Hi-jinks and Pratfalls

Today’s comic isn’t usually the way we roll (man, this is my new favorite saying by the way and I am glad I get to use it in the Blog) around here, but I think it’s a good idea to branch out into different types of comedy. Actually, it could be argued that there is really only one branch of comedy on the Room 19 comics tree, but that is left to be debated for another day.

Trees? Comics? Rolls? Mmmmm … cinnamon rolls. What the hell are you talking about? See what everyone is jibber-jabbering about on www.room19comics.com right now. Then come back here and read the rest of this super interesting Blog.

The basic set up for this strip is that young Eddie is getting ready for a night out, probably not a party, perhaps a date. He’s got the clothes, he’s got the shoes and he’s got the cologne. Too bad he’s the same dude we always are when we get dressed up. BTW, the Adidas line was one that I wrestled with for a long time because though he is wearing sneakers, he feels that they’re dress up sneakers. That’s sort of a built-in joke, and one that I actually put in there for my wife.

Quick aside: whenever Aly and I go out, inevitably I say the same thing, “I can wear sneakers right?” She usually says, “Nope. It’s a shoe night.” And I go into a diatribe about how Jerry Seinfeld wears sneakers out and Larry David wears sneakers out. Then she says, “I thought you said Jerry Seinfeld is the worst dresser on TV?” At which point, she’s caught me in my stupid logic and proceed to put on my dress shoes.

The point of that panel is (and is a microcosm of this week’s strip), no matter how smooth you think you are, chances are that you’re not.

The one thing that I think that I’m really beginning to do well is to establish timing in the strip. Check out the doorway of the first panel, all you see is a shoe. The second panel, Kurt makes his appearance, but only half way. Third panel, he is there, but hasn’t said anything. Fourth panel and there’s the punch-line. A few months ago, I would’ve just had Kurt standing next to him or sitting on the bed and I don’t think it would be as funny. Mostly because the element of surprise -- Eddie thinks he’s alone and he’s talking to himself to psyche himself up for the big night out.

There are a few things I don’t like about this strip though; for one thing, you have no idea how long it took me to draw Eddie putting on his shoe (which is a shitty version of an Adidas shoe, BTW). I had him bending over to tie his shoe, but he looked like a gorilla with really long arms and stubby legs. I had him putting his foot on the bed, but again the drawing was terrible as his arms were too long and his leg was too squat. So I made the best out of a bad situation and had him slipping into some sneakers.

Also, the chair in the corner of the first two panels is a poor excuse for a bean bag chair. I don’t know what the hell I was trying to do there, but that doesn’t look like a very comfortable seat.

All in all, I think this is a solid strip and it should get a chuckle out of most people. Not only that, but it should also remind us that we are only great in our minds.

Chances are pretty good that you’re just going to get one Blog entry per week from now until the middle of November. With school and other stuff, I just don’t have the time … as you can probably tell. While it sucks, things are going to start picking up soon.