remember to come see me in Michigan USA nov. 4-5
BREAKING DOWN SOME OLDER WORK
Arsenic Lullaby has a big anniversary coming up, and I've been inevitably looking back on the body of work so far...and looking over what still works and what doesn't. Comedy writing is ever in peril of eventually seeming outdated. For the most part I've always written Arsenic Lullaby to be timeless/evergreen. but after a long enough time, some things are going to feel/come across as "last generation" entertainment.
SO...as I said I've been looking over older stuff and have a few handy worth talking about as far as comedy writing or comic book technique or whatever. Sort of a insider breakdown of my own stuff.
Let's start with one that I know is solid and still holds up...for the most part.
The office is a bit outdated looking, but it's a good gag that lands well. and hey...we might possibly have a single father, that's pretty hip...maybe. Hmm, now that I look at it, he doesn't have a wedding ring on, maybe that's not even his kid. Nah, it's got the same hair and nose. I must have had it being his kid in mind when I drew it. Though, that's an interesting road to go down if it's not his kid. Like he was babysitting or something? anyways...
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT ONE...
There's an example of a joke I'd never try to get away with in this day and age...by that I mean using the concept of someone stealing a car stereo. Yeash, how long have I been doing this job? If I dig deeper, I will find an A.L. gag about a rotary phone?
Shouldn't someone half my age have come along by now and started putting out a comedy book that blows mine away? This feels like it's 1985 and Flip Wilson is still on top because Eddie Murphy never existed. Not the best analogy, but you get my meaning.
I think my discussion panel at Grand Rapids Comic Con might be well served to be aimed at getting young creatives to start swinging the bat. That or I myself will have nothing funny to read.
anyhoo...I remember being petty happy with how the dashboard turned out.
Wait a minute...the phone on the desk in that first gag, that looks old enough to be a rotary phone. Oy...let's...let's just say it's not.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT...
Two versions of this gag, the first (b/w) was the original from A.L. the second was the version that appeared in Mad.
They liked the gag but thought the cult people looked too much like the kkk and wanted that changed. I didn't feel like arguing about it.
To that end though, if they looked like the kkk or even were the kkk, it doesn't harm the joke at all, BUT if they look like some kind of peaceful cult (as they did in the Mad version) it does harm the joke. A key ingredient to the funny pivot being the cult seeming sinister.
I didn't dawn of either them or me that since it'd be in color, we could have just made to hoods and cloaks red or something. Oh well.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT...
This one's a story, if I remember correctly, even before Arsenic Lullaby, and was reprinted in A.L. no1. Just showing the first and lasts page here for the sake of brevity. But the jist of the story is that he is a census agent how's gone off the rails and had come to the conclusion that the only way to keep the census accurate after a full count is to kill off any baby born after the numbers all came in.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT...
Two things of note visually- a splash page (one image taking up an entire page) is something I almost never do, because in most cases they are just a cheap pop/waste of real-estate, and on the last page we have some special effects type panels, which I also almost never do because I think they are a bit of a crutch and most effective if rarely ever used. Just my own ideology on those, perhaps due to the type stories I tell and timing being so important to them.
THIS is the first appearance of Edgar, who ended up being an A.L. mainstay for quite a while, and we'll see him again soon. BUT this almost ended up being his only appearance. The end was originally him realizing he'd gone batsh*t nuts after seeing the burned baby and sh00ting himself. which was a funny visual- him and the baby KIA and the mom sitting oblivious to the carnage on her left.
BUT I spilled ink on the last page and had to redo it, and changed the ending to what you see here. Which left the character alive and available for, hell, I forget now how many issues he's been in. So...Happy accident.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT...
here's one that doesn't hold up anymore. Sure...there's the "problematic" stuff...You got your misogyny, you got your body shaming, alla that. There's a larger core problem though. Then and now, you can joke about anything...but it better be funny. This just ain't that funny. It's a so-so parody, which functions via a standard twist ending type joke. Even then it wasn't exactly a knee slapper. I did it as much for the challenge of mimicking the illustration style of the old ad, as anything else.
Furthermore...who tf even remembers these ads? And no one under 30 has likely ever seen one. If they DID see one now, it'd probably make them laugh just as much as this parody.
Looking at the watermark on this...2015...I know it was published earlier, 2010 maybe. Meh, when you're writing comedy, not everything you do's gonna be able to hold up 12-15 years.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT...
This felt outdated the day I did it, haha. Some middle aged looking criminal, wearing a suit, having a shoot out with cops...who are using revolvers. In a carnival house of mirrors...it's all very "Nior", which to me was the fun of it. But whether or not someone found it funny depended on how much they knew about Alice In Wonderland.
Mad Magazine liked this one but ultimately passed because they weren't confident that their readers would get the joke. I worthwhile concern, and probably most people would not get it. It's one of those jokes you do knowing most people aren't going to get it but the few that do will love the whole book just on account of that page.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT...
In assessing one's work to one's self, there's a understanding that which one of your works is the best...and which one you like best will be two different things.
It's a tough call but of all the single page gags I've done, I think this is my favorite. It's not on that I'd rely on to get a laugh if someone wanted proof A.L. is funny, But if someone wanted just one example of A.L. I'd give them this.
It is one of those A.L. gags that's not even actually a joke. Much like the classic "stillborn Sally" gag. It's just a horrific, surreal scene that presented in the cadence of silly. It's the type A.L. Joke that makes A.L. what it is...where the readers goes "oh sh*t, did I just laugh at..." Like someone happily humming along to a tune and only later realizing the lyrics were tragic.
It's a "standard Arsenic Lullaby" out of left field subject on top of an obscure background/set/era with a surreal incident.
ONE THING that If I had done differently might have made this a sure-fire producer of laughter is the last panel. This is an instance of being too smart by half and also of losing the point of the gag. IN as much as this is a "gag", the punchline (If you can call it that) is that the fetus has just been sitting there for 40 years.
Having him having wrapped himself in a blanket and more importantly having people giving him change, clouds that point.
Had I just had that panel being him laying against the wall in the same position with the same look on his face...it would have had a fighting chance of forcing laughs out of people.
As it is, I still love this one. I love my f*cked p brain for coming up with it. If I I dropped dead after panel five was published, my entire life would have been a triumph as far as I'm concerned. If someone wanted one single panel as an example of my entire body of work...I would proudly and confidently point them to panel 5.
As many of you know, I started learning joke writing via performing stand up comedy. and there are jokes you can tell on stage that would not work in a comic book, and being on stage has it's advantages as far as producing laughter. BUT the comic book medium...that's give you an entirely different tool box and if used correctly, well...It's enough to make you forget about ever going on stage again...mostly.
When deciding on whether or not a joke is worth drawing out (typically 10hours of work) I have, since issue no.1, had this hurdle they must jump... If there were 100 comedians in the room, if more than 10 might be able to come up with the same joke, I do not bother to draw it out.
That would be an example of a joke ZERO of them would come up with.
ANYWAY...
Here's TWO things I'd like you to keep in mind!
FIRST...I have a story in the comic book Anthology From Under The Floorboards (mentioned this in detail in last weeks blog)
you're local comic shop can get this, and if you'd tell them too, that'd be very nice of ya. This link'll help if they have questions
Or you can get it straight through Berserker. Fear not, my incompetent ass is not in charge of shipping. They had me draw a story and am not in the position to screw anything up after that.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/berserkercomics/under-the-floorboards-anthology-graphic-novel?fbclid=IwAR0K-nmUOZ8vCVOvVoNUY7ZocTTITQucZz0G776xErF4nBabn2SbcfwC8S0
SECOND
I will be at Grand Rapids Comicon Nov.3-5th! Come see me and say hello, see some art, get some comics!
As always, homebase is here
https://www.arseniclullabies.com
