Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: Disaster Watch: Parents Week at Oliver Otis U.

WYH Cory Thomas's "Watch Your Head" is set on a college campus, and since Cory went to Howard, it's not surprising that WYH is set on the campus of a fictional traditionally black college. And since Cory is black, it's not surprising that most of the characters in the comic strip are black.

But it has kept the strip out of wide syndication, because too many editors think that (A) white people won't read a strip about black people and (B) if you have one strip about black people — be they five years old, 150 years old or living on the moon — you have satisfied your entire black readership. No, I don't know if they've ever heard of this "rap music" stuff, or ever saw the ratings for "The Cosby Show" or "The Jeffersons" or have noticed that the current president would not be in the White House if they were correct about how white people think about black people.

In any case, "Watch Your Head" reminds me of my own college days, which were a good 30 or 40 years before Cory's. He has created a very three-dimensional world in which readers will not be surprised that  the lead character, cheerful, naive Cory, has invited his parents to spend a week (!) on campus, or that sullen, conspiracy-obsessed Omar has not or that Quincy, the womanizing playboy son of a conservative preacher, is cheerfully avoiding the disaster. It should be a good story arc.

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Comments 2

  1. Thanks for the shout out, Mike!
    (Too black?)

  2. Not at all, dear fellow, though, down at the club, we usually refer to it as a “kind acknowledgment.” (Which reminds me — Jason’s parents better show up for this!)

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