Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Farewell, 1981

Click to enlarge.

Some commenters here had such interesting ideas about Elly using her stated desire to do one more "Yammersons" strip as a pretext that would allow her to engage in subterfuge that I feel a bit bad that I didn't have anything like that planned.  I really did just have her doing one more strip to get her digs in before the move "Back to the Future."

13 comments:

DreadedCandiru2 said...

I was one of them; I should have known that Elly was too stupid to double-cross April. Now she's in for the horror of a lifetime; having to admit that she was never meant to do certain things. Worse still, she'll have to admit that her life was okay after all.

howard said...

Oh noes! Uncle Phil and Deanna Sobinski aren't there in the background! Will they be trapped in 1981?

April Patterson said...

I should have known that Elly was too stupid to double-cross April.

Here's a between-the-lines scenario we can imagine. Elly thought she would use making the "Yammersons" strip as a ruse. She figured she'd snatch away the journal and the book while April was distracted and make a run for it. But then she realized that she really did want to make the strip. So she sat down to do it, and just as she finished, April was standing at her shoulder, ready to usher Elly to the ceremony.

April Patterson said...

Oh noes! Uncle Phil and Deanna Sobinski aren't there in the background! Will they be trapped in 1981?

Nope, everyone who was time-warped is being restored. Being present at the ceremony is not required. I just wanted to have the immediate people present--the family and the friend-neighbors. I'd thought about adding more people, but I didn't want an unwieldly crowd.

April Patterson said...

Oh, and here's a story about April's incantation. I was lying in bed drifting off to sleep when I thought of what she would say. I didn't want to have to get out of bed to hunt down and pen and paper to write it down, but I also didn't want to forget the words. I use my cell phone as an alarm clock (I can program it to go off Monday through Friday), so I always sleep with it by my pillow (turned off, so no one wakes me by mistake--learned that lesson!). So I sent myself a text message. :)

Godozo said...

I should have known that Elly was too stupid to double-cross April.

Don't think it was stupidity, after all stubbornness is stronger. Just ask you average Tea-Partier; after thirty-five years of right-wing victories they at least understand THAT.

I just think Elly was so defeated by her failures that she decided not to resist. Think of it: Bad enough making one's compromises once while you're reacting to the situation; imagine getting a second chance and going just as badly. She just didn't want to go through another 25+ years of staring her failures in the mirror.

Besides, I've always thought "The Yammersons" were a compromise of hers. After the failed rip-off of her son's first book and the inability to keep at learning writing, drawing stick figures for a local weekly was what she settled for.

Godozo said...

But then she realized that she really did want to make the strip.

Or realized she had to go through with the ruse.

April Patterson said...

I just think Elly was so defeated by her failures that she decided not to resist. Think of it: Bad enough making one's compromises once while you're reacting to the situation; imagine getting a second chance and going just as badly. She just didn't want to go through another 25+ years of staring her failures in the mirror.

I think you've captured her mindset, Godozo. The body language I was going for in this strip, for Elly, was one of resignation mixed with shame. Not sure if I achieved that, but I tried. :)

After the failed rip-off of her son's first book and the inability to keep at learning writing, drawing stick figures for a local weekly was what she settled for.


I think this makes sense for her. The stick figures don't require artistic skill, and the dialogue is just lifted from arguments that she has with John. :)

Or realized she had to go through with the ruse.

This works--I can imagine April hovering over her, making sure she doesn't pull a fast one. Apes would be expecting no less.

DreadedCandiru2 said...

Godozo,

I just think Elly was so defeated by her failures that she decided not to resist. Think of it: Bad enough making one's compromises once while you're reacting to the situation; imagine getting a second chance and going just as badly. She just didn't want to go through another 25+ years of staring her failures in the mirror.

That makes sense; now all that's left for her is to wonder when Rod Serling shows up and summarizes her life.

April Patterson said...

That makes sense; now all that's left for her is to wonder when Rod Serling shows up and summarizes her life.

"...And that's when she took a wrong turn. Into the Fooblight Zone." ;)

Joe England said...

I think the most telling thing here is how everyone is standing together except for Elly, who's standing apart. Says a lot, really.

April Patterson said...

I think the most telling thing here is how everyone is standing together except for Elly, who's standing apart. Says a lot, really.

Thanks, Joe England--that was very deliberate, so I'm glad it came across.

Holly said...

I hope Annie wasn't as disappointed as the others to return to the past. She did get to spend some more time with the son she lost, and that must have been worth it. Now she has to return to a time where no one claims to remember him. :)