So here’s the comic from Wednesday that I owe you. If you were keeping up with the blog, you’ll know the reason the comic was delayed was due to a job interview I wanted to prepare for. I also wanted to make sure I got the proper amount of sleep.
I’m pretty sure most of you don’t know what my schedule is like. Frankly, you don’t need to know because it’s boring and self-serving to share it. But in this case, I’ll make an exception because I want you to understand.
Typically, I produce the comic the evening before it goes live on the site. Sometimes I’ll be able to get ahead of it a little by doing the pencils and inks over my lunch hour at my day job. But when I get home, it usually isn’t until after 8:00 that we manage to get Henry and Pearl settled down for the night. When you consider the everyday household chores that need to be done after that, there’s actually a very small window that I can work on the comic.
On Tuesday nights, I have night classes, so that window is even smaller. Instead of beating myself up trying to get a comic done for Wednesday, I thought it made more sense to prepare for my interview and get a good night’s sleep.
I didn’t receive any complaints and you guys have been more than supportive, so thank you. I just wanted to explain because, well, I felt like I owed you at least that much.
As for the job interview… How did it go? Frankly, I thought it went great. It really couldn’t have gone any better.
I don’t want to get into details because I don’t want to jinx it. Plus, as a rule, I don’t like to talk about work-related things online. You can’t be too careful.
Let’s just say it went very well and I’ll let you know how things turn out. Thanks for your patience and understanding. Now, let’s talk about the comic!
I was really pounding my head against the wall on this one because I didn’t know how to build on what I had established with Monday’s comic. Complicating matters, I came up with a great idea for a comic that I could use on Friday. So I was kind of caught between and a hard place.
I have to admit I was surprised by the feedback I received on Monday’s comic in the comments area. I expected some push back from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp fans. That’s fine. What I didn’t expect where the people who were saying “Thank you! I’ve felt this way about Burton and Depp for years, but couldn’t find the words.” That’s kind of a weird feeling.
I try to address certain truths with my humor. After all, what generally makes something funny is when several people recognize the same truth that they don’t typically address. The ol’ “He’s saying what we’re all thinking!” formula. I aim for that, but it manifests itself in the relationship humor I explore with Tom and Cami. Usually it doesn’t crop up in this kind of commentary about actors or directors. So it caught me a little off guard.
It sparked a debate, though – which I like. But I felt like if Tom was going to take the “anti” Burton/Depp stance, Jared needed to be the counter balance.
And, so, I did some research.
Check out this Wiki of director/actor collaborations. It’s mind-boggling. Some of them get tossed out because the pairings worked together on a string of sequels. Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, for example. But some of these partnerships appear very genuine.
Of course, my complaint with Burton and Depp isn’t that they’ve collaborated so many times. Just that there is a sameness to what they’ve produced. But, being fair, can I really argue that John Ford and John Wayne didn’t do the same thing? Or Scorsese and DeNiro, for that matter. It’s food for thought.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed today’s comic. If you have anything you’d like to add, feel free to leave your comments below.
Until then, be sure to come back tomorrow for a brand new comic!
Thanks again!
Pop culture savvy readers should have no trouble recognizing The Simpsons reference in today’s comic. It’s Homer’s revolutionary makeup gun from episode 5F21 – “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace!”
Do I like The Simpsons? Um, yeah. Like, a lot.
I know it’s kind of shameless to lift a joke like this, but I can’t look at Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter and think of anything else. The makeup is so scatter-shot and sloppy. It looks like he visited a nursing home and told the ladies to “go wild” giving him a makeover.
I know this is kind of stupid, but the vacancy in Depp’s stare as afforded to him by those contact lenses really bugs me. Yeah, I get that he’s supposed to be, y’know, insane. So a little vacancy is appropriate. But what usually makes Depp’s characters interesting to me is that they either know they’re insane and play into it or they know they’re insane and don’t care. His characters have a foundation of intelligence that elevates them a little bit.
From what I’ve seen of Depp’s performance in the trailers and commercials indicates to me that it’s basically him prancing around, hooting and hollering for the length of the movie. There’s no substance.
I guess that’s my problem with Alice in Wonderland in general. I’ve never been a fan of the material. What is fun or interesting about portraying insanity in a way that is untethered to real-life circumstances. It’s silly for the sake of being silly.
I read Owen Gleiberman’s review in Entertainment Weekly and I thought he hit on a particular truth. “Once Alice tumbles into Wonderland, everyone she meets is, if not certifiable, then a blithely self-absorbed, nattering crackpot-narcissist. The book is a visionary satire of the newly emerging modern world, in which everyone is really babbling to no one but themselves. The challenge of adapting Alice in Wonderland is this: How do you create relationships, a story, a purpose out of a tale whose prime purpose is not to have one?”
I guess I’m skeptical that Burton and Depp can assign any significance to the material beyond the visual punch.
I’ve likely beat this dead horse into dust by this point, so I’ll hang it up for now. If anyone here sees Alice in Wonderland, I’d love to hear your opinons. You can leave them in the comments section below!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Johnny Depp’s performance as Captain Jack Sparrow has become a cultural touchstone and the casting of Ian McShane as the pirate Blackbeard is inspired.
Yet, I can’t seem to muster up the enthusiasm needed to properly anticipate the fourth chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Maybe I’m still experiencing burnout from the back-to-back wallop of POTC: Dead Man’s Chest and POTC: At World’s End from a few years back. But I think I’m mostly cool to POTC: On Stranger Tides because it looks like such a blatant money grab, it fails to inspire.
If anything, it makes me want to go back and watch POTC: The Curse of The Black Pearl – a perfectly satisfying adventure film that was less concerned about establishing a perfunctory mythology that the characters could inhabit.
At any rate, here’s the new trailer. What are your thoughts?
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