February 23rd, 2008
40 Years
(73 votes, average: 3.44 out of 5)
Loading ...Here’s the result of the real-time comix experiment. The colouring and dialog steps actually took me about as long as everything that came before it. There is a lot of implied backstory in this strip that you need to understand in order for the joke to work, and it was a challenge to get enough of it across without being too wordy. I hope I’ve succeeded, but if you’re confused, try reading the original plot outline that I posted yesterday.
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
You didn’t do a good job of communicating the backstory at all.
You wouldn’t know that the mountain-dwellers were stuck in the past, as it were, or that they are isolated from the real world, judging by the comic and dialogue alone.
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I totally disagree with George. It took me a second, but I got it. I like it when you experiment.
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Oh…
I agree with George on this one, sorry. It took me too long to understand it that it now lacks ‘funny’ for me.
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
There like the african tribes when they see a toyota pull up with food and aid
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I think the next time you try this idea (if you do) you should give the finished product with the background below. It was like having the script to a suspense movie published before the movie was released.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I don’t get it either, are they ahmish?
I do like the step by step (sorta) guide as to how you made it though.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 pm
This comic was extremely confusing. After reading the comments, I’m still at a bit of a loss as to where the “joke” lies.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Totally missed it until I read the comments…
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
yeah whats the deal with this story I don’t quite get and can be interperated a number of ways.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
The perspective is the same from both sides of the mountain too, so it’s not at all clear that the ski resort is the source of the lights. Some kleig lights shining into the air or something would’ve even helped.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Well, this one looks like a miss. Perhaps I should stick to robots
February 24th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Just wanted to say that I *did* get it. Was a bit subtle though - had to read it twice.
February 24th, 2008 at 7:19 am
This was a great comic Kevin! I hadn’t read your previous posting so came to this cartoon afresh. It took me maybe a couple of re-readings before I understood the narrative, but I found the effort well worth it.
Even if this kind of cartoon isn’t hugely popular, please keep doing this sort of thing — it will be appreciated!
February 24th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Oh, I got it too. My comment was regarding the information in the panels to suggest what a potential stumbling block may be. Experimentation is good.
February 24th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I’m sorry, but this is really one of the VERY few that just doesn’t work.
I kinda get what you were going for, but it misses.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Is this based on The Thing?
February 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
You know, I’ve changed my mind about this one. It took a long time for me to get it, but now that I do, I think it’s one of your best comics.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I’m sorry, but I really don’t think you got the backstory across at all. It’s never taken more than a re-read or two to get any of your comics for me, but I read this one five times and scanned over every panel before I had to read the backstory you posted. I get it now, but even reading it now I don’t think I could have ever figured it out by myself.
I guess my main problem is that the people and the buildings don’t look “old-timey” enough. I know people that dress like that for bed and I’ve been to towns that look just like the one in panel 3. It looks more “eccentric” than “time-warp”, you know?
February 24th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Not your best work. I think the concept is great, but the presentation was too unconnected. I couldn’t make the leap from inside the cabin to outside the cabin, my first thought was that it was a flashback to what had happened. A line like “And no one has been up there since” might have helped, but I still don’t understand how the sky resort experience would be so traumatic a to cause flashbacks 40 years later.
That said, this is still one of my favorite web comics, because it takes risks and does smart edgy work that requires some thought to understand.
Keep up the good work.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
So - his friends don’t come back because they like new-fangled technology so much that they stay? Is that the idea?
February 24th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Great work, the “Dry Goods Store” and the candlelight definitely help to get the point across.
Although I do wonder what happened to Jerry up there….
-Ian
February 24th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
After re-reading the initial story sketch, I must say that I think the problems began there. There’s not really a clear conflict… what about modernity was terrifying?
Also, it brings back the bad memories of watching “The Village”. *shudder*
February 25th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Am I being stupid or is this cartoon really not as confusing as everyone is making out? Yeah it’s a little more subtle than your other stuff but after a re-read it becomes obvious what’s going on. Personally I don’t think that this is your best, but don’t let that put you off experimenting because it stops your work stagnating. Your experiment with the story sealed me as a regular reader, so sometimes it pays off.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:32 am
I think a problem is that, like Gary Larson’s “Cow tools” comic (see above), the reader is left mistakenly convinced that the joke lies within understanding a certain aspect of the comic. I got that they had remained isolated after some horrific event. But I read and reread it, convinced that the joke lay within figuring out what that horrific event was, and how it connected to the founding of the ski resort. After reading your outline, I see this isn’t the case.
Nevertheless, keep experimenting! Writing nothing but “safe” comics would lead to becoming Garfield with robots. Down that path lies madness.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I’ve read every single comment and I still don’t get it.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:25 am
For those who “still don’t get it”, here’s the backstory (as I understand it):
A group of villagers have been living at the foothills of a mountain range, in complete isolation from the rest of the modern world, for over 100 years. They’re terrified of whatever may be at the top of the mountains, to them some unspecific monster or phantasm that shows itself by a display of eerie mountaintop lights. Forty years ago the old man (then young) and his friends set off on an expedition to the top of the mountains. Jerry and the others strayed too close to the lights, never to be seen again. What actually happened was that Jerry came upon the ski resort and found modern life so wonderful that he never decided to return.
The one question left unanswered by the strip is: why didn’t Jerry go back to tell the villagers about the wonders of the 21st century?
February 25th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I repeat:
Most of us understand the intent and direction. It just didn’t WORK, unlike virtually everyother piece he’s done. THIS one just falls flat.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I think this would have worked better ‘visually’ had the last panel included very modern-looking, sleek, architecture as well. A lot of ski resorts/mountain towns have a rustic look to them anyway, so the third and last panels aren’t different enough to make a distinction. The guy holding the cell phone helps, but it’s still not enough to make a fast visual distinction between the two towns, and thus, be able to get the whole joke (without having to read your plot outline).
February 25th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Can someone tell me where to get the storyline from?
February 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Here’s the original posted storyline:
http://simulatedcomicproduct.com/2008/02/22/real-time-comix/
February 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I would suggest making it more obvious who’s talking in the last two panels. I got the impression we had just gone back 40 years, and the two friends were talking. It may also help to have the 3rd panel include a window into the cabin to make it obvious the scene hasn’t changed.
February 26th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Well, I didn’t have any problem ‘getting it’ at the first read-through. I didn’t find it funny though. Interesting, but nothing connected with the funny bone.
February 26th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Light the peak of the closest mountain in panel three and move the balloon lower in the panel, hovering over the village. Emphasize the brightness of the resort in panel four. This will get the critical mass of people making the connection before the funny timer expires.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
For those going back in the archives, the explanation that the other posts are making reference too is this:
http://simulatedcomicproduct.com/2008/02/22/real-time-comix/
I see that the picture of old hiking gear never made it into the final comic at all. Having the guy looking at that picture, and having the word bubble cross the divide between that frame and the next two would’ve helped bring it together. Also, who is talking in the last frame, the man or woman?
March 1st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Umm… I don’t get how one wouldn’t get this one. It was very clearly presented and quite a funny one too :).
March 5th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I get it, it’s just not funny.
March 14th, 2008 at 12:32 am
This comic, I think, would have worked better at double the size. You just can’t compress all of that ‘meaning’ into 4 small panels.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I’m afraid I didn’t get the intended meaning, either. I read it as “Something horrible and glowy up in the mountains, the locals knew to leave well enough alone, but many years later, someone built a ski resort up there.” It came across as a horror-story setup more than a gag.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Just wanted to say that I got it without any trouble at all. In fact, with all the fuss that people were making about NOT getting it, I reread it a few times to see if I’d missed anything. Kept reading the comments though and found that I’d been right.
Good strip, but evidently there’s a fair few people who need to pay more attention instead of expecting the explanation to be just handed to them.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I got it first time.
the whole reason I like your comic is because of strips like this.
please keep up the good work.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Very subtle. Still not that difficult to get with a single re-read. Great job!
May 27th, 2008 at 8:45 am
I loved this one very clever and leaves you thinking of the possibilities.
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 am
The woman is talking in the last frame. There’s a faint red tint to all of her dialogue.
June 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Wait, this is about time travel? I thought it had to do with a mishap on a skiing trip…
June 28th, 2008 at 11:30 am
After reading the backstory and the comments it makes sense, but I think my confusion came from the idea that that people that were isolated were on the ground, not the mountain top. The first couple of times through the comic I kept thinking the people on the mountain top were in the future, rather than those in the village in the past.
Mountain tops are isolating, you know?
But I agree with the other commenters who said that you’re doing good work here. Keep stretching!