The idea for this came to me from howtheduck's discussion about the story Lynn was telling vs. the one she thought she was telling. I thought of Elly trying her hand at comicking.
Dawn’s Bad Haircut
2 years ago
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Well, you delivered on the horrifying part. It seems obvious that someone as messed up as Elly would think lousy artwork, clunky dialog, toxic interpersonal relationships and misplaced self-pity would earn her big bucks. Too bad fro her that there was only room for one Lynn Johnston in the world.
Something that struck me about Elly Patterson's art is not only that the artwork is more consistent than Lynn Johnston's from panel-to-panel; but Elly's work is actually funnier than most of Lynn's recent comic strips.
To get the true feel for the Lynn Johnston method, you would probably have to have extensive text boxes out of the real strip explaining things, much like the monthly letters used to do. It probably wouldn't work for a comic strip, because of the limited text space.
Take this strip from May 2, 2006 as an example:
In Panel 1, Jesse Mukwa is talking to Elizabeth Patterson about her e-mail from her sister April.
The commentary showing Lynn’s true thoughts would say: By Jesse’s word “Whatcha” I am trying to convey how poorly educated this kid is. Have you ever talked to one of those First Nations kids? I can barely understand them.
About the e-mail. Elizabeth has to print out her e-mail to read it outside because that’s the only way I can read them. My webmaster Stephanie says she can show me how to do it, but that’s just nonsense. I am a graphic novelist, not a computer expert.
In Panel 2, Jesse says there’s a lot of gossip in Mtigwaki, when Elizabeth says she misses the gossip in Milborough.
The commentary showing Lynn’s true thoughts would say: Poor Elizabeth is forced to get her gossip from one of her students and she is terribly homesick. Back home, she would have access to shopping malls and hair salons where a girl can get gossip in a proper fashion from other grown women. I had this same problem back in Lynn Lake. I had to get my gossip from my son Aaron.
In Panel 3, Jesse tells Elizabeth they call her “Coffee Cake” because she is dating a cop and that’s what they get when they go to the corner store.
The commentary showing Lynn’s true thoughts would say: She’s dating a cop, the worst kind of piggish, fat people around. Always eating their coffee cake. Treat their women like they were some kind of pastry. Everyone looks at a cop’s girlfriend and thinks, “Can’t she do better?” I'll bet the next cop who pulls me over for speeding will think twice after reading this comic strip.
In Panels 4 and 5, Jesse tells Elizabeth that being called “Coffee Cake”is nothing compared to how they used to call the previous teacher “Fish head.”
The commentary showing Lynn’s true thoughts would say: This just goes to show how the First Nations tribes treat the people who, out of the goodness of their heart, try to educate their children. They get called names. People gossip about them and their boyfriends. And the best man that’s available in their awful tribe town is a policeman, and that's saying something. You can tell from looking at Elizabeth’s face she can’t wait to get out of that hell hole and back to a place where no one gossips about you and makes fun of you because of whom you are dating. It's like when I was in Lynn Lake and people started calling me the crazy dentist's wife. I couldn't wait to move.
howtheduck, I have to bow to your insight into the mind of Lynn. I can totally see you coming out with an unofficial FBorFW companion that provides this kind of commentary for each strip. :)
If Lynn knew how to work a computer, she'd probably send howard an e-mail that said he had a camera in her brain.;)
If Lynn knew how to work a computer, she'd probably send howard an e-mail that said he had a camera in her brain.;)
I guess it's lucky that she, like Elly, will most likely never learn to "send and receive e-mail with ease" (since these activities are oh, so complicated). 0_o
Post a Comment