Chippy from "Chippy & Loopus" by John Sanford
Recently the topic of cursin' and adult content came up over in the blog of John Sanford's great webcomic Chippy & Loopus. I won't go into the full details of the two blog entires--if you're interested go read them here:
Dirty Words Part 1
Dirty Words Part 2
This topic of discussion seemed particularly relevant as Jillian and I stared at the original scripted version of this strip (which originally contained lots of cussin') on Sunday afternoon. It didn't read like a TOACM strip and I was a little worried. I was originally hoping for more of an impact with the cussin' but instead, even with the curse symbols, something just didn't feel right. Luckily for me, my fiancée is a very talented writer in her own right and by putting our heads together we edited the strip down into a much more concise, fluid read--and sans cussin'.
I’m down with your choice of omitting the cuss words. Calling someone a “slimy piece of worm-ridden filth” is just as powerful as dropping a f-bomb. Good strip!
love the star wars refs
Good call, I like the Yosemite Sam-style litany of derision! Wrackin-frackin…
I love the images of the phone flipping around like a hot potato! It gives a really lively, fun feeling to the whole strip!
I agree about the phone flipping. More to the point, to me any reference to cussing would have taken away from what you accomplished here. It is written perfectly. Her attitude and anger comes across just right.
Also, I love that inset panel. Perfectly done.
I can almost hear that reaming out! It was a good decision about the cussing. I tried it in one of my strips, and it didn’t really improve things! It just narrowed the audience, if anything.
Thanks everyone for your comments! I love getting this sort of feedback, it is greatly appreciated.
The only read cussin’ I had was way in Joey the Sloth pt.1 back on August 10, 2010, in panel 1. It was more a part of the gag than any real swearing. I think the intensity and more “seriousness” of the person on the other end of the phone in this strip lends itself to be more threatening and thus not very funny. I was glad Jillian pointed this out and between both of us I think we did a good job with the final piece here.
Awesome. Love the phone flying out of his hand from the screaming caller. You really feel the yelling. Seriously. Really well done.
The phone flip is awesome. Very lively strip!