Alaskan cartoonist draws Gov. Palin's backyard

Sarah Palin is not the only native of Wasilla, Alaska, to be propelled into national prominence this year. Fellow Wasillan, Chad Carpenter, was awarded the coveted Reuben award by the National Cartoonist Society in May of 2008 for his self-syndicated comic strip, Tundra. This national honor was followed up by his designation last week as Alaska's cartoon laureate.

The strip doesn't go near state politics, but it's a funny glimpse into the cultural neighborhood of the guv and would-be veep. It owes a debt to Gary Larson's Far Side and Mike Peters' Mother Goose and Grimm, but its humor is Alaskan home-grown. Lots of polar bear, hunting, fishing and snowman jokes.