Ask me something

[rcmonroe]

Syndicates are notorious for not wanting to take chances.

With very, very few exceptions, every strip that's been syndicated in the last half century has been appropriate for children, both in terms of level of comprehension (a.k.a. lowest common denominator) and age-appropriateness (G-rated).

Interestingly, they took a lot more chances a hundred years ago, or even seventy years ago. This seems counterintuitive, because it was a much more conservative time, but comic strips were a new art form, and the rules hadn't been written yet; they had to see what would fly and what wouldn't. As a result, the decisions were often made on the whims of the syndicate editors' personal tastes, rather than what they thought the public would like or stand for. And some of those guys had pretty good taste.

But eventually, they figured out that the most profitable route was to churn out homogenized gag-a-day strips that the kiddies and the grandmas would both understand and not get offended by, and that's where we're at now.

[biev]

Even Calvin and Hobbes had a hard time getting syndicated because his parents are always aggravated with him.

[diddledop]

Are John and Clayton working at the same warehouse?

[rcmonroe]

The answer hasn't been revealed yet in the strip, so my answer has to be: "I don't know."

[Winge]

About Nemi:

From what I see, this is defintely a strip that the American syndicates would steer clear from. At least now, in their backwards, poised-for-extinction state.

That is actually a bit funny (wait, did I say "funny"? I meant "sad"), because Nemi is not really what I would describe as a daring strip. When we are at Scandinavian comics, one could mention the Swedish strip "Rocky" (lots of strips translated into English here: http://www.rocky-digital.com/), which regularly deals with smoking, drinking, violence, sex, etc, etc.

And it is syndicated. And runs in lots of papers, not only hip, niched ones, but in your average town's daily newspaper. (Not completely uncontroversially, of course. For example, if I remember correctly, my local paper decided not to run the strip where our protagonist Rocky on his last day on his trip to NY has unprotected sex with a virgin, not only possibly making her pregnant, but possibly (unknowingly) giving her chlamydia as well -- but they didn't cancel the strip.)

One may think what one wants about how far comics should go, but it's clear anyway that American syndicates have wast territories to explore, if only they dared.

[rcmonroe]

Interesting strip. I think R. Crumb should sue, but that's another story.

I think I need to go for syndication in Sweden. I'd be the quaint little strip that the kiddies and grandmas could read.

[Stig Hemmer]

Are John and Clayton working at the same warehouse?

And if so, would they ever meet there?

[biev]

Good point. It might take them 6 months before they even realize they work in the same place : )

[HiFranc]

Good point. It might take them 6 months before they even realize they work in the same place : )

6 months our time or 6 months in their time?

[diddledop]

6 months in their time is probably like 6 years in our time.

[rcmonroe]

At least.

[diddledop]

Why is it so QuIeT in here?

[diddledop]

Does Chuck smoke?

[rcmonroe]

As fate would have it, the answer to that will be revealed in the strip itself very soon.

[Anonymous#1]

why would anyone smile when they're drinking beer on an empty stomach?

sorry, but i havn't slept, thus i could not figure it out meself.

[rcmonroe]

The idea was that if you drink on an empty stomach, you become inebriated faster, and therefore are more likely to smile for no apparent reason.

I guess.

Miriam said it, not me.

[biev]

This is interesting because since the beginning, I really can't tell if Chuck is having a good time or not. I wonder if he's smiling because this is all vaguely amusing to him, or because he's relatively content no matter what happens around him, or because he just doesn't know what to say... etc.

[rcmonroe]

He's having a good time. And it's all vaguely amusing to him. And he's relatively content no matter what happens around him.

And he just doesn't know what to say.

Oh, and

[diddledop]

Why does Miriam look taller than Chuck in Panel 4 but shorter in Panel 5 in today's strip (4/14/07 Sat)?

Also, does Chuck have a 3rd arm in Panel 5? It looks as though he has his right hand around her right arm but yet his right arm appears to hang vertically straight downward.

I confess I may not be viewing the panel correctly. Thanks for any clarification or guidance you may wish to offer.

[rcmonroe]

Ahem.

I drew panel 4 from a photograph

[diddledop]

Man, the strip with Chuck's 3rd Arm is now probably worth millions! If only I had saved it!!!!

[biev]

When I use pictures for reference, I usually do a first quick sketch while looking at the reference, and then once I have a pretty good understanding of the pose and I'm ready to draw the real thing, I do it by memory. Otherwise it is easy to get angle or proportion problems.

(Look at me, speaking like I'm all that)

[Anonymous#1]

Were/Are you an alcoholic?

jus curious

[rcmonroe]

Were/Are you an alcoholic?

jus curious

I wish I could think of an appropriately evasive John-like response here

[bloodeye]

Can be done. Randy over at SomethingPositive said 'put your money where my mouth is. Raise me a years salary, and I'll quit my job, do this full time.' And his fans did it.

Personally, am a little too worried about keeping a roof over my own head to help out financially, but moral support I can help with.