Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: Blasphemy

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Mike Peterson Published: January 23, 2011 1 minute 2 comments

In today's Cul de Sac, Petey escapes into the world of Little Neuro scholarship, which is different than escaping into the world of Little Neuro himself. Alice is suitably impressed.

I don't know if you're allowed to make fun of comics scholarship or not, but there you have it. And I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to mock Little Nemo, but Richard Thompson has been doing just that throughout the run of Cul de Sac and I suppose the torches and pitchforks would have appeared outside his window by now if they were coming at all.

For my part, I understand the fascination of Little Nemo for artists, but, being a storyteller and not an artist, I don't really share in it. Nor do I have to.

Some years after college, I was talking to a friend from those years and mentioned a band that had been central to our group but seemed unknown to the greater cohort of Former Sixties People. "Oh, they were a musicians' band," he said, dismissing the idea that other people should remember them as we did, and, as I thought back, it was the case that a lot of the people in our circle were musicians and several others were heavily into music.

In a crowd of cartoonists, the work of Winsor McCay inspires awe, and deservedly so. There is much to be admired in his giant, colorful panels, besides the sad fact that no newspaper today would ever give over that much real estate for such brilliant eccentricity. Much to be admired and much to be learned.

On the other hand, Petey's love of Little Neuro scholarship has, I fear, put him one small step away from the "learning to speak Klingon" level of devotion.

Petey, my friend, listen: Lying in bed will probably not turn you into Little Neuro, and it sure as hell won't turn you into Winsor McCay.

And this public service announcement: Not only are the other cartoonists not coming after Richard Thompson with torches and pitchforks for his blasphemy, but several of them are coming together in a fundraiser for Parkinson's under his name. Fans should watch for the resulting book and auction of original art, cartoonists should consider joining in.