This strip is dedicated to the memory of Donna Summer.
All of the madness at once, more or less: well done.
Fear of painful death IS the bedrock of a healthy relationship.
Like, how do you even - if aftertaste even lasted that long, everyone would taste of the dirt they lovingly crammed into their mouths as babies. More optimistically, you could taste fine cuisine years after. Restaurants would go out of business.
“An Englishman, a Frenchman, and a Russian were once discussing the meaning of true happiness.
The Englishman said, “True happiness, my friends, is rising early on a frosty autumn morning, getting on top of a good horse, and galloping off behind the hounds in pursuit of the fox. A hard ride over fields and fences and rivulets until the fox is brought down. A ride back with the ears and the tail and then sitting before a roaring fire with a glass of good port. Ah, that is true happiness.”
The Frenchman said, “That is not true happiness. That is merely animal pleasure. True happiness is meeting with the love of your life, having an intimate meal in a topnotch restaurant with champagne, and then retiring to a wonderful hotel room, where you can make frantic and impassioned love all night long. Ah, that is true happiness.”
The Russian said, “That is not true happiness. That is merely a good time. True happiness comes when you are sitting in your apartment after a hard day at the factory, your little Ivan on your knee, and reading your copy of ‘Pravda’. There comes a knock at the door. Three men in ill-fitting brown suits come storming in and say, ‘Stepan Stepanovich?’ and you say, ‘He lives in the room upstairs.’ Ah, that is true happiness.”
Consenting adults all the day.
I’d be lying if I said I’ve never indulged in a Bond novel. The Rand œuvre is much worse.
Titanic strips
With the centenary of the wreck of the Titanic looming, I saw the 3D rerelease of James Cameron’s movie. Overall it is pretty good but Billy Zane’s eyeliner-laden Cal character is such a ridiculously one-dimensional Bond villain. Cal is Russian for shit; I wonder if that was intentional. In any case, I drew a bunch of strips about him being eee-vil, & also one which references a Britney Spears video from 12 years ago, what is wrong with me?
By the way, in the Britney strip, doesn’t it look like I’ve done the Rob Liefeld cop-out of placing the characters’ feet just out of panel? That’s actually exactly how the original shot was composed. It looks weird. Anyway-
Transcript:
“Our views on art differ”
PANEL 1
CAL: Picasso? He’ll never amount to anything
PANEL 2
CAL: Shakespeare? A second- or -third rate plagiarist
PANEL 3
CAL: Beethoven ugh I’ve FARTED better symphonies
“Heart as black as kohl”
PANEL 1
CAL: That harlot threw her drink over me.
PANEL 2
CAL: Have her killed.
PANEL 3
CAL: And re-apply my eyeliner
“I forgot to title this one”
PANEL 1
CAL: Why, Lovejoy, an unattended baby. What do you say we-
PANEL 2
LOVEJOY: Steal it, sir, to secure a place on a lifeboat?
PANEL 3
CAL: Lovejoy that’s BRILLIANT! I just thought we could eat it.
“Oops I drew Indy again”
BRITNEY SPEARS: I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end
ASTRONAUT: Well baby I went down and got it for you
BRITNEY SPEARS: You shouldn’t have
VOICE OFF-PANEL: DAMN STRAIGHT!
PANEL 2
INDIANA JONES: It BELONGS in a MUSEUM!
“Cal Goes to the Afterlife”
PANEL 1
CAL: This must be heaven-?
IRISHMAN: Quite right fella. Up here yer point’s always full, an’ there’s always an Oirish jig a-playin’.
PANEL 2
CAL: What! Sounds more like HELL

