That’s because Pandolph was still mixing whiskey and Nyquil or something even worse at this stage. We who supported this strip years ago when it first came out saw it happening. Book orders never filled, half-hearted and sporadic strip updates, the whole thing. What started as an amusing and rather well-drawn strip disintegrated until he finally shut it down and began drawing for another strip (Elderberries) as their biatch. I don’t think he ever did complete the book about the chipmunk army he promised and for which he took advanced orders. If so, it was long after I had given up on him. I check this out to relive the strip before it went to pot. I bought the books, still have them and liked it. Now — I wouldn’t bet on Pandolph to wake up tomorrow, let alone produce a timely and well-drafted strip again.
As a recovering alcoholic, I used to email with Corey before he went off the deep end. I believe that in a few years his confidence will be back and he will again rule the cartoon pages.
Oops – most recent in May, and some of them are pretty good. But his history is certainly a train wreck. ISTR a project he started with Ces Marciuliano (Medium Large, Sally Forth) that he bailed on after just a few strips, with lots of bad feeling.
Been reading this strip for approx. 3 years, and have been intrigued by the slight changes popping up in the annual repeat cycle, and the variable “slip” between time in the strip and real time. Now that folks are commenting on Pandolph’s struggles with life, I am reminded of the only other Pandolph whose name I know – the “Fra Pandolph” referred to in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”. My high school English teacher had us read Browning, and I was later forever changed by hearing a recording of Charles Laughton reading “My Last Duchess”. Both the painter “Fra Pandolph” and the “Duchess” are tragic figures in the poem; you imagine him probably dying on the rack in the Duke’s torture chamber. Maybe our Pandolph carries some of the genes imagined by Browning? Or…, maybe not, as pointed out to me by Charles Laughton. Ah, “Barkeater Lake”, a somewhat random and intriguing tale…
Agent54 over 10 years ago
WTH?? the line of thought in this strip is like talking to a 5 year old on a sugar buzz. never stays on one track.
hawgowar over 10 years ago
That’s because Pandolph was still mixing whiskey and Nyquil or something even worse at this stage. We who supported this strip years ago when it first came out saw it happening. Book orders never filled, half-hearted and sporadic strip updates, the whole thing. What started as an amusing and rather well-drawn strip disintegrated until he finally shut it down and began drawing for another strip (Elderberries) as their biatch. I don’t think he ever did complete the book about the chipmunk army he promised and for which he took advanced orders. If so, it was long after I had given up on him. I check this out to relive the strip before it went to pot. I bought the books, still have them and liked it. Now — I wouldn’t bet on Pandolph to wake up tomorrow, let alone produce a timely and well-drafted strip again.
Mark Jackson Premium Member over 10 years ago
Recently he’s had a strip or two in /The New Yorker/ – but I have no idea how long ago they were drawn.
Mark Jackson Premium Member over 10 years ago
A quick search at cartoonbank.com says 11 strips, the most recent in December.
larryvanover over 10 years ago
As a recovering alcoholic, I used to email with Corey before he went off the deep end. I believe that in a few years his confidence will be back and he will again rule the cartoon pages.
Mark Jackson Premium Member over 10 years ago
Oops – most recent in May, and some of them are pretty good. But his history is certainly a train wreck. ISTR a project he started with Ces Marciuliano (Medium Large, Sally Forth) that he bailed on after just a few strips, with lots of bad feeling.
louieglutz over 10 years ago
was it chas. addams who always drew the same cartoon just before they sent him off to rehab?
william poteet over 10 years ago
Been reading this strip for approx. 3 years, and have been intrigued by the slight changes popping up in the annual repeat cycle, and the variable “slip” between time in the strip and real time. Now that folks are commenting on Pandolph’s struggles with life, I am reminded of the only other Pandolph whose name I know – the “Fra Pandolph” referred to in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”. My high school English teacher had us read Browning, and I was later forever changed by hearing a recording of Charles Laughton reading “My Last Duchess”. Both the painter “Fra Pandolph” and the “Duchess” are tragic figures in the poem; you imagine him probably dying on the rack in the Duke’s torture chamber. Maybe our Pandolph carries some of the genes imagined by Browning? Or…, maybe not, as pointed out to me by Charles Laughton. Ah, “Barkeater Lake”, a somewhat random and intriguing tale…