36 Comics And Illustrations By Herta Burbė That Might Brighten Up Your Day

If you’ve had one of those days where your coffee went cold, your inbox exploded, and your brain quietly logged off around 10 a.m., you’re in the perfect mood for a dose of comic relief. The playful, absurd, and slightly surreal comics of Lithuanian artist Herta Burbė are exactly that kind of medicine. Featured in the Bored Panda collection “36 Comics And Illustrations By Herta Burbė That Might Brighten Up Your Day,” her single-panel illustrations turn everyday situations into clever visual jokes that land faster than any punchline-heavy monologue.

Burbė’s work lives at the intersection of slice-of-life humor and whimsical fantasy. She takes relatable momentslike misheard words, awkward small talk, or seasonal mood swingsand stretches them until they snap into something hilariously unexpected. You’ll see soups that double as Barbie-themed dishes, vampires whose real problem is the garlic-loving neighbors next door, and characters who take the phrase “30 is the new 20” a little too literally.

In this article, we’ll explore what makes these 36 comics so delightful, why gentle absurdity is such a powerful antidote to stress, and how artists like Herta fit into a broader tradition of cartoons and comics that support our mood, creativity, and even mental health. Along the way, we’ll also talk about how to enjoy these illustrations in a mindful wayand how they might actually brighten more than just your day.

Herta Burbė is a cartoonist and illustrator from Lithuania who creates comic strips, cartoons, caricatures, and other visual stories. Her work appears on her own website and socials, and has been widely shared on platforms like Bored Panda, Pinterest, and dedicated comics sites.

On her site, she introduces herself simply: “Hello, I’m Herta Burbe. I create comic strips and more.” That “more” speaks volumes. Her portfolio includes single-panel gag cartoons, multi-panel strips, and illustrations that range from everyday realism to almost dreamlike surrealism.

Across different galleries and features, several common traits show up again and again:

• Everyday foundations: Most comics begin with something familiardinner, travel, seasons changing, neighborhood lifeso you’re instantly oriented.
• Unexpected twist: A visual or verbal twist flips the situation on its head. Suddenly, a bowl of beet soup becomes “Barbie soup,” or a gardening choice accidentally ruins a vampire’s whole lifestyle.
• Gentle absurdity: Instead of harsh satire or dark cynicism, her humor feels soft, curious, and slightly offbeatlike a daydream that wandered a bit too far and came back with a punchline.

Because the jokes are so visual, you don’t need a wall of text to “get it.” One of Burbė’s strengths is delivering a complete mini-story in a single frame, something cartoonists and researchers alike recognize as a uniquely powerful format for emotional impact and quick understanding.

The Bored Panda feature gathers 36 of Herta Burbė’s comics into a scrollable, mood-lifting gallery. The themes range from everyday frustrations to mythology mashups and “only-in-comics” logic. Let’s look at a few recurring motifs that make this particular set of illustrations so bingeable.

1. Wordplay That Becomes Reality

Several comics take common phrases or misheard words and turn them into literal, visual situations. In one panel, a character asks for “Barbie soup” and is served a bright pink bowl that looks suspiciously like Lithuania’s famous cold beet soup, šaltibarščiai. It’s a tiny joke that works on multiple levels: language confusion, visual surprise, and the fun of seeing a local dish reimagined through pop culture.

Another example: a character asks for “basil,” only to have someone show up holding a full-blown basilisk, the mythical creature. It’s the kind of punchline that makes you laugh and then wonder what else in your grocery list might be hiding a monster.

2. Classic Monsters, Relatable Problems

Burbė also loves putting legendary characters into very mundane struggles. A vampire might once have been a mysterious, terrifying figurebut in her comic, the real horror is that the villagers have planted garlic all around the castle, turning the surrounding fields into a natural anti-vampire force field.

This kind of joke gives you the satisfaction of a familiar story with a modern twist. Instead of fighting with torches and stakes, humans just… garden. The message is subtle but delightful: even ancient, immortal villains are no match for a well-planned vegetable patch.

3. Everyday Noise and Everyday Nonsense

In another comic, a sleeping person is serenely resting while relentless tapping noises happen nearbyeither from a construction worker with a hammer or a woodpecker right above a tent. The panels play with the universal experience of “Why is it always loud when I’m trying to sleep?” but exaggerate it to comic extremes.

There’s no speech bubble needed: the rhythm of the visuals and your own experience fill in the story. You can practically hear the clanging or pecking in your head and feel that mix of annoyance and helpless amusement.

4. Aging, Seasons, and TimeBut Make It Funny

Burbė doesn’t shy away from big topics like aging or the passage of time, but she keeps things playful. In one panel, characters cheerfully announce, “30 is the new 20!” and “75 is the new 60!” Their energy is contagious, and the exaggerated facial expressions lean into the idea that we might as well celebrate the years rather than fear them.

Other comics play with seasons and climatecharacters rushing past each other between summer and winter doors, or nature behaving in ways that mirror our internal moods. It’s all very human, even when the cast includes birds, monsters, and mythological beings.

It’s easy to say “these illustrations will make you smile,” but there’s also real research behind the idea that comics, cartoons, and lighthearted visuals can boost mood and even help with mental health.

Psychologists have noted that empathic and humorous cartoons can support resilience by helping people see their own struggles reflected in gentle, exaggerated ways. They can make stress feel more manageable and foster a sense of shared experience when we recognize ourselves in a character’s awkwardness or confusion.

Studies on comic reading have found that a large majority of participants report stress relief and improved mood after engaging with comics. In one recent analysis, about three-quarters of readers said comics helped reduce stress, and half reported a direct boost in mood.

Therapists and mental health writers have also pointed out that cartoons can support coping skills and frustration tolerance, giving people a low-pressure way to process emotions and practice perspective-taking.

In other words, your habit of scrolling through comics while you sip coffee might be doing more than just killing timeit may be giving your brain a short, healthy reset.

The internet is full of comics, but several characteristics make Herta Burbė’s artwork stand out in such a crowded field.

1. Visual Storytelling First

Her comics lean heavily on visual clues. Body language, props, and background details all carry weightso even when dialogue is minimal, you still get the joke instantly. This focus on visual storytelling aligns with the strengths of “sequential art” and single-panel cartoons, which research suggests can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably.

2. Gentle, Inclusive Humor

Burbė’s jokes rarely punch down. They’re not about mocking specific groups or leaning on stereotypes; instead, they poke fun at universal quirks: miscommunication, overthinking, fear of aging, or nature being inconveniently loud. That kind of humor feels safe, friendly, and easy to share.

3. A Soft, Distinct Color Palette

Many of her comics use slightly muted colorscool blues, warm pinks, soft neutralsrather than neon-bright tones. The result is calming rather than chaotic, which pairs well with the understated absurdity in her jokes. Even when something wild is happening (say, a basilisk showing up in your kitchen), the overall vibe is cozy, not chaotic.

4. Everyday Surrealism

Burbė’s approach could be described as “everyday surrealism.” She starts with normal life, adds a single impossible twist, and lets your imagination do the rest. That formula keeps the comics accessibleyou don’t need to know obscure lore or inside jokesbut still surprising enough to feel fresh.

Scrolling through a Bored Panda gallery can be a casual distractionbut with a bit of intention, it can also be a tiny wellbeing ritual. Here are some simple ways to turn a quick comics scroll into a more meaningful pick-me-up:

1. Slow Down and “Read” the Details

Instead of flicking past each panel, spend a few extra seconds with it. Look at the background textures, facial expressions, and small props. That extra attention gives your brain more visual information to play with and makes the punchline hit harder.

2. Notice Which Comics You Relate To

Maybe you feel personally attacked by the “trying to sleep while someone makes noise” comic, or maybe the aging jokes feel suspiciously accurate. When you recognize yourself, you’re also recognizing that your experience is sharedand that alone can ease feelings of isolation or stress.

3. Share a Favorite With a Friend

Research on cartoons and humor suggests that sharing funny content can strengthen social bonds and spread positive emotions across a group, not just one person at a time.

So when you stumble on a panel that makes you actually laugh out loud (not just “exhale slightly through the nose”), send it to someone who would appreciate the joke. That connection may do as much for your mood as the comic itself.

4. Use the Comics as a Creativity Warm-Up

If you’re a writer, artist, or just someone who thinks in stories, these comics make great prompts. Ask yourself: “How would I continue this scenario?” or “What’s the before-and-after of this moment?” Let your imagination run a short lap around Burbė’s ideasyou might spark your own funny scenario or character.

You don’t have to be a professional cartoonist to borrow a few creative habits from Herta Burbė’s approach.

• Celebrate the oddly specific: Instead of skipping past minor annoyances, treat them as potential punchlines. That broken zipper, awkward handshake, or confusing sign might become a story you tell later.
• Play with literal meanings: Next time you hear a cliché“time flies,” “I’m glued to my phone,” “I’m over the moon”picture what it would look like if it were literal. Your commute might suddenly feel like a brainstorming session rather than a chore.
• Let small problems stay small: When a situation feels frustrating but isn’t actually catastrophic, imagine how it would look in a comic panel. That mental reframing can help keep minor stressors from spiraling into full-blown catastrophizing.

If all else fails, just go back to the source: revisit the 36 comics, pick a new favorite, and let yourself laugh at a vampire defeated by garlic fields or a basilisk delivered by mistake.

Spending time with Herta Burbė’s comics feels a bit like inviting a very observant friend to narrate your daywith a dry smile and a slightly sideways view of reality. After reading through the 36 illustrations in the Bored Panda feature, you start to notice how quickly these tiny scenes lodge themselves in your mind. A pink “Barbie soup” here, a vampire quietly stewing about garlic there; they pop up later when you’re doing dishes or scrolling through email, and suddenly you’re smiling at a mental image nobody else can see.

One of the most striking things about these comics is how compassionate they feel, even when they’re poking fun at human behavior. Nobody in a Herta Burbė comic is truly the villainnot even the vampire, who mostly seems like a victim of poor urban planning. Instead, everyone is just a little confused, a little unlucky, or a little too literal. It’s the kind of humor that makes you think, “Yeah, that would totally happen to me,” but in a way that feels forgiving rather than embarrassing.

Take the aging comic, for examplethe one where someone proudly declares that “30 is the new 20,” and another character, much older, triumphantly announces “75 is the new 60.” There’s a spark of stubborn optimism there, a refusal to let the calendar define how alive or energetic you’re allowed to feel. The art style helps sell it: the characters are exaggerated but not grotesque, expressive without being cruel. It’s an invitation to laugh with them, not at them.

Then there are the comics built around noise and interruptionthe hammering next door, the woodpecker drilling into the tree above the camping tent. If you’ve ever tried to nap in a city apartment, a dorm room, or a tent pitched a little too close to the rest of the world, you can feel the truth in those panels. What Burbė does so well is freeze that universal frustration at the exact moment where it’s funniest, before it curdles into real anger. It’s like comedic anger management: all the emotion, none of the lasting bitterness.

What’s also refreshing is how global yet specific the humor feels. You don’t have to know Lithuanian culture to laugh at most of the jokes, but every once in a while there’s a detaila traditional dish, a local landscape, a type of weatherthat hints at where these ideas are rooted. It’s a reminder that we can share experiences across borders while still appreciating the local flavor (sometimes literally, in the case of that beet soup).

On a practical level, reading these comics can become a small ritual in your day. Maybe you scroll through a few panels with your morning coffee, or use them as a mini-break between tasks when your brain starts feeling like a browser with too many tabs open. Knowing that researchers and therapists see genuine benefits in this kind of lighthearted mediathe stress relief, the mood bump, even the improved resilienceadds a nice layer of permission. You’re not “wasting time”; you’re giving your brain a more colorful, humorous lens for the rest of the day.

And perhaps the best part: comics like Herta Burbė’s make it easier to be kind to yourself. When you see a character making a ridiculous mistake or overreacting to something tiny, you can’t help but think about all the times you’ve done the same thing. But instead of judging yourself, you get to laugh. You get to say, “Yep, that’s me,” and move on. In a world where so much online content is designed to provoke outrage or anxiety, a simple, funny drawing that reminds you you’re human might be one of the most quietly powerful things on your screen.

So if you’re looking for a gentle reset button, those 36 comics are a pretty great place to start. Let them brighten your dayand maybe encourage you to spot a few comic-worthy moments in your own life, too.

Herta Burbė’s comics show how much joy can fit inside a single panel. By combining everyday scenarios, surreal twists, and a warm visual style, she offers 36 small but mighty reminders that humor and imagination are still very much alive and well. Viewed through the lens of research on cartoons and mental health, these illustrations are more than just “funny pictures”they’re tiny acts of kindness for your overworked brain.

Whether you’re drawn to the clever wordplay, the mythological cameos, or the painfully relatable sleep struggles, there’s almost certainly a comic in this collection that will feel like it was made just for you. And if it brightens up your day, even for a moment, that’s already a pretty big win.

sapo: Lithuanian artist Herta Burbė has a special talent for turning ordinary moments into smart, funny, and slightly surreal comics. In this deep dive inspired by the Bored Panda feature “36 Comics And Illustrations By Herta Burbė That Might Brighten Up Your Day,” we explore what makes her single-panel jokes so addictive, how lighthearted cartoons can ease stress and boost your mood, and why a vampire defeated by garlic fields or a misheard “Barbie soup” order might be exactly the kind of humor your brain needs right now.