It’s that time of year again. Time when we at Slightly Off-Topic take a moment to reflect on the great maritime tragedy. I won’t repeat what I’ve said before other than to say that I still believe that it was an inevitable tragedy. For every great lesson learned, there is a great price paid… and we paid that price in blood!

My friend John and I have been doodling Titanic vs Iceberg cartoons since the seventh grade. It’s how we processed the seemingly wasteful tragedy back then, and it’s done in respectful remembrance now. Laughter is ultimately the best response to any tragedy. It’s how I view the world and why I offer this annual strip.

With that in mind, take a moment to remember the 1,517 lost, the 706 who survived and Millvina Dean who, just two-months old at the time of the tragedy, lives today as the sole survivor of that doomed vessel.

The sad thing is that this isn’t even a particularly rare occurrence. Don’t get me wrong, I get it. The stress levels are very, very high at the (any) Cancer Center. The doctors and nurses are in a never-ending battle against the disease, and the civilians… well, they’re watching their friends and family members struggle and often die.

So, I understand. I mean “cancer” isn’t necessarily even a death sentence these days (depends upon the type and stage of the cancer), so maybe folks figure they can get away with the cigarettes. Maybe it won’t get them. The thing is, though, that while it may not kill you, cancer is always, always, an ugly disease. Believe me, it’s really not worth it… put the cigarettes down.

Heck, I’ll make you a deal. You stop with the cancer sticks, and I’ll redouble my efforts to shed my many excess pounds. After all, who am I to preach if I’m a walking heart attack waiting to happen. Deal?

Yes, Brittany, men are pigs, but most of them do get better as they get older. Not all of them, of course, but most… Aaron Spelling dramas not withstanding…

I thought today’s comic was going to be simple as it only had two panels. Then I spent two and a half hours doing the background. The coconuts were easy enough, but filling that freezer took FOREVER! I think the glass turned out nicely, though. I’m not overly satisfied with the text layout, but it’s the best I could do. “Dave” also needs some work, but the fact that I have trouble with drawing people probably comes as no surprise to anyone. I’m working on it… get a little better each day, right?

It is what it is..

http://bananatron.com

Special thanks to Zed the zombie of Ted & Zed fame for stopping by the Studio today. For those that have never been, Ted and Zed is my all-time favorite Zombie comic. Sure, he’s a Zombie, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a bosom buddy, right. I highly recommend you all stop by for a dig through the archive.

So, I know what you’re all thinking. “Dave, why is the News Guy a Zombie?!?” Well, he’s crossed over to the dark side in honor of the coolest freakin’ piece of fan art I’ve ever received. I opened the mail box the other day to find a note:

It occurs to me that we haven’t seen much of our friendly neighborhood News Guy in a while. And how much do we really know about how and where he spent his recent sabbatical. A lot can happen down the Rabbit Hole…

Happy Birthday! Of course, it isn’t enough to make the News Guy or a Zombie - It has to be the News Guy Zombie.

Accompanying the note:

How cool is that? Now, full disclosure… I’ve known the sender for years, so it’s more a “friend” art than a “fan” art, but I like it either way!!!

Of course, this leaves the News Guy is in a bit of a pickle…

I won’t go into too much detail as I like to keep Slightly Off-Topic family-friendly. Let’s just say that for those of you that are familiar with the comic and were assuming that Hollywood would make changes to the costuming… not so much. They dressed Doc Manhattan just as they did in the comic. You’ve been warned.

Below this point there be spoilers!

So, what did I think of the movie? I liked it. I was quite surprised by the very mixed reactions heard from the movie-goers as they were leaving the theater, but I suspect that the extra hour in the director’s cut promised for the dvd release will make this a must have that everyone can agree on.

What I liked:

• They managed Doc Manhattan’s time shifting narrative much better than I thought they could. I thought it dragged in the comic, but they played it well in the movie. The Doc also gave a nice detached persona, as one would expect, but I’m not sure he pulled the emotional points off as well as could have been done.
• Rorschach was great. They nailed him. I don’t get why they cut some rather significant scenes though. It kinda hurt the narrative, and I don’t understand the change to the kidnapped girl scene. It seems gratuitous, but maybe they were just trying to keep from using a bit that has appeared in crappy horror flicks.
• Night Owl was great. He and Rorschach really pulled off their characters as intended from the source.
• The intro was great in that it covered a lot of the necessary world history without a lot of the dragging down of pace that was present in the source material.

What I didn’t like:

• Ozymandias was miss-cast. Period. This is the man that wants to carry on the work of Alexander the Great and Ramses II. Too slight and soft-spoken for the character.
• They cut a lot of the psych scenes. I expect it will return in the dvd.
• I was okay with them changing the mechanism for the ending, but have a hard time buying what they came up with in the end. I don’t buy it as a long-standing deterrent.

Just my thoughts, but I’d easily give it a 3.5 out of five, and suspect the director’s cut will go even higher, but we’ll have to wait and see.

New short: KINGDOM  click the image to view

Narutard Theater is always an interesting process. I bribe Brittany to take up the author’s mantle and come up with a good Naruto gag. She comes back with a joke that I may or may not get (she’s the fan, I only watch the show to score some Daddy/daughter time), and then I tweak the joke to make it (hopefully) a bit more approachable to a wider audience. You can always see the original sketches and compare them to the final product by clicking the vote buttons to the left (at least if you’re reading this on Slightly Off-Topic rather than one of the mirrors - and if you are reading on a mirror, pop over to the main site and let me know what you think of the recent site redesign). The changes were not substantial this time, but who can resist putting in a mini-Naruto?!? I’m only human.

Ah well, I can’t blame her for liking the shows she likes. I’ve enjoyed plenty of strange cartoons in my time. Especially in college. ‘Course I was quite the dork back then… but at least I didn’t live in a dorm.

Okay, I’m off to bed. Before I go, though, I’ll just take a moment to remind you of our Anniversary contest going on all year long. Trust me, the Crumpler bag is well worth the effort!

Okay, I’ll admit it. Saint Foy is *not* the patron saint of broken hearts. In fact, there isn’t a patron saint of broken hearts. Apparently, Catholic dogma holds that broken hearts should be taken directly to Jesus or Mother Mary. Go figure. However, since Saint Foy appears to be spending her free time healing broken hearts, she seems an appropriate choice. At least as as valid as the claims of a romantic holiday devoted to Saint Valentine… and let’s face it. Considering the number of breakups that occur on February 15th, we need some saintly guidance!

…or at least some more chocolate…

Have you gys seen the new strip on the block about a cartoonist who hates it when people don’t call him Robert?

For those that are curious, the National Geographic article describing the renegade stars can be found here. Interesting thought that throughout the universe that there are stars that have been ripped from their native systems and are, in fact, streaking through the cosmos. Watch the traffic, folks. That’s a collision you do not want to be a part of!!!

Remember that today is the first day of our Crumpler Laptop bag contest. For long-time readers of this strip, the site to visit should be fairly easy to figure out. Pop on over there and find the code. When you do, email it to me at TheNewsGuy at SlightlyOffTopic dot com. Have fun!

New short story HOLD.
All because of the box.

Webplayer or PDF

Poor News Guy. I guess no one told him that today was Rabbit Hole Day!!!

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”

What more need be said?

The nice thing about running a Gag-a-Day type comic is that I can change my plans at the spur of the moment. Meaning that having seen the outpouring of support for Pushing Daisies, today’s planned script gets bumped to Sunday in order to make room for one final thought on the matter.

Not to worry, this won’t become a Save Pushing Daisies site (there already is one)… I certainly don’t want to be accused of pandering, either. However, with all the emails I’ve received in the last two days about people’s love of the show, I’ve found myself in a rather unusual situation. I’ve found hope. Hope that a large fan movement (something more than an internet petition, please) just might make enough noise to get PD brought back at least for one more season and a proper ending to the narrative.

And who knows… if it works, maybe it won’t be a just a giant blueberry pie, maybe we can make the executives eat a large helping of Humble Pie…

Just a thought…

Woohoo! Corporate sponsorship! Now all the big bucks are going to finally start rolling in… Well, maybe not, but all of these gifts are available at Target. Who knows, maybe Target is looking to spread their marketing campaign into the webcomic world (only the first one is free, guys).

In any case, I’m a bit ashamed to say that I have actually purchased all of these gifts at one time or another in the name of being the cool Uncle. I’m sure they didn’t mind the noise, blood or mess…

Freshly Squeezed at www.potdang.com