5/16/01 gag

[Yupyop]

Is Fate's comment, "How ironic." necessary? Because I read it before the funny gag at the bottom my first reaction was confusion. Without Fate's comment my first reaction would have been laughter caused by your gag.
Mike

[Wimpystuntmen]

Hmmm, interesting point. I think you're right. I was thinking about using that cartoon in my next submission (after I draw the new humanoid Eric of course). I might make that change. Thanks.<P>You know though, everyone has said to me its probably best to go with a human character rather than an anthropomorphised animal one just for the sake of it. I initially went that way (ie. using the elephant) because I thought he was cute and also for the soft toys that could be sold when I made it big like Garfield (which should have happened by now?). I thought the idea of a cute, loveable but somewhat mis-guided elephant would win over the hearts of millions. <P>What sort of human do I draw?? What approximate age to appeal to the public? *the elephant was meant to be between 20 and 30). The essence is generally that the character is nice enough but feels he has had a tough time in the luck department and is farily odd as a result. Are we talking Frank & Ernest type drawn characters or something with more realism?? What do you think??

[Throbbin Johnny]

Personally, Johnny likes Eric as an Elephant. How many pachyderms are in the papers, compared to humans? Maybe give eric a regular supporting cast, including a human best friend, maybe a girl Eric is hot for, but for obvious reasons can't get. That way, you can work in jokes that stem from people AND ones that stem from Eric(the beach joke was funny, maybe a "oooo, nice trunk!" joke from a girl, memory jokes-Eric maybe can't remember shit!). IJO's...<P>Hope J.Diddy gave you food for thought. Or at least gas...<P>"If it ain't Throbbin', it ain't Johnny"

[Yupyop]

The advantage of Eric the human is more readers will find it easier to relate to the gag. I have yet to read a gag where Eric being an elephant added to the gag.
But why not keep Eric the Elephant as part of the supporting cast? Have the main character a comic version of yourself surrounded by a variety of other lifeforms.
Mike

[Throbbin Johnny]

Toilet mobile...HAR-HAR-HAR...Johnny loves that toon!!! Your art's getting better, Wimpy!!<P>"Throbbin' Johnny

[Wimpystuntmen]

Yeah, I dare the papers to print that one!
There'll be more of this nature coming up as I've got a bunch of one's I like that are not newspaper friendly - the only down side is that many are written but not drawn and I'm struggling with time to put in the effort required to draw them up to this quality. This one's definitely one of my better drawings. In the future I might have to think about bringing in an artist for my "newspaper" work - I'm not really sure at the moment.<P>And would you believe, I think I actually submitted the toilet mobile to the syndicates in my last submission.