Welcome to the world of Stripidities

Since early 1998 I've been creating a comic strip series called "Stripidities" (or "Striberier" in Danish).
It's an ongoing story about two guys and their experiences with and away from each other. Two very different personalities with very different approaches to life as such. Generally speaking, you could say that one of the guys tends to think too much about everything and never really gets to the point of acting - whereas the other fellow often acts without having given any thoughts to the possible consequences of his actions.
I'm not gonna bother you with which one of those guys I ressemble the most.
Or maybe I am?
I'll need to think about that.


Meanwhile, here's a sample...



Now, what's the whole thing with socalled comic strips?
Yes, obviously they're strips with some degree of a comic ingredient. Or at least, they used to be.
Back in the heydays of cartoons when Yellow Kid and Krazy Kat determined who would buy the newspapers, comic strips certainly were comic. They were slapstick funny - because they had to be. Newspapaers were the only source of information and news of the world, so if you wanted to keep track of your current affairs you needed to read the paper. However, quite a lot of the population were not what you would today refer to as "experienced readers", meaning they were slightly to completely dyslectic. Therefore, a comic strip without too many long words might be helpful to reach this particular part of the market.
Today things are different and so are the comic strips.
Within the past few decades a number of cartoon pioneers have raised the standards from harmless slapstick humour to a level where the reader is being challenged intellectually, ethically or morally with harsh sarcasm, subtle irony or just plain old wit. Making fun of the grumpy old boss or the mother-in-law is simply not good enough anymore. Today's cartoons deal with - well, today! Political issues, religious matters, gay rights, abortion, gun laws, commercials, consumerism et cetera all deserve a comment. Personally, I feel obligated to comment upon subjects like these. And it's no secret that I'm pissed off by the toothless and gutless "let's try not to offend anybody" attitude of some of the politically correct artists. Guys like Jim "Garfield" Davis really makes me mad. Not only because he's stinking rich by now, but primarily because his strips suck - and they're about a friggin' cat.



Here's another...



So, must comic strips be serious? Well - no, not necessarily. I just don't think they have to be funny. If you're dealing with a serious issue – like, single mothers and their kids, for instance – you can either try to induce a little light or hope into your story, or you can be honest and tell it like it is. Of course, it's a wonderful feeling when you're capable of making your readers smile or laugh, but in my own humble opinion it's even more important to make them think.
What it all really boils down to is a social responsibility. I believe there are so many important stories out there needing to be told, and if nobody else is gonna do it – then I will. All the ordinary people, the plumbers, the bus drivers, the bankers, the waitresses, they all deserve having their story told.

So, to summarize:
Must comic strips be serious? No.
Must they be funny? Hell, no.
Well, what must they be then?
They must be relevant, meaningful and, above all, honest. That doesn't mean they can't be funny or serious or both, for that matter. Read some Calvin & Hobbes, and you'll see. Bill Watterson hardly ever made a single strip that didn't matter and in my book that makes him a true master of the trade. Hopefully, you are now beginning to understand why I loathe strips about fat pizza-gobbling cats and retarded drooling dogs. They are not honest and they really don't matter, at all.



Here. Do you get my point?


One day I might embark on a tale of comic strips as an actual art form.
I guess that'll be worthy of a post of its own.
Till then – enjoy, take care, be safe and go blog yourselves. It's fun and educating.

Peace
°:-) Fred