From over two decades ago (!), when Tom the Dancing Bug only appeared in a New York City weekly:
a comic about NY's lottery, LOTTO, the motto for which was "All you need is a dollar and a dream."
And check out the heavy hand with the letraset!
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Careful readers of this blog, and eagle-eared listeners of the Gweek podcast, know that I love the comic strip "Cul de Sac," by Richard Thompson. Richard recently went on hiatus from the strip while he undergoes treatment for Parkinson's disease, and I was glad for his treatment, but sorry to miss new strips.
Well, this week started a five-week period of guest cartoonists, keeping things re-run free until Richard returns. Michael Jantze has been doing a great job with the Cul de Sac crew since Monday.
The rest of the pinch-hitter line-up, which I'm honored and tickled to be in:
Week of 2/27: Corey Pandolph (the Fake Rockstar!)
Week of 3/5: Ruben Bolling (Me!)
Week of 3/12: Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate!)
Week of 3/19: Superstar Mo Willems!
[UPDATE: The above is the schedule for the Monday-Saturday guest installments. The guest Sunday installments start on March 18, and run in the same order, except that I didn't do a Sunday — instead, that Sunday is being done by Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine!).]
Just filed the comics, and had a real blast playing with and drawing Richard's amazing characters.
I hope you enjoy these comics, and please visit Richard's and Chris Sparks's Team Cul de Sac site, and consider donating to The Michael J. Fox Foundation.
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I really loved the discussion that last week's comic opened up in the comments sections. Some commenters were sympathetic to Louis, others were not. Many people shared stories of similar experiences and feelings.
But my favorite comment was one that really surprised me. On the Boing Boing comments section, "eyebeam" wrote, "Louis creates his own pain, and needs to drag others down to feel better about himself." Later, "Promethean Sky" wrote:
"It didn't strike me as him trying to pull his friend down. It seems to me that his fear is that he'd look like a dork dancing, and is trying to 'help' his friend avoid that as well. Which only make the situation more sad."
I was struck by this. When I wrote the comic, I would have agreed with eyebeam that Louis simply wanted company in his misery, or to build himself up, and that's certainly a valid interpretation for Louis's actions. But Promethean Sky's alternative interpretation suddenly struck me as more true — a truth I wasn't even conscious of while I was drawing the comic.
I'd say there's even more evidence for this interpertation than the one I'd "intended." Louis's expression seems sincere throughout his interaction with Myron. He seems to be genuinely trying to spare Myron's feelings (if totally clumsily and unsuccessfully). And when Myron agrees to go with him to flush toilets, Louis's thoughts don't betray any ill-intent. He doesn't think that he's glad he now has company, or that he feels better now that the put Myron down. He seems to be simply returning to his countdown, now that he's "helped" his friend.
I find this interpretation more interesting than my original conscious intent. In some ways, I think I intended this interpretation in mind all along without realizing it; after all, I drew Louis's expressions, and I struggled with the final panel, considering far less subtle endings, until I came up with this vague "78 more minutes" ending.
So thanks to Promethean Sky, and eyebeam, and all the other commenters, for contributing to the comic, and making it more fun for me. Cartoonists often have a love/hate relationship with comments sections (and often hate/hate) because they can be negative. But in their proper place, I find they can be a fascinating part of the process.
Now maybe someone can tell me why I found the soda machine's glow such an important part of the comic…
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I found, via Tom Spurgeon, this exhaustive history of Peanuts in comic books, in a blog on Timely-Atlas Comics.
This cover does look like it's by Charles Schulz, and it's amazing:
And this is a tantalizing glimpse of the first page of a four page story by Schulz:
The stuff not by Schulz, not surprisingly, does not look too good. This looks like a mediocre parody of a Peanuts strip, right down to the needlessly shouted punchline and levitating, cringing reacting characters.
But it would be a dream to collect all this in a popularly priced, historically respectful book (as Fantagraphics does so masterfully). Even the non-Schulz stuff was supposedly supervised by Schulz, and so holds some interest.
I spoke to Paige Braddock of Schulz Creative Associates a few months ago, and she said that they were considering a book of this material at one point, and might do so again.
Boom Studios? Fantagraphics? LET'S GET ON IT!!! <reaction shot of levitating, cringing comic book publishers>
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I don't care much about the Academy Awards. But longtime readers of Tom the Dancing Bug will know that I do find the hype and excitement around them pretty funny.
I don't remember where or when, but years ago, I read an amazing article showing how one particular entertainment writer would keep writing, year after year, that THIS year's "Best Picture" Oscar race was particularly wide open, as opposed to previous years when it was absolutely clear which movie was going to win, or which couple of movies would contend. And the next year he'd write exactly the same thing.
[UPDATE (1/11/13): The writer of this article has stepped forward, and it is Daily Show and Mad Magazine writer Tim Carvell, who originated the study of Oscar Amnesia in 2002. The article appeared in Slate Magazine in 2002.]
I was reminded of that when I read this article this morning in The New York Times. Michael Cieply writes that while three movies have emerged as contenders — "The Artist," "The Help," and "The Descendants" — this year's race is particularly wide open:
"By this time last year, “The King’s Speech” had been all but crowned best picture, and the 2010 contest by January had turned into a match between “The Hurt Locker,” which ultimately won, and “Avatar,” which didn’t. This time around, more than a dozen pictures and their components are continuing to jostle for position in a chaotic contest."
I thought it would be interesting to do a quick Google search to test Cieply's memory.
Sure enough, last year, just a bit later than today's date, January 14, 2011, Melena Ryzik wrote in Cieply's New York Times blog, "The Carpetbagger," that nominations for an editing award had revealed an insider's picks for Best Picture contenders, narrowing the field to five favorites to contend.
"Here’s who to favor in your Oscar pool: “Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “Inception,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network.”"
No mention of a coronation.
In fact, even much later in January, on January 25, after the Oscar nominations had been announced, Cieply himself (with Brooks Barnes) called the Oscar race a "wild scramble". "The King's Speech" got the most nominations, but in their view that merely brought it into a pole position. And clearly, the day before there had been other frontrunners:
"“True Grit” surged into second position, and “The Social Network,” which had seemed a frontrunner, was matched by “Inception,” followed closely by “The Fighter.”"
What about 2010's race, which in January had apparently become a clear race between "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar"? On January 24, 2010, Cieply referred to the race as a "wide-open contest," writing in his lead paragraph in a story, "The Oscar race turned into a free-for-all over the weekend." He does say that there is a "hot contest" between the two movies, but also includes "Inglorious Basterds" and any other movie that can be nominated, as competitors.
Next year, we'll all remember that in January 2012 it seemed all but inevitable that "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son" would bring home the Oscar gold.
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"So… You've Been Indefinitely Detained."
Read Here.
And, in honor of the Tintin movie coming out today, here's an extra link to "Billy Dare, in 'Into the Uncanny Valley.'"
Read Here.
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Alert reader @dodgemc writes via Twitter,
"The populace is struggling to make sense of Tebow’s uncanny late-game glory. Perhaps a Godman comic could help us understand?"
God-Man is always there to help, Mr. @dodgemc, if that is indeed your real name. Here is a comic from 2000 that fully explains exactly how religion and sports work together.
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