The Gravity of the Situation

Ever since he has looked heavenwards in envy, man has wanted to fly, consequences be damned.

On a random comment board, it was mentioned in passing that of all the mechanism failures that occurred on Star Trek, ranging from Holodeck Malfunctions to Warp Core Explosions, the one standing feature that remained intact during all these disaster scenarios was the gravity controls.  No matter how dire, it was imperative that everybody keep their feet on the ground.  Other Sci-fi shows with a higher budget such as The Expanse managed to expand on that concept, showing just how unfeasible it could be to survive on a gravity-free zone.  The major reason that these far-concept shows had such a stranglehold on the gravity controls is that they were mainly filmed on Earth.  (Sorry for spoiling the illusion guys!)

All this stemming from news that the latest Tom Cruise movie, Vyozov (The Challenge)’s marketing gimmick would be the first film that would be filmed entirely in space.  By a Russian crew, no less.  (Whether it’d be any good is immaterial)

This led to a discussion of realistic portrayal of living in a stimulated environment, and there were very few comics that accurately reflected what it’d be like to live in a world without gravity.  The ones that did, showed just how ubiquitous gravity surrounds us to the extent that we don’t think about it.  This page from chapter 21 of Grease Monkey by Tim Eldred shows what happens when it's not around, and how much of a mess keeping everything floating around would be.

I started thinking about this after reading the entirety of Skyward, written by Joe Henderson, and drawn by Antonio Fabela and Lee Garbett.  At first, Skyward seems to openly embrace this concept with open arms, when one day all of a sudden, gravity just seems to cease working properly.  But then this open-world policy quickly devolves into cliched territory, making for a less satisfactory read than would otherwise be expected.

There are scenes of imaginative worldbuilding such as having millionaires fitted with magnetic boots to recapture life like it was before, and people using slotted buckets to capture water from an incoming storm, but for the most part, it’s filled with flawed leaps of imagination.

One of the failed suspensions of disbelief is the inclusion of a disabled love interest who would prefer to remain in this gravity-free world where where a return to normalcy would mean being tied down.

That in itself isn’t a bad idea.  The problem is, all portrayal of him shows him as being at the same height of everyone, regardless of his missing legs or not.

Standing around like a disembodied leg guy from that episode of Quantum Leap.

Whether this fault lies at the hands of the author or the writer, I couldn’t say, but it’s safe that neither of them are sufficiently handicapped.

Segueing back to Tim "Grease Monkey" Eldred, his other online work, Pitsberg, has a much more nuanced take on amputees closer to The Expanse, where condemned miners of space minerals (there's a lot of exposition involved, but space minerals is what we're working with) have to undergo required extraction of body parts in order to reduce expenses.  And in a gravity-free zone, legs are just one of the many deemed minor unnecessary "inconveniences" to go.  As such, there's a greater variety of legless bodies in a floating environment to deal with.

For the most part, until someone is able to spend sufficient time in a gravity-free zone and have the imaginative insight to document a wider-spread alternate reality, such fantastic concepts would be better suited to the realm of short stories.

For me, the one comic that manages to succeed in this where others fail would be Sherwin Tjia’s Plummet, where a young woman wakes up and finds herself falling mid-air.

It sounds like a Mr. Boffo joke, but it’s one of the best underrated Canadian comics you’ve never read.

Being in perpetual free-fall with numerous random objects appearing out of nowhere means you’re never fully prepared for what may happen next.  One of the falling objects happens to be a section of an apartment building, which has potential for housing valuable supplies like food and clothing.  Of course, navigating inside isn’t as easy as it first seems.

Trying to eat or sleep in these conditions is impossible without proper preparation or a little luck.  And when it does come, it’s recommended to jump at the chance whenever it occurs.  Eventually, she meets other people caught in the same situation as her, some who’ve managed to build something out for themselves, others who’re just as clueless as she is, some are friendly, and some are not.  In the afterword, Sherwin Tjia writes that the format for this ambitious comic was written to be a road story.  Well, a vertical road story, always going forward, never looking back.

The best thing about this comic is while there are various theories bandied about, the circumstances that caused this is never explained.  Any potentially plausible explanation would RUIN the experience.  If you get the chance, I heavily recommend you pick it up.  Doubtless it’d be far more intriguing than whatever the upcoming Tom Cruise movie plot is.

Dagwood Quitting Revisited

One of the very first blog entries I ever did was that brief interval where Dagwood Bumstead quit his job to work for Blondie's Catering Service.  In all that time, no one dug into the history of this segue, so this long-neglected entry gets another well-deserved look.

But before we start with the dailies, here's a few Blondie comics that could've set up the stage for what happened next.



Typical everyday stuff.  Making trademark sandwiches in the kitchen and getting chewed out by the boss.  So when Dagwood got the usual treatment, we didn't think much of it at first.  I sure as hell didn't.

Even when Dagwood voiced his complaints the very next day, no alarms rang.  This type of reaction was so commonplace it was considered normal.

And when Dagwood gets the recommendation of a fantasy scenario of quitting to a nameless employee, it still feels like a fantasy.

It isn't until he brings up the subject matter in his Carpool that it begins to stick in our craw a little longer than usual.

Even when the very same employee who suggested Dagwood quit brings it up, it still isn't taken seriously.  Because where else is he going to work?

Where, indeed.

Which led to this momentous Sunday Comic that would shake things up and change things forever.  It was also remarkable for ending on a somber note compared to the alternative.

With this new change to the status quo, there were understandable outcries for wanting things to go back to the way things were.

There was also this exchange that could've been a contender of things to come.  (Spoiler alert - Dagwood doesn't stay in Blondie's Catering Service for very long)

Even though Mr. Dithers has constantly berated his laziest employee for his irresponsible behavior, and it hasn't even been three days, he misses him already.

Of course, there's still the adherence to the same ol' same ol' routine, suggesting that some things won't change that much.

But these are just minor issues distracting from the larger issue - how does Dagwood cope with his new position as a helper in Blondie's Catering Service?

That's right - upon being a residential employee of Blondie's own business, Dagwood decides to help out by mansplaining his wife how to do her job.

Apart from the two tail Sunday comics reproduced here, there was one other catering comic that I didn't think noticeable to include.  That oversight is taken care of now.

The week after this,
suggested that things were
dying down.


Dagwood's presence here hardly changes anything.  Blondie usually handled the catering orders with clients on her own, so Dagwood is more of a background presence.

The last noticeable daily comic was this one on Saturday before the reveal on Sunday.

With that stunt over and done with, one wonders what the point of this whole miniarc was.  One thing to remember about Newspaper comics is that as much as they're a comfort crutch in times of uncertainty, they're also a reflection of society in general.  So what could have been happening around back then?

That's right - it was when DC Comics announced that they were going to kill off Superman for reals this time.  The difference being that Supes' death was such that people were constantly surprised to hear that he was still alive, while Newspaper readers have largely forgotten that Dagwood was ever part of Blondie's job.

When this story concluded, it made an article in the paper.  I could've sworn that there was a similar article before the changes were made, but couldn't find it.  But what I find interesting is in what this article says.  Basically, the (female!) writer claims that Blondie was in the wrong for firing her husband in the first place.

"I really think the man ought to think through why he's going back to Mr. Dithers," said Barbara Turk, a psychologist.  "Why is he looking to be abused again?  Why doesn't Dagwood start his own business?  He could go in competition with Blondie.  He's made such good sandwiches all these years.  I mean, he could have 'Dagwood's Doozies - mile-high sandwiches for your next office party.'  He could have Mr. Dithers hiring him.  Then if he wanted to eat the profits, he could eat them from his side of the ledger."

Questions were also raised about whether Bumstead had been treated fairly by his wife.

"I cannot believe that she was not aware of his shortcomings when she hired him after all these years of being together, (...) and I cannot believe they did not discuss this in advance.  Suppose he was on drugs.  Would you terminate him or try to find him help?"

Where did drugs come from in in this scenario?  At no point in this narrative was drugs brought up before or since.

"You don't just, hands down, say 'you're outta here,' particularly to a spouse.  (...) If she has an issue with his performance, i.e., eating the profits, then they should talk it through rather than just firing him."

"I think they're going to have some problems over this. (...) People have an enormous amount of sensitivity about their work.  There's pride involved.  There's the feeling of being adequate or being a success or a failure.  Having worked for Mr. Dithers for such a long time, there's the issue of change involved.  And change in itself is enormously stressful."

"And then to go to work for his wife, and being of a generation where that would be almost unheard of.  That really was quite a risk for both Blondie and Dagwood."

More blaming of the wife and casting doubt on Dagwood's faults, claiming he was of another generation.  Well yeah, originating in the 1930's is unavoidable.  That still doesn't change the fact that Dagwood was responsible for the food.  If he couldn't keep his mitts off the food, then Blondie had all the reason to get rid of him.

In other words, they should have seen it coming.  Just ask Donald and Ivana.

Funny how something written over 20 years ago can still be relevant today.

Return of the Hamster in the Walls

Readers may or may not recall a certain Adam storyline I reprinted two weeks ago in the vein of an old-timey horror narrative, The Hamsters in the Walls.  It started off as innocuously as this...

And ended up like this.

But that wasn't the whole story.  It was only when I started going through every Newspaper strip of 1992 that I noticed something I had previously missed.  When I go through old Newspaper archives in search of stories, I generally start from a Saturday strip, then work my way backwards to see what the rest of the story was.  However, due to having some holes in my collection and the loose format of Newspaper strips not necessarily lasting the whole week means that unless I pay diligent attention, some minor story elements can get lost.

It also annoys me that I'm the only one who pays as much attention to comics from my childhood that no one else bothers to put up.  Once again, it falls to me to fill in the missing gaps.

That said, it turns out that just three days after the Hamster saga concluded, there was one more follow-up comic to tie up any possible loose ends.  The adults are in bed, ruminating over the events of the week and - OH GOD, NO.

...At least, that's what the online archive result showed up.  However, doing a little digging, I managed to retrieve a clear accurate scan that's closer to what we were actually supposed to see.

As clear as this representation is, I can't help but prefer the earlier version that ironically fits the horror narrative closer than I ever intended.

So, with this extra epilogue added, I might as well tack on a fitting ending:

"The parents went back to sleep satisfied with their effort and hard work, never suspecting that there was still a living creature lurking inside the walls... waiting... waiting..."

...and that's the last we ever hear of these hamsters ever again.  Much like their dog, they just spontaneously vanished from view as if they never existed in the first place.

Multiple Blog Updates

Just a few things that needed additions to some of my previous posts.  First up, I mentioned that there was a missing Mr. Boffo comic regarding the Homeless tribute.

Turns out there was also a Marmaduke I missed as well.

Next up, is another minor mistake in a page that I just noticed.  It's one thing when the author is unable to make his intentions clear to the artist, but it's another thing entirely when the artist is in charge of the story.  Such is the case when it comes to the glorious trainwreck that is Neal Adams' Batman Odyssey.

Can you see the problem here?  If not, I'll spell it out for you.  Ra's Al Ghul drops a drink on the floor, bottom first, yet in the very next panel, there's two glasses of tea still on Alfred's plate.  Alfred may be the world's best butler (next to Richie Rich's Cadbury) but I very much doubt he managed to whisk up a spare glass without leaving his position.

Next up are some more comics showing thinner versions of normally fat characters.


Somehow, the idea of a thin rendition of Broom Hilda is considered too disturbing to consider.

Now, for the biggie - another similarity found between For Better or For Worse and Cerebus.

When examining upcoming old strips, it was pointed out in a recent comment on the FoobiJournal that Martha had similar handwriting to Michael:

A side-by-side comparison shows the similarities more clearly.

No wonder Martha had concerns about being intimidated by writing a letter to Michael when he was on the farm, since their cursive was practically identical.  Later, when Janet, one of Martha's friends wrote some correspondence acting as arbitrator, it occurred to Lynn that she should differentiate the handwriting between the two.

Later, when Michael writes from University, Elly seems to take full advantage of cramming in as much writing as possible, believing that the worth of a letter comes from how much effort you put in them, and not what you say.

Later, April would carry on this proud tradition, despite the advent of technology and email, allowing for faster communication.  But that would detract attention away from Lynn's limited life experience.

A close survey of Elly's handwriting showed some unsurprising similarities as well.

Especially when compared to Lynn Johnson's own very revealing handwriting:

All of this is to showcase a page from Cerebus in Church & State where Bran Mac Muffin (Cerebus' most devoted follower) pointed out that in the realm of miracles: "A discarded letter written by a young girl in the Lower City, a listing of my baggage from the carriage driver who brought me here, a listing of room charges from the desk clerk..."

"...and Boobah's transcript... Four different pages by four different writers in four different locations of Iest... and yet, all four... are in Cerebus' handwriting."

Naturally, Cerebus calmly takes it all in stride.

Back when Dave Sim was still reasonably sane, and was in the process of mastering his lettering later on, he figured that this convoluted way of overcoming his early limitations was the best way to combat his fans obsessive nature of over-analyzing every piece of nuance from his work in progress by beating them to the punch. Incidentally, this quasi-4th-wall breaking scenario is never brought up again, though it's hinted and alluded to in the definitive identity-revealing volume MINDS.