Bozo by Foxo Reardon for June 17, 2021

3. Lol!

1 Shouldn’t have gone with the extra-dark shades.

2 Must be using one of his classy girlfriends for a model.

3Who doesn’t prefer a dry umbrella?

2 – No one can resist those happy little trees.

1. Dang. It’s so dark out here!

2. Bozo’s such a great artist that his fans crowd all over him.

3. An umbrella for the umbrella. Can’t let me umbrella gets wet!

After hiding in the background in the first one and missing in the second, umbrella guy’s back into the subject matter in the third one, this time with an extra umbrella.

Even though there isn’t much angled scenes or elements in today’s strips, Foxo still maintains great perspectives and gives a realistic three dimensional depth feeling in all strips. A hallmark of a true master of art is portraying proper depths and perspectives on a two dimensional piece of paper.

These are all great, but I don’t think I’ve seen the joke in 1 or 3 before. Two new jokes in three strips is pretty special.

2/ You can almost hear the crash.

1-Too much sun.

2-Too many critics.

3-Two umbrellas?

Careful Bozo, look what happened the last time you interacted with the Umbrella man! (June 12)

1. Bozo can find it if he sheds a little “light” on the subject.

2. Bozo’s fans are falling all over themselves for his artwork.

3. Umbrella guy’s got a double header.

Like I always say, it takes a village to dig a hole.

In real life, all those people would have found themselves mysteriously compelled to go stand between Bozo and whatever he’s drawing. I saw it happen over and over on trips—and it wasn’t happening to me, but to people I didn’t know. Something about the cone of concentration between an artist and her subject is irresistible for some people to go stand in, like a cardboard box to a cat.

In today’s quite diverse array of subjects in the series of panels, I am finding a concordant unity within them that speaks of both the psychological and physiological challenges of “excess” that can befall each of us in our lives.

1. In the first series, we find our hero demonstrating a common fix for the physiological issue of excessive exposure of sunlight. While sunlight is valuable for vitamin D production via the skin and light is critical for stimulating the rods and cones in our retina…. excessive sunlight can lead to the development of skin cancer and induce cataract formation in the lenses of our eyes. Bozo is proactive in his care for his eyes, by employing the use of light filtering sunglasses. Unfortunately, however, light filtering abilities of the lenses of the glasses are excessive for needed visual acuity, and Bozo has to add artificial illumination to the scene to locate the coin he accidently dropped.

2. In the second series, we find Bozo displaying finesse in the art of painting. Live performance, such as we see in concerts, plays, and other forms of artistry can often appeal to the masses. However, in an subjective subject like art, there…

…is an inherent risk that people MAY excessively flock to a particular subject not due to artistic merit, but JUST because it may appear “popular” or “trendy” at any given moment (Think of how “Hee-Haw” and “The Gong Show” were both WILDLY popular for a period of time back in the day for instance.) Here we find unbeknownst to Bozo, that he has acquired a growing cadre of “groupies”. Yet, while the initial fellow and the first few additions were likely truly enamored with the artistry displayed, it appears that several of the latecomers may only attempting to engage because what is happening appears popular and trendy. Several of the fellows in the back appear to not even be able to see well Bozo’s efforts, and keep pushing and jostling folks to catch a glimpse of what is occuring, leading ultimately to collapse, and destruction of what was being created.

3. In the third series, we see excess in terms of planning and care. Like a fellow who owns a beautiful classic car but never drives it, here we see Bozo reveal to us that the Umbrella Man is perhaps a bit more fussy than we had realized. He appears to be ardently fond of his umbrella and its pristine condition that he…

…may be displaying what many would find excessive care for his umbrella by having a secondary umbrella of lesser importance at hand to divert rain-water away from his prized umbrella. And, the degree of planning and forethought Umbrella Man must have used to implement, and carry with him this backup system may also be thought of as excessive .

Overall…. Mr. Foxo Reardon has given us ample meal that can serve as food for thought today. What is it in our lives that may be occurring to such excess that it may hinder our broader life? In my own life, I can say that the three sets of panels has helped me to better recognize the damnably excessive work my U has required of me the last several days. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not thwarted and hindered by any sort of “excessiveness” in the day-to-day.

Umbrella man is in all 3 today.

1) So a flashlight works with sun glasses, comic optics!

2) Bozo, the artist, can draw a crowd without trying!

3) So Umbrella Man needs a large one for rain, the other for sun.