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April 08, 2005
Do You Feel Like Charlie McCarthy?
I have always been a big fan of science fiction and a large reason being that it often gives a glimpse into the distant future where our technological advances promise both ease of life and entertainment beyond what we can imagine. So much so in fact that often times we wish those technologies were available today where we could put them into immediate practice. Oddly enough we sometimes encounter a technological advancement that exists in our present world which causes such shock we wish it had stayed in the movies. This ultra-creepy video is a startlingly example of that exact kind of instance.
Great writing is great writing, no matter what form it takes whether it be an essay, prose, poem, fiction, non-fiction, etc. This is especially true when the subject matter happens to be humorous and if done really well it needs no accompanying image.
The goal of this wonderful webcomic is exactly that with what, at the outset, seems as an embrace of generic imagery (a lá clip-art) allowing time to be liberated so one could concentrate on forming the written word into the active ingredient in provoking laughter. Upon deeper inspection however, one finds that it is the image itself, which I ultimately believe is the source of each strips inspiration, that causes it to go from good to great.
It's as if this juxtaposition of recognizable generic imagery repeated thrice has more communicable power than individually drawn panels. In other words, I think it's genius.
I suggest starting at his first strip and moving through them chronologically. Though they are all wonderful I went ahead and selected a few gems for you, in case any further convincing is needed.
There is also some great stuff going on over at John's strip, Boots and Pup. He has been working very hard on it and it definitely deserves a look. If you haven't been keeping up with it you can go here and read them all in a row. Now if only I could find a way for him to pay me for those links, though I do doubt that the handful of hits I could bring him really warrants any sort of monetary compensation.
Posted by Jon at April 8, 2005 04:56 AM