I want things to be NORMAL again.
on April 26, 2017 at 12:01 amThere’s a meta subtext to this strip and the previous, where Walky’s waxing nostalgic about the strip as it existed before the shifts and changes to the status quo marched things inevitably forward. See the It’s Walky! banner currently at the top of this page? With the original roster? I kind of missed those days, such as they were. I was just getting the handle on how to write those five characters as a group when Sal left and Joyce took a hiatus and as of this point of the strip onward, those five together aren’t even Squad 128 anymore.
It’s a feeling I took somewhat to heart in Shortpacked!, when plot developments hit at a less breakneck pace. I just wanted each “era” of that strip to have time to breathe. I wanted to leave less opportunities behind, and not squander potential neat ideas because, oops, that character’s changed forever now. It’s a point of view that eventually birthed the concept of Dumbing of Age. Those kids barely age, and that’s by design. I want to keep them at a certain point, really dive into who they are at a specific moment in their lives. Finish the meal, so to speak, instead of having to constantly throw stuff away after taking just one bite of it.
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“DANG IT PAST ME YOU RUINED A GREAT THING”
Wow, this sitcom plot:
Family troubles?
Chick movie
Walkerton! Hi!
Beef?
Straighten your bed
…immediately one-upped when the page refreshed XD
All we have to do is find a Bible
Ah’m gonna #@?!in’ wipe this place off the map.
Explain what?
Did we win?
I, uh, command you to stop
Wow, this is actually kind of funny. I got:
Walky, get up. It’s time for cartoons!
Winning team
Your boyfriend’s weird
Get out of here, Walkerton
He’s almost into the mech bay!
Well this is just weird.
Don’t apologize for your anger.
I can’t sleep, Daniel
Blech
Hugbunny
I’m sorry, Mother.
I find it interesting that there are no repeated lines.
So are you here to pay up?
What do you mean, Maybe?
Where ya off to?
It’s too LATE for apologies
Aim, Dina!
Originally posted:
August 15, 2002
Walky, you work for a secret agency that fights aliens. Normal is not the word I would use to describe your life, ever.
Normal is relative.
“those five together aren’t even Squad 128 anymore.”
So, silly question, but did Squad 128 come from somewhere or was it just the first random number that popped into your head when you were in the planning phase for the comic, Mr. Willis?
It’s all Sal’s fault! She’s jealous, she’s holding me back! *throws things*
To the commentary… it’s an understandable impulse, but I feel like what made those early days of webcomics so heady and thrilling were that we WERE making changes at an aggressive pace, but meaningful ones.. The other extreme is Garfield, which saw maybe two status-quo changes in three decades, and superhero comics, which are more into the illusion of change than actual change (how long is it until Captain America’s next movie? Because the odds are pretty much 100% that “HydraCap” will have ceased to exist by then).
See, this is exactly why I found it so funny that folks were getting super upset about “HydraCap.” It was an editorial choice, meant to get a rise out of fans before the inevitable return to status quo.
Even Dumbing of Age does more important changes than those standards– it just spreads them over such a huge cast that the sheer numbers slow down the plot. I’d like it a lot less if Joyce were still the same “unspoiled” character she had been at the start.
yeah, this is why i’m reading this old webcomic, for the insights into the creation of later stuff i’ve read. love the commentary and love you continuing to do this.