Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for March 09, 2011
Transcript:
Pilot: Eight clicks to insert, man. Better go get into battle rattle. Jeff: I don't need to armor up, Skipper. I'm going in as the Red Rascal. Pilot: "The Red Rascal"? Jeff: Right. Pilot: Dude, we don't do comic book missions. Jeff: It's called magic realism. Look it up.
BrianCrook over 13 years ago
Well, actually, it does, but magic doesn’t exist.
farflungfloyd over 13 years ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism
There you go. You’re welcome…
Coyoty Premium Member over 13 years ago
I don’t think Section 8 applies to mercenaries. Except as a feature on their resumes.
Alabama Al over 13 years ago
I actually did look it up. From Wikipedia (perhaps not the most accurate source, but it is the most convenient):
Magic realism … is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the “real” and the “fantastic” to be accepted in the same stream of thought. …
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism
peter0423 over 13 years ago
He’ll find those bullets to be magically realistic.
lewisbower over 13 years ago
Do yoy believe in magic?
Sandfan over 13 years ago
I don’t know about magical realism, but it will be really magical if Jeff pulls this off.
rayannina over 13 years ago
I think he’s got “magic realism” confused with “cannon fodder” …
That being said, I bet he pulls this off, for the sole reason that I don’t see Trudeau killing off one of his best characters this way.
Potrzebie over 13 years ago
This looks like a “mission accomplished” moment!
Nemesys over 13 years ago
When Jeff mentions magic realism, it’s GT’s sly way of explaining what HE is doing as a writer with this plot, not what Jeff is doing.
We’re being warned that anything can happen. Hey, it’s more realistic than talking bedbugs.
randgrithr over 13 years ago
Cognitive dissonance sound barrier being seriously broken in panel four. ;-7
Thank you for flying Schrodinger’s Cat Airlines.
RinaFarina over 13 years ago
I looked up “magic realism” in Wikipedia. Gave me a serious headache trying to understand it. Maybe some other time.
RinaFarina over 13 years ago
Wait a minute, I do know something about Schrodinger’s cat. The question is whether it’s inside the box or not. Has something to do with quantum physics.
If it is, then it isn’t, but if it isn’t, then it is. Clear?
That’s why many people don’t like quantum physics. But it’s just another version of magical realism!
odeliasimone over 13 years ago
He’s the Red Rascal. They won’t fire on him.
So pilot, this is your first comic book mission.
Dragoncat over 13 years ago
I just heard that Action Comics No. 15 (Spiderman’s debut issue) just sold for $1.1 Million.
Just think… In a couple of decades, Red Rascal comics could be the next biggest thing. I wonder if Mr. Overkill is into comics?
Nighthawks Premium Member over 13 years ago
I never count my clicks……especially when I’m trying to get something to load and it is taking it’s time
Nemesys over 13 years ago
TimeWeaver, excellent point.
I think that tradition of gallantry was started by the British, who proved to be the model of cooperation with their colonial opponents by graciously donning bright red uniforms with built-in crosshairs.
The Rascal’s name may live forever, but somehow I can’t recall any of the names of those fallen security guards.
fritzoid Premium Member over 13 years ago
RinaFarina, Schroedinger’s Cat is definitely IN the box, but it’s simultaneously dead and alive until you open the box to check.
Dragoncat, Spider-Man debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15, not Action Comics. (Superman was Action #1.)
[/pedantry]
Dirty Dragon over 13 years ago
The Red Rascal donates Tiger Blood™ to needy celebrities in between missions. He’ll be fine.
MisngNOLA over 13 years ago
Somehow, since the area has been declared a no-fly zone I doubt he’ll need the battle rattle. Of course in real life, the UN and the sitting President wouldn’t declare a no-fly zone even if it were necessary to save lives, only to protect the flow of natural resources.
Jogger2 over 13 years ago
The Red Rascal rescued a despot and tyrant? How will that help the Red Rascal’s reputation?
Orion-13 over 13 years ago
randgrithr for the win….
Orion
Dragoncat over 13 years ago
@ Fritzoid: WHOOPS!!! You’re right. My bad…
But at least I was right about the selling price…right?
cdhaley over 13 years ago
“Magical realism,” as Nemesys suggests, is a RED (!) herring Jeff uses to divert your attention from his creator’s reflexivity.
This tedious arc won’t end until we get a panel that lets us see G.T. himself drawing the Red Rascal in action. (Pulling away the curtain so Dorothy can discover the Wizard of Oz.)
Dtroutma over 13 years ago
The real secret of the “ghost shirt”– is to get someone ELSE to wear it into battle–like Rumsfeld/Cheney/Bush did. The modern ghost shirt is the body armor that doesn’t protect against IEDs. Magic doesn’t work when facing ever more powerful real worlds.
cdhaley over 13 years ago
Red Rascal parachutes into Berzerkistan … or does he? As Einstein told Schroedinger, G.T. has to make up his mind about reality by opening the cat box. I’m betting he won’t; he’ll just leave Jeff in the Doonesbury box, where he’s both alive (fiction) and dead (removed from the week’s strip).
Kenneth Buhagiar Premium Member over 13 years ago
I have a bad feeling about this plot line…we may be in store for quite a shock.
Mythreesons over 13 years ago
Bad feeling? At least you understand what is going on. I haven’t for a couple of weeks. Too many characters from before I started reading the strip.
puddleglum1066 over 13 years ago
Never mind the red shirt, he’s gonna need the brown pants.
pbarnrob over 13 years ago
@3Sons– Hope you can get caught up soon! Several in the new generation to track, I agree. And they’re flying into a Charlie Foxtrot.
Reminds me of some of the stunts in the Matrix series, dancing & dodging bullets.
My favorite line from all that is in the kitchen at the old lady’s apartment;
The spoon-bending kid says “Remember, Neo - there is no spoon!”
That is to say - “ALL is Maya; Illusion!” Be the witness, enjoy!
ChukLitl Premium Member over 13 years ago
Are you sure the cat’s still in the box? Some have been said to walk through walls.
Red knows that his fate is in the hands of his creator, (& apparently, that he’s a ‘toon.)
countoftowergrove over 13 years ago
Alabama_Al said, about 17 hours ago
I actually did look it up. From Wikipedia (perhaps not the most accurate source, but it is the most convenient):
Magic realism … is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the “real” and the “fantastic” to be accepted in the same stream of thought. …
Looks like a working definition of a myth.
Nemesys over 13 years ago
The cat was in the box, but he left the box via the door into summer. He’ll be back in the box in 24 years.
(for Heinlein fans)