The decade in cartoons: The best of Adam Zyglis

The teen years are difficult; just ask any parent. And when you consider the news events of the 21st Century's "teen" decade (2010-19), it's obvious that rule of thumb also applies to the U.S. and the world as well.

The 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico foreshadowed a turbulent decade filled with tragic mass shootings, accelerating climate change, major hurricanes, massive floods and wildfires. Throw into the mix the re-election of President Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump's stunning victory in 2016. and a political environment that went from bad to worse, and you've got one of the most profound decades in the history of the country.

But it wasn't all bad news. The first iPad hit the stores in 2010, the planet didn't blow up in 2012 (defying some people's interpretation of the Mayan calendar) and movie streaming became reliable.

For the entire month of December, USA TODAY cartoonist Mike Thompson, along with cartoonists from the USA TODAY Network and the Cagle cartoon syndicate, will provide retrospectives of their favorite work from the past decade.

The cartoonists were asked to gather their 20 favorite cartoons from the past decade into individual collections, and we'll be publishing one of those collections every day this month as we head into 2020.

Today we feature the work of Cagle cartoonist Christopher Weyant.

Be sure to come back daily in December to see the latest galleries.

Follow Mike Thompson on Facebook and Twitter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The decade in cartoons: The best of Adam Zyglis