This whole storyline has been a mashup of movie scenes. Guess it’s easier to just draw it and not have to really write anything, isn’t it Mr. Cho? Get back to Frank and Brandy and Jen.
There were two rockets but Cow was controlling both with a remote (see yesterday’s strip, first panel). Now that Cow (and hence the remote) is down for the count, the other rocket is down too.
By the way, I love today’s strip…”Don’t tell Harry” classic.
I’ve been following this strip for a while and finally realized I really can’t stay with it. I bought a Liberty Meadows book a while back for the great art in it but god this writing is terrible. Reading a book and looking at all the nice art all at once is one thing but reading one little strip each day and being constantly disappointed in the lack of originality and the story that never goes anywhere is another. I know that Mr. Cho does more then this strip so it could be that he can’t devote much time to this so perhaps he just needs a writing assist. But here’s more critique and unasked for opinion:
Frank, you write your story around what you want to draw but that doesn’t make for an interesting story. “The art must be in service to the story” is the phrase that artists need to keep in mind. Maybe work with a writer so you can stop writing like an artist. You’re a bleeep good artist but this strip seems to be written for 6th graders, but then you have Jen pushing her boobs up to ask how much cleavage she should sport so it’s not really for kids. You just wanted to draw Jen pushing her boobs up so you wrote a strip around that. That’s what an artist would write, not a writer. I love boobs myself but who cares when they are drawn at 1/2 an inch in diameter in B&W line art? I’m an artist myself but a comic strip needs to be about the story not the art.
I just can’t watch this anymore with the obvious punchlines, all the reused and borrowed elements* and the storylines that never progress. I’m not trying to be mean but if all Frank ever hears is “Great stuff!” then he’ll never know why he may be losing part of his audience.
*They don’t feel like homages-they just feel like stolen pieces thrown in for lack of anything original to put in- Jan6,2010 being a perfect example. “Don’t tell Harry”-I get it, it’s from Spiderman but why? The whole day, 3 panels wasted to include one lame reference.
JNash - the strip left active publication in the newspapers years ago. And the whole point of the strip was its brute force stupidity combined with its superb art. it’s entirely beside the point to set up a straw man about what Frank Cho was aiming for, when he never aimed for anything of the kind.
Now if you object to what he actually aimed for, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did, that’s another matter…
Johanan- I agree I shouldn’t have assumed so much about his objectives or motivations. I’m guessing to be sure. You say he “never aimed for anything of the kind” but don’t offer any explanation about what you think he was aiming for unless you’re saying it’s “brute force stupidity”.
A strip about brute force stupidity is fine, there are many, like the Far Side and Rubes or Ballard Street but however stupid it is there has to be a punchline. Or I guess a funny punchline is what I mean. I have no reaction at all to these strips, “meh” at best. Maybe I’m just dead inside because I think Garfield has sucked forever and Peanuts was rarely ever funny but then there’s Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County which were genius. PVP is a well written web comic that’s kinda similar to Liberty Meadows with it’s eclectic cast and reference to pop culture. But it does it better. And the storyline actually progresses.
I stand by my statement that Frank just wanted to draw a pic of Jen holding up her huge boobs and wrote a strip around that. :)
Still guessing yeah, but I fall into the same pitfall as an artist that tries to tell stories so I’m projecting my difficulties onto Frank and his stories.
Rakkav over 14 years ago
Nah, it can’t be over that easily.
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
Harry?
Reminds me of the punchline of the Julie Brown song “Everybody Run, the Home-Coming Queen’s Got a Gun”:
I did it for Johnnie!”
“Johnnie? Who’s Johnnie?”
cdward over 14 years ago
Yeah, who’s Harry?
rook0719 over 14 years ago
It’s the line from the first spiderman when the rocket sled (which looks a lot like these drones) nails the green goblin. Harry was his son…
jimmymanners over 14 years ago
This whole storyline has been a mashup of movie scenes. Guess it’s easier to just draw it and not have to really write anything, isn’t it Mr. Cho? Get back to Frank and Brandy and Jen.
Kerovan over 14 years ago
This strip is that recent? I know all of these are reruns but that must mean we’re getting near the end of the series.
Photobug12 over 14 years ago
Again, wasn’t there two rockets? Where is the other one?
DrElectro over 14 years ago
JEN AND BRANDY! Get back to what REALLY matters! T&A!!
DrElectro over 14 years ago
The previous post was merely a jest. We now resume normal ranting and raving.
Magasek over 14 years ago
There were two rockets but Cow was controlling both with a remote (see yesterday’s strip, first panel). Now that Cow (and hence the remote) is down for the count, the other rocket is down too.
By the way, I love today’s strip…”Don’t tell Harry” classic.
pswhitlark over 14 years ago
Hummmm. Maybe Harry was the brother of a hamburger Ralph ate last June.
JNash over 14 years ago
I’ve been following this strip for a while and finally realized I really can’t stay with it. I bought a Liberty Meadows book a while back for the great art in it but god this writing is terrible. Reading a book and looking at all the nice art all at once is one thing but reading one little strip each day and being constantly disappointed in the lack of originality and the story that never goes anywhere is another. I know that Mr. Cho does more then this strip so it could be that he can’t devote much time to this so perhaps he just needs a writing assist. But here’s more critique and unasked for opinion:
Frank, you write your story around what you want to draw but that doesn’t make for an interesting story. “The art must be in service to the story” is the phrase that artists need to keep in mind. Maybe work with a writer so you can stop writing like an artist. You’re a bleeep good artist but this strip seems to be written for 6th graders, but then you have Jen pushing her boobs up to ask how much cleavage she should sport so it’s not really for kids. You just wanted to draw Jen pushing her boobs up so you wrote a strip around that. That’s what an artist would write, not a writer. I love boobs myself but who cares when they are drawn at 1/2 an inch in diameter in B&W line art? I’m an artist myself but a comic strip needs to be about the story not the art.
I just can’t watch this anymore with the obvious punchlines, all the reused and borrowed elements* and the storylines that never progress. I’m not trying to be mean but if all Frank ever hears is “Great stuff!” then he’ll never know why he may be losing part of his audience.
*They don’t feel like homages-they just feel like stolen pieces thrown in for lack of anything original to put in- Jan6,2010 being a perfect example. “Don’t tell Harry”-I get it, it’s from Spiderman but why? The whole day, 3 panels wasted to include one lame reference.
HabaneroBuck over 14 years ago
I agree, this strip is only interesting around Frank, Brandy, and maybe just a little bit of Jen.
Rakkav over 14 years ago
JNash - the strip left active publication in the newspapers years ago. And the whole point of the strip was its brute force stupidity combined with its superb art. it’s entirely beside the point to set up a straw man about what Frank Cho was aiming for, when he never aimed for anything of the kind.
Now if you object to what he actually aimed for, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did, that’s another matter…
JNash over 14 years ago
Johanan- I agree I shouldn’t have assumed so much about his objectives or motivations. I’m guessing to be sure. You say he “never aimed for anything of the kind” but don’t offer any explanation about what you think he was aiming for unless you’re saying it’s “brute force stupidity”.
A strip about brute force stupidity is fine, there are many, like the Far Side and Rubes or Ballard Street but however stupid it is there has to be a punchline. Or I guess a funny punchline is what I mean. I have no reaction at all to these strips, “meh” at best. Maybe I’m just dead inside because I think Garfield has sucked forever and Peanuts was rarely ever funny but then there’s Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County which were genius. PVP is a well written web comic that’s kinda similar to Liberty Meadows with it’s eclectic cast and reference to pop culture. But it does it better. And the storyline actually progresses.
I stand by my statement that Frank just wanted to draw a pic of Jen holding up her huge boobs and wrote a strip around that. :)
Still guessing yeah, but I fall into the same pitfall as an artist that tries to tell stories so I’m projecting my difficulties onto Frank and his stories.