Camping Funnies

While Skyler is a frequent goer at Military Camp, there are other instances of comic characters going camping with unfavorable results, usually as being forced into something they don't want to.


The exploits of the Patterson family and Fox Trot are already well-known, so I won't bother reprinting those, and focus on a lesser-known arc from Sibling Revelry.



Due to the scattered selection of the Newspapers, we're missing a few comics from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and I don't want to splurge for the costs of browsing the online Newspapers archives, so you'll have to settle for this.  There's a gap between June 27-28, but fortunately, nothing important's been lost in their absence.




This seems like a random spot to suddenly cut off, and you'd be correct in thinking that there would be more to tell, since the week isn't over yet.  But the very next strip wasn't missing, and went back to daily gag-a-day comics.  To make up for that shortcoming, here's the start of a Sally Forth comic that started on June 22, 1992.

For a change of pace, we've got a child who wants to go to camp.

Or rather, who wants to go to a selective kind of camp.

Who wants to commune with all that pesky nature?



The very next week completely dropped this camp arc, but then picked it up almost a month later on August 10th.  If anybody had been paying attention, that would be some skillful setup right there.  But since Sally Forth comics are rather unremarkable and hardly linger on the mind after you've read them, it's not surprising that people forgot.









For some reason, we cut away from Hillary's camping activities to see the parental figures back home.  I suppose constantly drawing those bunk beds, wire mesh and dense trees in the background was too much to deal with.  Camping can be hard on the kids, but its just as equally hard on cartoonists who aren't used to drawing outside their home turf.



Counting the first half of the second week, it would be exactly three days for Sally to feel nostalgic for her growing child.  And already, you're forgetting what, if anything, actually happened.  If you look above, you'll see that they cut away before doing any activities.  We don't get any sense of anything being accomplished - just general sarcastic reactions.

Which is why things going wrong is a natural mainstay for camping stories, so the painful memories linger in the minds longer.

Because of stories like these, I never embraced camping the same way other people seemed to naturally gravitate being close to nature.  For one thing, I had no interest in the great outdoors.  I could deal with sleeping with total strangers.  I could tolerate the food (of which there was plenty, and I ate myself sick).  But because I was deaf, I couldn't properly understand anything that was happening, and couldn't communicate with anybody in a noisy environment.  So I opted to stay
and watch NFB shorts on a projector instead.

I have no fond memories of camp.  I just waited for the whole experience to be over.  The only things I remember is having a burnt marshmallow at a campfire, and seeing someone read a Hulk Hogan Rock 'n' Wrestling Panini sticker album with 3D hidden images that were revealed through red glasses.

There was also a poster of orange blobby-like Mr. Men men who were shaving, gleefully dropping dishes on the floor, flipping a pancake, and sticking a tongue out at a laughing Mr. man that always made me uncomfortable.  Looking back now, it was supposed to represent the sheer anarchic fun of being at camp, but all I could see was half of it was devoted to destructive behavior.

It's safe to say that camp experience was aimed at sociable people.  And I was not exactly a sociable person.

Two Weeks My Nose, and Told Me I Was Bad

I've been spending an indordinate amount of time going through newspaper archives, both physical and online, looking up early and missing comics from my childhood that were never collected.  Out of curiosity, I went further back, and looked up some early comics from before I started reading them.  Since I didn't know that there were daily comics, I missed out quite a bit.

The earliest Adam comics I could find come from July 23, 1984.


In case it's not clear in the last panel, he's got his leg twisted over his head there.

Not even a week in, and Brian Bassett's already doing barely concealed subliminal advertising.

And here's our first look at one of the kids.  Clayton is much more haphazardly drawn here than he'll look later on.

The earliest Sunday comics have already been posted here, where Clayton's sister, Katy, shows up more than he does.  (For some reason, the Sunday comic on August 5th is available, but there's no July 29th Sunday comic)  And here's Adam's naturally Chauvinistic neighbor, Walter.


Interestingly enough, Laura's pinprick eyes and minimalist expressions make her look like Princess Bubblegum.




Adam's attempts to write down his personal experience will become a lifelong struggle, where he'll constantly attempt to reach his goal, only to get constantly sidetracked on other minor projects, such as the dietary Dumpty-Derby, failed inventions and trying to write a novel.

On the other side of cartoony characters with big noses, we have Stew from Sibling Revelry, whose prominent schnozz make him look like Adam's long-lost son.  Or an European comic protagonist.

This first strip is the earliest I could find, which showed around the time Bloom County was entering retirement on August 7th, 1989.  If there were any other introductory strips before then, I haven't found them yet.


Interestingly enough, apart from an appearance from the mother in the first strip, we never see Lori, Stew's sister until the second week.  Her presence is all but implied.  Also, in an amusing role reversal, it's Lori who has a Comic collection that she desperately doesn't want her annoying younger brother to touch.  For good reasons, apparently.



So far, I've been unable to find any Sibling Revelry Sunday comics, and doubt there were every any.

In the second week, we get some background details of the kids parental status, and that the Mother is currently separated from her husband and looking for prospective suitors, much to their identifiable outrage.




And then, this mini-arc is abruptly cut off with some more stand-alone comics, rounding out the rest of the week.  Most of the Sibling Revelry strips in later days would fill out the whole quota, so this early intervention is somewhat of an anomaly.  It's as if the author started off on an intended
and then decided not to go down that path, feeling somewhat uncomfortable about the subject matter.  (Even though this wouldn't be the last we'd see of this prospective husband)


At this rate, I may have to consider changing my blog name to DAILY Comics Debt.  Hmm. nope.  Doesn't have the same ring to it.  Besides, there's still plenty of Sunday Comics I've got that haven't seen the light of day once again.