Dang, I've worked at a lesson barn for too long. I couldn't look at that without frowning at their lack of helmets and wanting to make a half dozen comments about their legs hands, shoulders, posture, etc in that first panel.
Remind me never to ride where you can see me. Though maybe I can get away with the excuse that I use Aussie tack so the rules are different. ;p
If you look at the way the bridle and reins are drawn in the third panel, you can see that Lynn isn't really all that familiar with horses and riding. I've noticed this before when April visits her cousin's place.
The part between the horse's legs, if I had my choice :P
Like goldenstallion, I too like For Better or For Worse... for two basic reasons:
1. The tone is always right- Lynn Johnston really knows how to tell a story in a limited space.
2. The story- and the characters- has progressed. After all these years, Cathy, Garfield, Ziggy, Marmaduke & Spiderman have hardly changed. Boring. Family circus had the grandparent's die, and that's all I can recall. Hagar's the worst- how long ago did going off on a voyage to pillage for months become outdated??? Sheesh. Don't even get me started on Beetle Bailey...
Beetle Bailey is particularly odd, because a few things actually have changed there. General Halftrack stopped being a sexist pig, for one thing. And I'm pretty sure Cookie has quit smoking. But mostly, you're right, nothing has changed.
The characters in Blondie have aged and developed but very, very slowly. You're right that For Better or For Worse is the most realistic of all the syndicated strips I usually get to see. She doesn't pull punches either, as in the current side plot about Elly's father having a stroke. I suspect most of it is drawn from real life, either her own family or those of friends and relatives.
Now as for which part of the horse you'd choose... Really? I think not. I'd certainly want to be the head or some part of it. That's where the pats come. That's where the treats come. And that's the part that stays out of the mud and muck most of the time. The part between the legs? Well, you'd hardly ever see the sun, you'd be sticky and smelly a lot of the time, and probably only get exercise very rarely if at all. ;p
I could never understand some of them... like Funky Winkerbean, Cathy or Ziggy.
Ziggy was always a surreal experience for me because while it was always rather simplistic, the look of the art made me think the artist was on acid or something- how can you draw some snail thing and call it a man?
Bloom County was my favorite for awhile- especially when they mocked Disney's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" with "Who Plugged Mortimer Mouse"- for me, Opus somehow represents humanity to a perfect T.
Oh, and looking back- something about Peanuts bothered me a little... the character Snoopy's dreams were kind of weird- I remembered once reading a strip where he had a nightmare about being on a dogsled team that got pulled into freezing water when they broke through thin ice and- I kid you not- drowned. Seeing Snoopy go under... it was a little frightening. Definitly the darkest thing I've ever seen captured by a mainstream serial.
Cathy I understand. She's not me, but she certainly is a lot of other people of both genders I have known.
Bloom County was weirdly political, and is partly back now as Opus, featured in his own strip.
I never saw that particular Peanuts sequence, though I remember a funny drawn out one about Snoopy looking for a cousin or brother somewhere and learning that he had somehow been killed by rabbits. He was surrounded, there was no escape, and then.... "Rabbit-tat-tat! It was all over."
The one that bothered many people involved Linus' blanket taking on a life of its own, and lurking to attack Lucy and others by surprise. That was a bit over the top.
Also, I've seen the sun quite a bit lately... I don't think less direct exposure whould bother me for some time yet... And I'm sticky and smelly often as it is :P
Heh, that's a good one. Of course, I've never understood why a horse's ass would ever be a bad thing. If someone calls someone else a "horse's ass" I think "Oh, that person must be hot." ;)
Oh, the traditional figure of speech just has its origin in what comes out of the horse's ass, in large quantities as a rule: hot gas and horse sh*t. Thus, politicians, and other such pompous idiots.
I have always liked that strip. April was a baby and everybody grew older, the dog died, the son's best friend is gay and so forth. Hardly ever read the comics any more.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-08-27 12:13 pm (UTC)Dang, I've worked at a lesson barn for too long. I couldn't look at that without frowning at their lack of helmets and wanting to make a half dozen comments about their legs hands, shoulders, posture, etc in that first panel.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-27 02:42 pm (UTC)If you look at the way the bridle and reins are drawn in the third panel, you can see that Lynn isn't really all that familiar with horses and riding. I've noticed this before when April visits her cousin's place.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-27 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-27 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 04:00 pm (UTC)Like goldenstallion, I too like For Better or For Worse... for two basic reasons:
1. The tone is always right- Lynn Johnston really knows how to tell a story in a limited space.
2. The story- and the characters- has progressed. After all these years, Cathy, Garfield, Ziggy, Marmaduke & Spiderman have hardly changed. Boring. Family circus had the grandparent's die, and that's all I can recall. Hagar's the worst- how long ago did going off on a voyage to pillage for months become outdated??? Sheesh. Don't even get me started on Beetle Bailey...
no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 05:31 pm (UTC)The characters in Blondie have aged and developed but very, very slowly. You're right that For Better or For Worse is the most realistic of all the syndicated strips I usually get to see. She doesn't pull punches either, as in the current side plot about Elly's father having a stroke. I suspect most of it is drawn from real life, either her own family or those of friends and relatives.
Now as for which part of the horse you'd choose... Really? I think not. I'd certainly want to be the head or some part of it. That's where the pats come. That's where the treats come. And that's the part that stays out of the mud and muck most of the time. The part between the legs? Well, you'd hardly ever see the sun, you'd be sticky and smelly a lot of the time, and probably only get exercise very rarely if at all. ;p
no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 04:45 pm (UTC)Ziggy was always a surreal experience for me because while it was always rather simplistic, the look of the art made me think the artist was on acid or something- how can you draw some snail thing and call it a man?
Bloom County was my favorite for awhile- especially when they mocked Disney's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" with "Who Plugged Mortimer Mouse"- for me, Opus somehow represents humanity to a perfect T.
Oh, and looking back- something about Peanuts bothered me a little... the character Snoopy's dreams were kind of weird- I remembered once reading a strip where he had a nightmare about being on a dogsled team that got pulled into freezing water when they broke through thin ice and- I kid you not- drowned. Seeing Snoopy go under... it was a little frightening. Definitly the darkest thing I've ever seen captured by a mainstream serial.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 07:11 pm (UTC)Bloom County was weirdly political, and is partly back now as Opus, featured in his own strip.
I never saw that particular Peanuts sequence, though I remember a funny drawn out one about Snoopy looking for a cousin or brother somewhere and learning that he had somehow been killed by rabbits. He was surrounded, there was no escape, and then.... "Rabbit-tat-tat! It was all over."
The one that bothered many people involved Linus' blanket taking on a life of its own, and lurking to attack Lucy and others by surprise. That was a bit over the top.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 09:16 am (UTC)*sighs* I miss horses and riding...
no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 09:45 am (UTC)I have always liked that strip. April was a baby and everybody grew older, the dog died, the son's best friend is gay and so forth. Hardly ever read the comics any more.
Oh, and yea, we horses have nice rear ends.
Steed
no subject
Date: 2007-08-28 10:38 am (UTC)