in Argentina, but also in other parts of Latin America and, if Wikipedia is to be believed, Lebanon and Syria. If you thought that energy drinks can jolt you awake, you haven't had mate yet. This is a seriously-caffeinated beverage.
The pen in the frontispiece is a Koh-i-noor Nexus, which I have previously waxed poetically about in the site news.
As I was completing the first panel, my wife kept hearing me giggle. I don't think I've had as much unrestrained fun drawing this strip in a while.
(The usual depressed and self-flagellating commentary will resume with the next comic.)
More about mate: