AVALAAAAAANCHE!!

Now, I imagine it must be very difficult to portray an avalanche in a daily, two-panel comic strip. The intensity, the confusion, the constant motion. That said, a guy standing around looking somewhat puzzled while a cloud emits some motion lines in the background and a light snow appears to fall does not scream "avalanche" to me. The cloud was a nice try...? Maybe it represents the speed with which Eric fell to the center of the Earth, which makes Lodi's expression all the more hilarious. "Huh, avalanche... weird."

In the strip's defense, I will say, if you have to phoenically represent the sound of thunder, "brrroooom" really isn't a bad approximation. However, it does look totally ridiculous and make me giggle. Heh! Broom.

I Ran So Far Away

So... since you didn't look back at him... you can safely assume it wasn't gunfire. Is that your logic? Come on, Lodi! You couldn't take a quick peek just to check? At least just to see where the Chinese army/snow leopard/avalanche was cracking in proximity to you? Especially since you can't really run in deep snow; the best you can do it a brisk, taxing speed walk.

Megan's right: Lodi's unnatural compliance to Eric's request can only be explained in the context of some Harry Potter-style Unbreakable Vow.

CRACK!!

You think that Lodi's just being poetically detailed in his description of the scene, painting a picture with his words... and then it turns out he's not exaggerating, he's just staring at an actual drop of snow from two feet away while his pal Eric is back there floundering in the snow. You can actually see it dripping before Lodi swivels away. That's... pretty awesome.

More importantly though, where is that huge "CRACK!!" sound effect coming from?

• actual gunfire from Chinese soldiers?
• the earth splitting and swallowing up Eric?
• Eric's bones being crushed by the powerful jaws of a snow leopard?
• Eric's bones being crushed by the powerful jaws of a Yeti?
• Eric yelling for more crack cocaine?
• other?

Discuss.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Hahaha! Seconds after promising to the unbreakable rule, the Lama has left Eric in the dust. Jeez, Lodi, you could look back once or twice just to make sure he's keeping up! He's not gonna turn to dust!

Story Time

"As I recall, the cold was unbearable... we didn't wear hats or gloves because we didn't want to look foolish, but Eric did button his raincoat right to the very top."

You're pushing it, Lama. Margo will soon become enraged if you keep up the blow-by-blow on the weather.

Get to the Point

"So..... where's Eric?"

I'd like to address something that came up in comments. For those of you who don't know or haven't guessed by now, Margo's last name is Magee. Yes, that means that if there's a picture of Margo with her hair disheveled, you can call her Crazy Hair Magee, or if she's yelling at a waiter you can call her Waiter-hatin' Magee. Very good stuff. I was going to bring it up earlier when things were all boring, but things picked up very suddenly. Or don't you remember?

The Young/Dalai Lama Appears and...

Whoa, check out Ten, he looks pissed! What could've gone on between yesterday and today? Plenty!

The Young/Dalai Lama will tell you all... eventually. Probably Monday. You just know his heart is gonna be full until next week.

WAS?!??!?!!!!????

WHAT THE HELL, "TEN"??!

I presume Ten, having realized he's said too much, will now foist an angry, confused Margo on the Dalai Lama himself. The results should be awesome. Like a rageful warm front hitting a calm, collected cool front... with her fists. And then demanding to know where her boyfriend is.

"Your hair is pinned up just as Eric described."

Okay, if I remember correctly, Tenzin Choklay is a monk who... helped Tim or... maybe Eric... or both... I dunno. The point is, I stared at this strip thinking, "Is that the Dalai Lama? It seems so easy to meet him!" until I remembered, no, wrong guy. Whoops.

But the more I look at him, the more he looks like Ray the hilarious dope fiend who, two days after being introduced to the comic, killed Lu Ann's superdumb boyfriend Alan. Seriously, I deeply regret that I didn't start this blog in time to cover that story.

Just Do It

Again, like last week, at first glance I thought Roger was evil, threatening Margo with a demonic grin and a surprisingly slender bare arm. This either means A.) I'm picking up a major vibe of foreshadowing or B.) I'm just very bad at speed reading.

Most people's reaction to getting to meet the Dalai Lama: OH MY GOD! Really?
Whether I believe in Buddhism or not, that guy seems very wise and just like a
pleasant conversationalist overall! This will totally result in my next Facebook picture.

Margo's reaction: Feh! FEHHHHH!! no wait, FEH!

Glumly, she will agree to meet him, but only cause her dumb dad is making her, THANKS A LOT DAD!!

You Talking to Me?

I could watch Margo all day long. From her perfect "O" of surprise in the first panel to her classic Joe Pesci impression in the second panel, Margo is a delightful, bizarre roller coaster of extremes. Can you imagine Lu Ann in this storyline? Or Tommie? Tommie! I'd probably just shut down the blog. Like Tommie would ever go to Tibet anyway. She wouldn't even go to Denver, the most lovely, healthy city in America!

Double Dragon II: The Final Embrace

Two panels on Sunday definitely merited comment:

Not shown elsewhere during the week was Nora and Tim's ultimate embrace. Am I the only one who's reminded of the ending of that old NES game Double Dragon II: The Revenge? I am? Yeah, I played that game maybe too much. Well anyway, I'm glad to see that Nora is excited beyond mannequin-like poses to see her husband, even if it means bullrushing him. Careful, he's frail!

Meanwhile, this Sunday panel offers a more revealing view of Margo's hotel room panic. She's finally about to rip her human disguise off, which is awesome!! I've been waiting for this forever. Tell me I'm not the only one who has suspected that Margo is an alien lifeform waiting for the perfect moment to summon her brethren and enslave the human race. I am? Strike two. Oh well, it'd be pretty cool.

Bobble and Weave

Oh yeah, Eric. That guy. I guess that would upset Margo. Love that last panel! So dramatic, Margo must clutch both hands in tight fists on top of her ears to keep her head from overbobbling. Of course, being a girl, I deal with personal issues similarly: hightail it to an empty room, stroke my chin for a bit, and then let loose with some bobbling.

I'm also intrigued by the mystery strap over Margo's right shoulder that disappears in the final panel. What does it mean? Any conspiracy theories? My best guess is that it bobbled right off.

Out of Control! the Aftermath

I had a tiny, perfect moment of joy this morning when, at first glance, I thought Roger Baker had turned into a villian and was threatening Martin with a taser. But some things are not meant to be...

You don't have to show us that the press conference went out of control, just having two guys talking about it in purple, featureless room is enough. I can't handle much more than this!

How's Margo handling it all? What do you think?! Ah... actually, I really don't know. Is there a reason she should be feeling anything in particular, except maybe a little snubbed that she didn't get to have the big emotional reunion in front of hundreds of people and reporters?

Model Behavior

Oh my God, it's Nora! Nora!! You must be ecstatic! The love of your life, your dead husband Tim, is actually not so dead! Yahoo! Now run up there and give him a big hug! Go on! Run up there! Give him a big... what are you doing? Are you... posing like a mannequin?

Okay, Tim I can forgive for his "Hey there young whippersnapper" pose because he's probably quite malnourished. But Nora! Try to get your body language to meet your three exclamation points!

A big kudos to the Lama for using his international media debut to stage a big emotional reunion. You're the best!

Oh... My... God.

Sometimes, it's not the destination that's important, but the journey that takes you there that makes all the difference. And sometimes it's definitely definitely the destination.

Suddenly, I don't care that I had to sift through over a month of boring Tibet storyline. For Margo to be caught in a lavendar spiderweb of her own astonishment, it was worth it. She has to trap her head with both hands to keep it from bobbling off her neck! Awesome!!

Panel one is good too. Is that her "straining to listen" face or her "shocked enough for one hand to the face but not both" face? Or maybe she's mimicking everyone's worry from yesterday. Either way, Dad couldn't care less.

And the Crowd Goes Wild!

OH suh-NAP! A3G can still surprise me sometimes. We haven't seen Tim since last September, so I kind of forgot that he existed outside of journal form. Here he is, and I think we can all agree: he's seen some things.

Supposedly the crowd is bursting into cheers in the second panel, but just look at them. Those must be the saddest, most concerned cheers ever. Hey crowd, why so blue? Ahhh hahahahaha!

But I Was Wrong... DEAD Wrong!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Monday, July 13, 2009

I don't know what I can say about this except, look at how white the damn crowd is! You're telling me all these white folks hopped a plane to Dharamsala and pushed a full crowd of Tibetans and Indians out of the way to see this guy? Look at that guy back there, he's wearing a fedora for God's sake!

The Soul of Wit

You know what I like about random monk guy in panel two? His brevity. He knows no one's there to listen to him, but he has to say something. Imagine if all introductions were so concise. And his English might not be that great, but the man knows how to use a semicolon.

Roger Explains...

Was I right? Was this Margo's tiny "Whoops, I was a jerk" moment? You can see the wheels in her head turning in panels two and three. "What kind of gift basket will I have to get Nora? Do they make $20 gift baskets, or will I have to spend as much as $50? Maybe they do CODs."

Whoops! Sorrrrry!

This is interesting if you've been following the strip for a while, because a while ago Margo visited Tim's wife Nora at Nora's lovely apartment and basically harrassed her for not caring about Tim, who had been missing for over a decade. It was basically like

Margo: Hi thanks for inviting me you look great.
Nora: Well than--
Margo: HOW COULD YOU MOVE ON??! You're a MONSTER! I'd never haven given up if Tim was my husband.
Nora: But I tried to find him for ten years!
Margo: NO BUTS! Get out of my sight, you disgust me!
Nora: This is my apartment!
Margo: (leaves)

So now Margo's gonna have a little "Whoops, I was a jerk" moment. Probably. You can never be sure with Margo!

Politics

Keep worrying, Margo! Maybe something interesting will happen that way. Besides, why would the fact that it's a political issue make her less worried? I don't think anything worries me more than politics.

Oh My Lama

Nothing really happened in the Sunday strip except that Margo mentioned they'd be going to Dharamsala soon and WHOOPS here we are in Dharamsala! I've resigned myself to the fact that this lama is more like a Lama (with a capital L, as in Dalai or Panchen), but without any specific title so as to avoid getting muddled up with real individuals and factual events. This allows the author complete freedom with the story. And that's fine. THAT IS as long as something really awesome and dramatic happens, like if Eric takes a bullet for the Lama a la The Bodyguard.

All that said, a note to Roger: if you think dressing like Colonel Sanders will give you some kind of political clout, you should know although he was well-loved, he wasn't a real Colonel.

And Margo! What happened to your make up?? This is not the time to go au naturel. Think of the cameras!

Not the Young Steers!

I guess Lu Ann's storyline is going to develop into a stirring vignette on the struggles of the young-steer industry and its devastating repercussions on South Dakota commerce, including hard workers like Lu Ann's pappy, but... I'd rather see Lu Ann throw up her hands and go back to New York. Don't you miss it Lu Ann? The city of ghosts and duplicitous boyfriends?

Big Brother is Watching You

I guess we're not going to see Nora's tearful confession that she might still be married. It was bound to be awkward. Oh well.

Okay, there are two ways you can read the thought balloon in panel one.

1. Two unrelated thoughts. Eric's not in the paper, and Margo is in India.
2. Eric Mills has become an an overnight celebrity whose story, as it unfolds, is considered worthy of daily news coverage, and Margo is raising such hell on the local media that they've agreed to keep Eric out of the news.

Either way, today we see another newspaper? GET AN iPHONE, YA HIPPIE! Jeez! I'm making a tag for newspapers so we can track this printed media madness.

An Honest Lie

"There are facts about my husband's death I haven't told you, Tom... like his aliveness."

There's something weird about the first panel to me, and I think it's that Tom thinks this is an appropriate time to count shoulders. From his perspective, it's a mildly troubling but personally irrelevant news event. Like, the kind that the news is saturated with. That's just my take on it though. I've always been weary of mixing sticky international diplomacy issues and romance.

Little Pitchers

People these days. No one goes to the internet for their news anymore! What's the world coming to?

I guess Katy is the offspring of Nora and Tim, and reading the article might get her hopes up that her pops is still alive. Is that the logic? Nora should know better. Even if she (somehow) manage to keeps newspapers out of her home, there are still plenty of places that will sell newspapers to minors. I hear they even stock them in vending machines within some educational institutions. The gall. The unmitigated gall.

There used to be a time when you could go to a Starbucks and use their wireless internet in peace, but now all your hear is the constant russle of papers. News, Sports, Weather, Arts, Entertainment... can't you people go one morning without checking these things?!