CSotD: Look who’s new in town
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I see new people everywhere, starting with a Superhero that Kim, or Sandra Lundy, has been developing for several weeks over at Between Friends. It's been interesting to have the process be part of the strip, and, to be honest, it's a good choice to show it this way, because I'm not sure what you can do with the character once she has been finished.
I think Kim is turning the corner on the creative part, but what particularly works for me is the element of self-mockery that keeps us from having to take this too seriously. That, in turn, works because the strip itself doesn't mock middle age.
I've noted before that Sandra did a quiet jump to update the shared age of her characters, but that first panel is instructive: Kim is "an ordinary fiftysomething woman." Ordinary is a good, healthy descriptor.
Changing in the back of the minivan, well, it's not easy being a surburban superhero.
Meanwhile, and 40 years or so younger …
Edison Lee has introduced a new character this week and let me just say that it takes a certain level of cojones to slap a label in the middle of a panel like that, John Hambrock. Speaking of strips that contain a spritely level of self-mockery.
And this character also raises the question of "You've created her. Now what are you going to do with her?" Edison's co-conspirators have always been at least a step behind him, if not totally oblivious to what he's up to, and having someone who can meet him on his own ground, either as an ally or a rival, could juice things up and add a significant element to the strip.
An appealing new character can also sometimes hijack a strip, but I'm reminded of the little girl who Louis used to run into at his father's apartment in Shirley & Son: A very good character to have around for that aspect of Louis's life, but she only appeared sporadically and generally left him free to pursue his other adventures.
You really need to have a grip on things to properly integrate a character into an existing strip, but I'm gonna trust John on this one. Edison Lee has a good track record of bringing in the right cast members for each story arc, and this looks promising.
While somewhere in the middle …
Younger than the ordinary fiftysomethings, older than Edison and gang, we have the students of Oliver Otis University in Watch Your Head, where Robin had acquired a new roommate who drove her so crazy that she moved in with Omar and Cory.
Cory Thomas doesn't so much introduce new characters as he introduces new elements of the existing cast and lets them change in the sometimes-radical ways that kids really do change in college. So the bright young unattainable Halle-Berryesque Robin has morphed into an insecure, self-absorbed, Haagen Dasz-fixated parasite, while black-nationalist radical Omar turns out to have been adopted and raised in an Asian-American home, thug Jason has been outed as the preppie heir to a fortune and skirt-chasing Quincy has rediscovered religion. To an extent. Sort of.
Omar and Cory rooming together was a bad idea to start with and adding Robin has already begun to send Omar around the bend.
I'm having flashbacks of my buddies next door junior year, who had the brilliant idea of bringing in a female roommate who couldn't afford to pay rent but offered to do all the housework in exchange for the third bedroom in the house. Can't remember how long it lasted, but no dustmice were injured in the making of the disaster, which involved a massive long-distance phone bill and was definitely more entertaining from at least a short distance.
Now Omar's chirpy, upbeat long-lost sister has apparently been upgraded from part of an extended story arc to a member of the permanent cast. Poor Omar.
Point of personal privilege
Nothing to do with comics, but, as a former Coloradan who now telecommutes a job in Denver and has a sister living (high and reasonably dry) in Fairplay, I've been watching the news there with more than idle curiosity. The wildfires were bad enough, the flooding is much more widespread and distressing.
I have also, for quite a while, had Freekibble.com on my daily routine. It's a site run by an energetic teenager where you answer a trivia question about pets and, right or wrong, her sponsors donate food to shelters.
She's now diverting her normal contributions to aid efforts to feed and shelter displaced pets in the flood, which is a niche concern but one of those things that matters a lot to those involved and which doesn't necessarily get emergency funding from other sources.
I'm in. You're invited.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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