When I started drawing a comic strip, two of the most influential strips out there were “Doonesbury” and “Bloom County.” One of the more minor distinctions shared by these two innovative features was the abandonment of the traditional “speech balloon” for the style displayed in the strip above. Yes, I dabbled with this “new” look now and then, as in this strip from 1999. Drawing speech balloons is tedious and not at all easy as it appears. Still, I have stuck with the balloon, because it’s such an integral part of what a comic strip is to me. Sometimes, if the design seems to dictate, if a balloon seems unnecessary such as in a close-up talking-head shot, I will dispose of it.
38 responses to ““Ennui having fun?””
You’re asking ME that, Ghost? Or do you mean the feathered fowl kind of chick? And how did you know that Ginger…ah, eat your heart out, I’m not going to finish that one.
😀
@Shelley-tease! 🙂
Well, Shelly, which kind of chick do you prefer? Oh, and Mindy never answered me when I attempted to determine to whom the “three pairs” of pokies John saw belonged. You wouldn’t happen to have any information about that, would you?
Debbe 😉
Miracles occasionally happen department: Monday afternoon, not 5 minutes after I finished making copies of our tax forms, our printer totally died. It had been in the throes for a few months – being held together, literally, by duct tape(!) – but, on Monday, it completely went. Among other things, it insisted on my clearing a paper jam when there was no paper in the machine, not even in the storage bin, and crumpling up any sheets I tried to feed it.
I am thankful that it did last until after the tax forms were copied.
That evening, we went to an office supply store and looked at several printers. One or two caught our eyes, but it was apparent we had not taken along sufficient information to make a choice. Upon the return home, we checked ratings of printers, found a good one which the store had – and, on sale, too – and verified that it would work with our system with our son, a computer pro.
Tuesday morning, I returned to the store, bought the on-sale printer (and found that our old machine’s cable would work with it, thus saving some $$) and also was able to return an unopened ink package for full credit. Yay! That afternoon, I managed to hook up the printer enough to be able to make copies of, say, emails and to do ordinary copying. For me, that was nothing less than a miracle, as I usually can stick a plug into a wall socket, but not much more. In contrast, I could not make the disc of instructions work at all, so didn’t get the whole installation done. Said son will be doing that for us soon.
Yep, sometimes miracles do occur…and I am grateful.
For those of you who know about such things, we have Windows 7 Professional matched with an HP 6520 now.
I hope this link works…
http://www.edudemic.com/the-hokey-pokey-if-shakespeare-wrote-it/
Good morning Villagers…..
….and a cockle doodle do morning Mindy and Clan….chicken boxing…..what a bunch of baloney. Thanks for thinking of me 🙂
There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not chasing some hen down, or up, the aisles at work. They do run funny and believe me, sometimes they think they can fly. Then I have a few who will actually peck at you, I had one draw blood on my hand the other day when I reached to put eggs back on the belt. Spent hens are vicious, so chicken boxing, I feel would be right up there with cockfighting. I’ve pulled hens out of cages who have literally had their head almost pecked to death….not a pretty sight.
I love the strip above and it’s so true.
Did anyone read the comments on yesterday’s strip…..fired up, they are on the Dark Side.
GR…you sure do have a one track mind, but we love ya 😉 Maybe you should change your “handle” to Pokeyman 🙂
Ya’ll have a blessed day…..
why do I get a message saying that I’ve already posted that comment, and it mentions WordPress error?
testing, testing testing………….
Good morning Villagers…..
….and a cockle doodle do morning Mindy and Clan….chicken boxing…..what a bunch of baloney. Thanks for thinking of me 🙂
There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not chasing some hen down, or up, the aisles at work. They do run funny and believe me, sometimes they think they can fly. Then I have a few who will actually peck at you, I had one draw blood on my hand the other day when I reached to put eggs back on the belt. Spent hens are vicious, so chicken boxing, I feel would be right up there with cockfighting. I’ve pulled hens out of cages who have literally had their head almost pecked to death….not a pretty sight.
Did anyone read the comments on yesterday’s strip…..fired up, they are on the Dark Side.
GR…you sure do have a one track mind, but we love ya 😉 Maybe you should change your “handle” to Pokeyman 🙂
Ya’ll have a blessed day…..
Ah, ha….I did it…..got my morning comment in, that is…
Sorry about the double posting….
today’s inspiration: http://cheezburger.com/8138584832
When my children were little I used to use a chicken as a puppet. Thanks, Jimmy! Cartoon influences! Speech no-ballons! And a groaner of a pun in the title! I believe it was Zippy the Pinhead in his cartoon who first asked, “Are we having fun yet?” Full-course meal this time.
to curmudge ex prof – remember the days when you went to a store, bought something, brought it home, plugged in and then used it ??? no programming, no “is this the right cable $$$ ???”
Ah – those were the days ….
‘Bloom County’ & ‘Doonesbury’ are both very much of their time and have faded as times move on. I doubt that ‘Arlo & Janis’ will have that problem.