Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Aren't-Buckle
I can't believe it took me this long to notice, but those reading who are not from Boston, nor periodically in the area, might be interested/outraged/confused to learn that Garfield is no longer running in the Globe.
That's right-- let it sink in. No more Garfield in the Boston Globe. The very reason I started reading comics of any kind in the first place is not available for Bostonians to read, on newsprint, anyway.
Amazingly, we've still got:
-Mallard Fillmore, this week taking a break from mocking the oh-so-current trend of baggy jeans to hilariously lampoon the supermodel industry with the slyly named character "Purge Daley" (get it??? neither did i, so here's the scoop: evidently, some people who are very thin stay thin by making themselves throw up, this is called 'bulemia' or more casually, 'purging.' and one assumes that for a supermodel, bulemia would be a full-time job!! hence the clever name! Bruce "DUI" Tinsley: one, modelling industry/womens' health: zero!)
-Prickly City, that lazy liberal scotty is attempting to woo Leona Helmsley's rich dog-heiress this week... to his don't-tread-on-my-nebulously-centrist-views girl sidekick's exasperation. Whee!
-Heart of the City, taking the pandering pop-culture 'geek' references of Fox Trot and commingling them half assedly with the elements of Calvin and Hobbes that are easiest to ape, like it does.
-Red and Rover, gentle boy-and-his-dog fluff and the second contribution to the MP from the guy who draws Adam@Home.
(Also, dude is still lapping from the years-dry well of the utterly deplorable Adam@Home, spinning his wheels for the past several weeks by doing a seemingly neverending run of strips about Adam watching TV*. It's not even an HDTV!!!)
-The MacPaint-level artistic stylings and Gary Larson content-ripoffery of F Minus.
-Harry Bliss's New Yorker rejects, the inaccurately titled "Bliss" (for those of you who would say, "That is a single panel cartoon and Garfield is a 4-panel strip, it wouldn't fit there anyway": they have started running Arlo and Janis in a 2 on top, 2 on bottom** square format)
All this garbage and plenty more that I can't think of right now, and no Lord of Lasagna to reign over all of it.
Say what you will about Garfield--- Lord knows I have. But it is a classic strip, the most classic our generation has, in fact, and that should guarantee it a permanent stop on any self respecting MP as long as it is available for publication. Hell, it isn't even in the Sunday 'mix any more. And PAWS, Inc has really been trying these past few years... unfortunate forays into espresso bar humor forgiven.
This. The painful mixtual evidence that even Bill Griffith and Berke Breathed are getting old. The looming end of FBFW (enough with the god damn super teddy, get back to Liz and Anthony already gals. If you are blocked here is a hint: have them get married)
Who is left to carry the torch? Darby Conley and Garry Trudeau? Good, because I love those guys. Hilary Price, you are also welcome to keep on doing it to it.
*i am trying to forget the disturbing week where his nose grew like pinocchio's because he lied about paying a bill
**I like to think that Jimmy Johnson would snicker when he read that
That's right-- let it sink in. No more Garfield in the Boston Globe. The very reason I started reading comics of any kind in the first place is not available for Bostonians to read, on newsprint, anyway.
Amazingly, we've still got:
-Mallard Fillmore, this week taking a break from mocking the oh-so-current trend of baggy jeans to hilariously lampoon the supermodel industry with the slyly named character "Purge Daley" (get it??? neither did i, so here's the scoop: evidently, some people who are very thin stay thin by making themselves throw up, this is called 'bulemia' or more casually, 'purging.' and one assumes that for a supermodel, bulemia would be a full-time job!! hence the clever name! Bruce "DUI" Tinsley: one, modelling industry/womens' health: zero!)
-Prickly City, that lazy liberal scotty is attempting to woo Leona Helmsley's rich dog-heiress this week... to his don't-tread-on-my-nebulously-centrist-views girl sidekick's exasperation. Whee!
-Heart of the City, taking the pandering pop-culture 'geek' references of Fox Trot and commingling them half assedly with the elements of Calvin and Hobbes that are easiest to ape, like it does.
-Red and Rover, gentle boy-and-his-dog fluff and the second contribution to the MP from the guy who draws Adam@Home.
(Also, dude is still lapping from the years-dry well of the utterly deplorable Adam@Home, spinning his wheels for the past several weeks by doing a seemingly neverending run of strips about Adam watching TV*. It's not even an HDTV!!!)
-The MacPaint-level artistic stylings and Gary Larson content-ripoffery of F Minus.
-Harry Bliss's New Yorker rejects, the inaccurately titled "Bliss" (for those of you who would say, "That is a single panel cartoon and Garfield is a 4-panel strip, it wouldn't fit there anyway": they have started running Arlo and Janis in a 2 on top, 2 on bottom** square format)
All this garbage and plenty more that I can't think of right now, and no Lord of Lasagna to reign over all of it.
Say what you will about Garfield--- Lord knows I have. But it is a classic strip, the most classic our generation has, in fact, and that should guarantee it a permanent stop on any self respecting MP as long as it is available for publication. Hell, it isn't even in the Sunday 'mix any more. And PAWS, Inc has really been trying these past few years... unfortunate forays into espresso bar humor forgiven.
This. The painful mixtual evidence that even Bill Griffith and Berke Breathed are getting old. The looming end of FBFW (enough with the god damn super teddy, get back to Liz and Anthony already gals. If you are blocked here is a hint: have them get married)
Who is left to carry the torch? Darby Conley and Garry Trudeau? Good, because I love those guys. Hilary Price, you are also welcome to keep on doing it to it.
*i am trying to forget the disturbing week where his nose grew like pinocchio's because he lied about paying a bill
**I like to think that Jimmy Johnson would snicker when he read that
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Fay-te of Sally Forth
My friends!
A few words on the strip beloved by all (including people as far away as Iceland, according to the official website), populated by some of the most appalling (Sally's mom) and most groovy (Ted) characters on the MP. Can you guess which strip I'm talking about?? Why, it's Sally Forth, of course! I'm, just going to touch on a few issues that have been running through the ol' collective unconscious (though why I need to tell you anything when we're really just a hive mind, I don't really know).
First of all, is everyone familiar with Greg Howard? He's the lawyer-turned-'Mics-Artist who created SF in the '80s. He was some schmuck who couldn't draw:
After 10 years, he just inexplicably left the strip, turning things over to Francesco Marculiano and some artist, who never seems to get any credit. That's right, FM doesn't draw the fucking thing at all! There's a division of labor in place, because surely no human could both give voice to the divine Ted and simultaneously draw a little line on Sally's face to represent her one permanent emotion (which is.... snideness? Is that even an emotion?)
Anyway, let's talk about what's been happening, namely the decline and fall of the second grooviest character in SF, the love of Isaac Pirie's life, future mother of his children Freedom Trail Pirie and Old North Church Pirie: Faye. Faye obviously rules! Remember the rock band that consisted of Hilary on drums and Faye on drums? That would never have happened without Faye and her badass little denim vest. But lo, what is this we see on the horizon? The assimilation of our heroine of cool into the flock of sheep that is the elementary school crowd! I mean, in 6ht grade I started combing my hair so I wouldn't get made fun of so much, and the following year I bought a Champion sweatshirt to try to fit in (of course I bought a purple one, so I was mocked just as heavily as before), but come one, I wasn't as cool as Faye to begin with. She was ever the free thinker, ever the iconoclast, while I was ever the schlep in a Def Leppard T-shirt. What does this mean for the world, that one of the shining lights on the 'MP has been so callously extinguished? Or will she rise again, phoenix-like, from the ashes of complacency and a polka-dot blouse?
Perhaps more importantly, what the heck is her ethnic background?? What's that you say? It's obvious, she's white like everybody else? Well check this out:
This is taken from the Oakland Tribune, and though poorly scanned by yours truly, the fact is that Faye's skin is printed in half tone, while Hilary's is not. What gives? Is Faye a member of an ethnic minority? Does the Tribune color folks in so there'll be more black people on the 'MP? Let's just say that a little internet delving reveals that in full color, everybody looks the same: White as a sheet. In fact, I think there has never been a single black person in SF, ever. So the mystery remains unsolved. All we can do is pray on bended knee that Faye, be she black, white or greyish, be returned to us as the Queen of Cool, the Paragon of Party, the Goddess of Grunge that she once was. So say we all.
A few words on the strip beloved by all (including people as far away as Iceland, according to the official website), populated by some of the most appalling (Sally's mom) and most groovy (Ted) characters on the MP. Can you guess which strip I'm talking about?? Why, it's Sally Forth, of course! I'm, just going to touch on a few issues that have been running through the ol' collective unconscious (though why I need to tell you anything when we're really just a hive mind, I don't really know).
First of all, is everyone familiar with Greg Howard? He's the lawyer-turned-'Mics-Artist who created SF in the '80s. He was some schmuck who couldn't draw:
After 10 years, he just inexplicably left the strip, turning things over to Francesco Marculiano and some artist, who never seems to get any credit. That's right, FM doesn't draw the fucking thing at all! There's a division of labor in place, because surely no human could both give voice to the divine Ted and simultaneously draw a little line on Sally's face to represent her one permanent emotion (which is.... snideness? Is that even an emotion?)
Anyway, let's talk about what's been happening, namely the decline and fall of the second grooviest character in SF, the love of Isaac Pirie's life, future mother of his children Freedom Trail Pirie and Old North Church Pirie: Faye. Faye obviously rules! Remember the rock band that consisted of Hilary on drums and Faye on drums? That would never have happened without Faye and her badass little denim vest. But lo, what is this we see on the horizon? The assimilation of our heroine of cool into the flock of sheep that is the elementary school crowd! I mean, in 6ht grade I started combing my hair so I wouldn't get made fun of so much, and the following year I bought a Champion sweatshirt to try to fit in (of course I bought a purple one, so I was mocked just as heavily as before), but come one, I wasn't as cool as Faye to begin with. She was ever the free thinker, ever the iconoclast, while I was ever the schlep in a Def Leppard T-shirt. What does this mean for the world, that one of the shining lights on the 'MP has been so callously extinguished? Or will she rise again, phoenix-like, from the ashes of complacency and a polka-dot blouse?
Perhaps more importantly, what the heck is her ethnic background?? What's that you say? It's obvious, she's white like everybody else? Well check this out:
This is taken from the Oakland Tribune, and though poorly scanned by yours truly, the fact is that Faye's skin is printed in half tone, while Hilary's is not. What gives? Is Faye a member of an ethnic minority? Does the Tribune color folks in so there'll be more black people on the 'MP? Let's just say that a little internet delving reveals that in full color, everybody looks the same: White as a sheet. In fact, I think there has never been a single black person in SF, ever. So the mystery remains unsolved. All we can do is pray on bended knee that Faye, be she black, white or greyish, be returned to us as the Queen of Cool, the Paragon of Party, the Goddess of Grunge that she once was. So say we all.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
For Better Or For Worse
I know it's an obvious post title but I found it apropos to my feelings on the evolution of FBFW as it appears to be developing.
Now forgive me if this sounds extreme, but this shit offends my artistic sensibilities. Lynn's early work--Jules Feiffer-influenced, in my opinion--is some of the charmingest comic art around from the late 70's* that I could think of, which may mean that it's some of the charmingest comic art around, period. Look at its contemporaries, for Christ's sake. Cathy, Garfield, Andy Capp? Fred fuckin' Basset? The fact that this strip was in the paper I think was probably if not a big deal at the time it first appeared, at least a perhaps noticeably different deal...particularly as time passed and it became apparent that the characters were aging at a real-world rate. (Garfield's birthdays notwithstanding.)
I mean sure it's cutesy at times, but the shit is not exactly Full House either. I would call it the My So-Called Life of the comics page, in fact, if MSCL had gone on for 30 years and started when Angela was a baby and each episode was 45 seconds long. It too is about a middle-class family doing regular old shit, involving children, drawn in what can only be described as a hippie-ish style of art. Which brings me to the point-- I am really, really glad that Lynn ceased and desisted with the redrawing bullshit that was going on. I'm not sure whether that was to soften the blow with our less web-savvy fellow FBFW fans or what, but I for one found it to be a bad idea. I'm all for the 'Michael's Reminiscences' or whatever they might be called that preface these reruns, now that they're being printed with the original art. Even if they might be a little hokey sometimes, hey, it's FBFW, right? Even MSCL could be a little hokey sometimes.
But, to quote the judge in Philedelphia, "Let's see where this is going." Maybe eventually the reminiscences will not even be there and we'll have bona fide reruns-- and if they were done sequentially, I wouldn't mind that one bit. I have a suspicion that book-sales-related concerns may make that not happen and they'll do it in the randomer style that they use on the Time Travel section of fborfw.com, though. And I guess that would also be cool with me, although I never imagined this strip going that route when I thought about the possibility of it ending.
Whatever happens, let's not forget that we've got one final romance to wrap up before "time" "stops" or whatever, and evidently some Sunday newness to look forward to:
ya still got it, Lynn baby! Who needs dia-log... that strip 'leaves' me in stitches! (A one-two pun-ch for my gal Laura over at fbfw.com!)
*I know that strip's from 1981, but I think fbfw started in like '79 right?
Now forgive me if this sounds extreme, but this shit offends my artistic sensibilities. Lynn's early work--Jules Feiffer-influenced, in my opinion--is some of the charmingest comic art around from the late 70's* that I could think of, which may mean that it's some of the charmingest comic art around, period. Look at its contemporaries, for Christ's sake. Cathy, Garfield, Andy Capp? Fred fuckin' Basset? The fact that this strip was in the paper I think was probably if not a big deal at the time it first appeared, at least a perhaps noticeably different deal...particularly as time passed and it became apparent that the characters were aging at a real-world rate. (Garfield's birthdays notwithstanding.)
I mean sure it's cutesy at times, but the shit is not exactly Full House either. I would call it the My So-Called Life of the comics page, in fact, if MSCL had gone on for 30 years and started when Angela was a baby and each episode was 45 seconds long. It too is about a middle-class family doing regular old shit, involving children, drawn in what can only be described as a hippie-ish style of art. Which brings me to the point-- I am really, really glad that Lynn ceased and desisted with the redrawing bullshit that was going on. I'm not sure whether that was to soften the blow with our less web-savvy fellow FBFW fans or what, but I for one found it to be a bad idea. I'm all for the 'Michael's Reminiscences' or whatever they might be called that preface these reruns, now that they're being printed with the original art. Even if they might be a little hokey sometimes, hey, it's FBFW, right? Even MSCL could be a little hokey sometimes.
But, to quote the judge in Philedelphia, "Let's see where this is going." Maybe eventually the reminiscences will not even be there and we'll have bona fide reruns-- and if they were done sequentially, I wouldn't mind that one bit. I have a suspicion that book-sales-related concerns may make that not happen and they'll do it in the randomer style that they use on the Time Travel section of fborfw.com, though. And I guess that would also be cool with me, although I never imagined this strip going that route when I thought about the possibility of it ending.
Whatever happens, let's not forget that we've got one final romance to wrap up before "time" "stops" or whatever, and evidently some Sunday newness to look forward to:
ya still got it, Lynn baby! Who needs dia-log... that strip 'leaves' me in stitches! (A one-two pun-ch for my gal Laura over at fbfw.com!)*I know that strip's from 1981, but I think fbfw started in like '79 right?
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Sunday Brunch
Greetings, Comics Comrades!
A lot of whispers have been circulating the past few days about just what exactly a 'Butter Tart' is, because lord knows if the Pattersons love them, then we must love them too. Now 'tis Sunday brunch time, and this is a perfect opportunity to share the wealth of Canadian baking lore with all and sundry. Below is the FBorFW officially sanctioned Butter Tart recipe. Vegan adaptations are ecnouraged. Now enjoy them with the hot, caffeinated beverage of your choice while you read the glorious and colorful Sunday 'Mics!
Friday, August 31, 2007
For Whom The Mixtual Bell Tolls
Friends-- greetings. Nice to be back. Albeit to some potentially troubling news on fborfw.com:
New Phase of "For Better or For Worse" Begins Sept. 3
Posted: August 29, 2007 | News Bites Home
What troubles me more is the last couple of paragraphs. Not only at the hint that we're going to be waiting until at least 2008 for a resolution of Liz and Anthony's story, but the-----
whoa, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Let's wait a second here and go back and read the third to last paragraph, like I just did. It's phrased in a confusing way but am i wrong in interpreting the phrase "When that happens, time will stop for the extended Patterson family" as "The strip will end?"
My friends I do not use these letters together often, but:
WTF?????????
Is this the end of FBFW?
And if so, why the deceptive phrasing, Lynn (or more likely Laura, pun-tastic temptress of my heart that you are)? Why not just come out and say it rather than have me write a half a blog that then gets interrupted and that I feel compelled to nonetheless share because of the dramatic nature of my epiphany.
Well the cat's out of the bag now, ladies. The more I reread the above article, the more I'm convinced: No more new fbfw in 2008.
I need to be alone with my thoughts for a little while. Seriously man: this makes me feel sad.
New Phase of "For Better or For Worse" Begins Sept. 3
Posted: August 29, 2007 | News Bites Home
Kansas City, MO (08/29/2007) Aug. 28, 2007 -- Lynn Johnston’s popular comic strip “For Better or For Worse” begins a new phase Monday, Sept. 3, as character Michael Patterson looks through a family photo album with his 5-year-old daughter, Meredith. With this strip, Michael begins retelling the Patterson family story by recounting the courtship of his parents, John and Elly, the central characters in the 28-year-old comic strip read by millions each day.
In a mixture of new, old and retouched work, readers will begin to see scenes of the past -- Elly reading in the library at college and catching the eye of the young dental student who will one day become her husband.
“This was an opportunity to give my readers new material, as well as my being able to pick and choose through the original art and making it different, making it a new entity, as it were,” says Johnston.
Johnston will keep fans engaged with a mix of special strips from the past and newly drawn panels that will help reintroduce favorite storylines. The strip’s current storyline will be interlaced with Michael's remembrances until it gradually reaches a natural closing stage sometime early next year. When that happens, time will stop for the extended Patterson family, but not their stories. The stories will be relived by a current generation of fans and introduced for the first time to a new generation.
Right now, Johnston is still exploring the budding romance between oldest daughter Elizabeth and an old high school flame.
"I'm interested and readers are interested to know what is going to happen with Anthony and Elizabeth," she said. "That resolution can't happen too fast. They've only just started to see each other again after a long time apart."
OK, so Lynn is taking a souped up hiatus. That's excusable; I've loved going through some of the strips that were before my time on the Web, so I guess those of us who never visit the website will get to feel a little weird that Elly used to be kind of hot 30 years ago, and that she wore bell bottom pants. (adds to the hotness, IMO)What troubles me more is the last couple of paragraphs. Not only at the hint that we're going to be waiting until at least 2008 for a resolution of Liz and Anthony's story, but the-----
whoa, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Let's wait a second here and go back and read the third to last paragraph, like I just did. It's phrased in a confusing way but am i wrong in interpreting the phrase "When that happens, time will stop for the extended Patterson family" as "The strip will end?"
My friends I do not use these letters together often, but:
WTF?????????
Is this the end of FBFW?
And if so, why the deceptive phrasing, Lynn (or more likely Laura, pun-tastic temptress of my heart that you are)? Why not just come out and say it rather than have me write a half a blog that then gets interrupted and that I feel compelled to nonetheless share because of the dramatic nature of my epiphany.
Well the cat's out of the bag now, ladies. The more I reread the above article, the more I'm convinced: No more new fbfw in 2008.
I need to be alone with my thoughts for a little while. Seriously man: this makes me feel sad.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
In regards to recent events
My Friends!
Let us ignore the fact that I have treated my blogging duties like Jeremy might treat his responsibilty to pick his shoes up off of the hallway floor. It's been a while, it's just that I've been really busy doing important stuff.* But given that half of the production team here at RD&Cw/T is at summer camp this month, I figured it was time for me to step up to the plate. Much like our fishy friends over in Sherman's Lagoon, jumping on the summer softball train just as Hilary and her teammates are deboarding due to Ted's negative mental attitude. Much like Barry Bonds, breaking Hank Aaron's home run record at a baseball game which I had the option of attending for free, but did not because I had something responsible to do. You know what, I don't give a fuck because I don't even need to use a double asterix to tell you that that guy was totes hopped up on 'roids, and who needs to witness baseball history being made when they've got the 'mix to greet them each morning? NOT ME!
N-E-WAYZ, let's talk about what really matters: Ted Forth, snap the fuck out of it! Sally basically just told you that unless you get a 'tude adjustment, you are not gonna get laid. Here's what I think: Stop half-assing it with that 5 o'clock shadow and grow a beard. Sometimes a makeover is just what you need to gain a new outlook on life. And I'm not talking about some trim, shapely goatee, I am talking about an epic beard, akin to that gracing the face of the holy man down the in today's (er, yesterday's) relatively lame Bliss panel. That dude, btw is the only beardo on the page! Beards: underrepresented!
We all know that there is another facial hair issue that needs to be addressed. Yes, I am speaking of Anthony's mustache. I mean, yeah Liz, smooching is great, but don't you think that smooching a dignified mustache would be better than a bare, scratchy upper lip? And I understand that the removal of the mustache is a metaphor for the clean slate of Liz and Anthony's relationship, unsullied by the disastrous marriage with whatserface that kept them apart for so long. But puh-leez. Decide for yourself:
From a few months ago:
The current dillemna:
I realize that my argument for Ted's beard and for Anthony's mustache sort of contradict each other, but that's because whatever reasons I give for these dudes to have facial hair, the only reason they really need is that facial hair is righteous. And righteous dudes, dear readers, are the name of the game.
PEACE!
*Lying around
Let us ignore the fact that I have treated my blogging duties like Jeremy might treat his responsibilty to pick his shoes up off of the hallway floor. It's been a while, it's just that I've been really busy doing important stuff.* But given that half of the production team here at RD&Cw/T is at summer camp this month, I figured it was time for me to step up to the plate. Much like our fishy friends over in Sherman's Lagoon, jumping on the summer softball train just as Hilary and her teammates are deboarding due to Ted's negative mental attitude. Much like Barry Bonds, breaking Hank Aaron's home run record at a baseball game which I had the option of attending for free, but did not because I had something responsible to do. You know what, I don't give a fuck because I don't even need to use a double asterix to tell you that that guy was totes hopped up on 'roids, and who needs to witness baseball history being made when they've got the 'mix to greet them each morning? NOT ME!
N-E-WAYZ, let's talk about what really matters: Ted Forth, snap the fuck out of it! Sally basically just told you that unless you get a 'tude adjustment, you are not gonna get laid. Here's what I think: Stop half-assing it with that 5 o'clock shadow and grow a beard. Sometimes a makeover is just what you need to gain a new outlook on life. And I'm not talking about some trim, shapely goatee, I am talking about an epic beard, akin to that gracing the face of the holy man down the in today's (er, yesterday's) relatively lame Bliss panel. That dude, btw is the only beardo on the page! Beards: underrepresented!
We all know that there is another facial hair issue that needs to be addressed. Yes, I am speaking of Anthony's mustache. I mean, yeah Liz, smooching is great, but don't you think that smooching a dignified mustache would be better than a bare, scratchy upper lip? And I understand that the removal of the mustache is a metaphor for the clean slate of Liz and Anthony's relationship, unsullied by the disastrous marriage with whatserface that kept them apart for so long. But puh-leez. Decide for yourself:
From a few months ago:
The current dillemna:
I realize that my argument for Ted's beard and for Anthony's mustache sort of contradict each other, but that's because whatever reasons I give for these dudes to have facial hair, the only reason they really need is that facial hair is righteous. And righteous dudes, dear readers, are the name of the game.
PEACE!
*Lying around
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