Roofles
I’m dogsitting this week, but the chances of getting in the above situation are slim. Mostly because I’m a terrible knitter.
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I’m dogsitting this week, but the chances of getting in the above situation are slim. Mostly because I’m a terrible knitter.
love it
I don’t get how the dog ended up dead? :/
You are brilliant! :)
@Otter: He looks like the pinata so the kids beat him, too.
…and roofles is one unlucky critter :D
hey, i think your comic is ok, but the “earlier” idea is from SMBC, i feel you rip him everytime you use it. i might be wrong, of course, in that case sorry.
also, i feel you try too hard to use that idea. this strip would have been much better in the regular order.
Eh, non-linear time has been in use long before SMBC even existed (I think even the great Gary Larsson once used the {panel} “Earlier…” {panel 2} format, but don’t quote me on that).
But I do however feel that this one would have worked best in the panel order 1, 3, 2. The third panel can be skipped altogether without really altering the punchline, but the joke is /funnier/ with the dog being suicidal rather than stupid. But when panels 1 & 2 – constituting the real punchline here – have already gone by, that additional bit of funny falls rather flat.
So to summarize: suicidal dogs are funnier than stupid dogs, but as long as a poodle dies, it’s still funny. Or something…
Yeah, the “earlier” business doesn’t belong to SMBC. This doesn’t strike me as a rip-off at all. But I do think that this isn’t the best opportunity to use it. If it were me, I’d have gone 3,2,1.
Also, “I think your comic is OK”? Laaaame. I think your comic is the bomb diggity!
Looks like Roofles foresaw that problem… look at his expression!
I agree with Mrh? that the 1, 3, 2 order probably would’ve been funnier, but I don’t get why the dog would have to be either stupid or suicidal. It looks to me like one of the kids sees the dog and somehow gets into his head that if he beats the dog with the bat, candy will come out. Or something like that. Frankly I’m a bit unclear about the part where the dog gets beaten to death by a single* kid with a bat just for looking like a piñata. While the dog’s adult owner is right there, no less!
* I only see one bat, so while a whole gang of insane kids could’ve done it, the comic doesn’t really support that.
Or did the dog get into his head that the kids are beating up another dog that’s dressed just like him/her? And decided to rush in there and bite a kid, thereby being put to sleep for being violent? That doesn’t seem likely, as the knitted dogsweater wouldn’t be as instrumental in the dog’s death.
Thanks for your comments, everyone!
@project2501: Aw, if I had ripped something off with this strip I was hoping it would be Memento! But I won’t lie, SMBC is definitely an inspiration, and while Zach probably hasn’t copyrighted non-linear timelines in comics, my thoughts go to his comic the few times I use the technique.
As for this particular strip, the alternate timeline thing was a last-minute decision at 2am before update day – mostly because I felt a “graveyard”-last panel has been a bit played out, also I wanted Roofles’ concerned expression in the last panel. I could be wrong, though! But yeah, the strip was originally chronologically, and I also toyed with the idea of going 3, 1, 2 – with the last panel having a “in-between” text box. I even stupidly pondered about having a randomizer that would put “later”, “earlier” and “in-between” appropriately, hah.
@Gillsing: Ah yes, I definitely should add some more bats. I’ll probably do that soon.
Oh, and the Pinata idea I originally had was to just reverse the roles and have a gang of Pinatas beat up a child, but I discovered this had been done at least a couple times before, most notably by Dan Piraro’s Bizarro. I kind of want to draw it anyway and post it as a “bonus” comic, though – but we’ll see!