Lady in the Water

As you've noticed, the strip is smaller today. There's a couple reasons for that:

1. I want to draw strips more frequently. That's for YOU. And a single-tiered format would allow for that.

2. This joke just worked better as a four panel comic.

Number two is the biggie, the thing that got me to try this approach. I wrote a couple versions of the script with six panels, seven panels, five . . . and all of them just seemed to explain-y. I'm good at that, you might've noticed -- using more words than I gotta.

I'm not sure where that comes from. Certainly not my father. He's one of the most impressive linguists I've ever met, but when I was a kid? I didn't realize he could speak more than one syllable at a time. He tended to -- and still does -- limit his speechifying to quick comments like, "Mm! Hot dogs!" and "Go Cubs!" But get him reading his poetry, or talking to his classes and holy cow! It's like a whole different person's taken him over. It's amazing, really. And his writing . . . so complex and eloquent and intricate and readable all at the same time. Maybe he was always that way. Maybe I just couldn't understand as a kid. Who knows?

Anyway, you'll likely get a few single-tiered PP strips here and there, but don't worry. I'll make it worth your while.

Out of curiosity, if given the choice, would you prefer LONG strips or MORE strips?

:C

P.S. - Lady in the Water was TERRIBLE.

Comixpedia Interview

Just so y'all know, there's an interview with me up at Comixpedia!

So if the scattering of words found in a week's worth of Popcorn Picnic ain't enough for you, then head on over and check it out, 'cause I blabber on and on and on.

And ON.

:C

A Scanner Darkly

Something a little different this week.

In the spirit of Richard Linklater's semi-animated adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, I decided to draw this week's strip by hand, then painstakingly paint, one pixel at a time, a photographic representation directly on top of the original cartoon.

I started drawing this strip six years ago, by the way.

Anyway, be sure to check it out, otherwise you'll miss the premier battle between good twin CHRIS and evil twin CROSS.

Which is the real me?

Ain't tellin'.

:C

Jaws

You're wondering why I've decided to post a strip about a movie that's older than dirt. I don't blame you. My only real reason: 'cause it was FUN. Maybe not as fun as seeing a 30-second version re-enacted by bunnies (with special guest star Bryan Singer), but pretty darned fun, all the same.

Jaws was a touchstone summer movie, and the original source of the word "blockbuster." It was playing near my Massachusettsian home last week at a dinky theater (with great popcorn and horrible seats that probably crippled their original 15th-century occupants), and even though you can just about hear the hinges on the jaws of, um, Jaws squeaking, it's still a great movie. That ol' Spielberg. He sure does know to film crazy crowd scenes.

Speaking of which, since I posted the strip I've been told stories about various aspects of the making of the movie. One of 'em: that the dog that vanishes "mysteriously" from the beach just before the Kintner boy bites it was named after an NPR reporter who had an on-set affair with Richard Dreyfuss. Which'd make a great story! But the dog's name is "Pippet," while the NPR reporter's name was slightly different -- "Pippen." So I sorta doubt its true.

Anybody got a story about Jaws? C'mon, people. Let's take a yellow, brown and olive-hued trip down memory lane.

In the meantime, consider buying a silly/awesome t-shirt. Personally? I'm especially fond of the "A WHA?" model.

:C