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matt_zimmerWeekly talkback for Gilda And Meek And The Un-Iverse! Read an issue and discuss it here!
My weekly article below.
THE COMPLAINER IS ALWAYS RIGHT
During the 1980's, kids cartoons were made by committee between admen selling toys, and mushy child psychologists hoping to spread positive messages to moms while selling crap to their kids. And one of the most misbegotten tropes during this era of animated dreck was "The Complainer Is Always Wrong." Nowhere is this more true than in the case of Brainy Smurf. The producers of The Smurfs tried to get me to think of Brainy as a big time Authoritarian who follows Papa Smurf's "rules" without question, beyond all reason, and often to the Smurfs' detriment, while completely misrepresenting the intentions behind the rules in the first place. And there IS a little fascism to Brainy's character. I won't deny that. Do you know what else there is? Independence. The willingness to stand up to the other Smurfs while they are all calling him an idiot for not falling in line with whatever 80's treacly moralizing plan they were spewing at him. The fact that Brainy is an idiot is a crying shame. Because standing up for what you believe in, even when it is unpopular, is an admirable quality to have. The TV psychologists who were writing these shows thought they were stressing the value of teamwork and getting along as a group. What they are really doing is stressing conformity and letting other people doing your thinking for you. Making sure little kids grow up into compliant little worker drones ready to be fed into the machine. That is why Brainy Smurf can NEVER be shown to be right, and he always has to be put in his place, and learn a valuable lesson about how bad it is to think for yourself.
Bernadette is the complainer in The Un-Iverse. And she is always right. Every single complaint she levels against one of Gilda's excellent plans is 100% accurate. And freak it! Sometimes Gilda realizes that and takes her advice! She doesn't always need to. Gilda's plan will just as often work better than Bernadette's plan would have. But Bernadette's reservations and complaints are always, ALWAYS legit. It is how she and Gilda brainstorm. And all of the rest of the group is allowed to offer their different perspectives, and sometimes they choose Gilda's plan, and sometimes Bernadette's plan. Or come up with a different one themselves! But they don't choose Gilda's plan because Bernadette is wrong. Because she never is. She keeps everybody honest, which is what Brainy Smurf should have been doing with halfway decent writers, and not a bunch of lousy child psychologists working from casebooks that have been discredited forty years ago. She's a free thinker and that is something to be admired. The Complainer Is Always Right.
The Archive on BlogSpot
https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2020/02/welcome-to-gilda-and-meek-and-un-iverse.html
Latest Issue:
10. F.I.S.H. "Deep Space Swine" (Un-Iverse #66)
https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2024/05/10-fish-deep-space-swine-un-iverse-66.html
My weekly article below.
THE COMPLAINER IS ALWAYS RIGHT
During the 1980's, kids cartoons were made by committee between admen selling toys, and mushy child psychologists hoping to spread positive messages to moms while selling crap to their kids. And one of the most misbegotten tropes during this era of animated dreck was "The Complainer Is Always Wrong." Nowhere is this more true than in the case of Brainy Smurf. The producers of The Smurfs tried to get me to think of Brainy as a big time Authoritarian who follows Papa Smurf's "rules" without question, beyond all reason, and often to the Smurfs' detriment, while completely misrepresenting the intentions behind the rules in the first place. And there IS a little fascism to Brainy's character. I won't deny that. Do you know what else there is? Independence. The willingness to stand up to the other Smurfs while they are all calling him an idiot for not falling in line with whatever 80's treacly moralizing plan they were spewing at him. The fact that Brainy is an idiot is a crying shame. Because standing up for what you believe in, even when it is unpopular, is an admirable quality to have. The TV psychologists who were writing these shows thought they were stressing the value of teamwork and getting along as a group. What they are really doing is stressing conformity and letting other people doing your thinking for you. Making sure little kids grow up into compliant little worker drones ready to be fed into the machine. That is why Brainy Smurf can NEVER be shown to be right, and he always has to be put in his place, and learn a valuable lesson about how bad it is to think for yourself.
Bernadette is the complainer in The Un-Iverse. And she is always right. Every single complaint she levels against one of Gilda's excellent plans is 100% accurate. And freak it! Sometimes Gilda realizes that and takes her advice! She doesn't always need to. Gilda's plan will just as often work better than Bernadette's plan would have. But Bernadette's reservations and complaints are always, ALWAYS legit. It is how she and Gilda brainstorm. And all of the rest of the group is allowed to offer their different perspectives, and sometimes they choose Gilda's plan, and sometimes Bernadette's plan. Or come up with a different one themselves! But they don't choose Gilda's plan because Bernadette is wrong. Because she never is. She keeps everybody honest, which is what Brainy Smurf should have been doing with halfway decent writers, and not a bunch of lousy child psychologists working from casebooks that have been discredited forty years ago. She's a free thinker and that is something to be admired. The Complainer Is Always Right.
The Archive on BlogSpot
https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2020/02/welcome-to-gilda-and-meek-and-un-iverse.html
Latest Issue:
10. F.I.S.H. "Deep Space Swine" (Un-Iverse #66)
https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2024/05/10-fish-deep-space-swine-un-iverse-66.html
no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 09:32 pm (UTC)This cover has stuff happening in the background, it's two scenes playing out at once. The different fishes give it some character too. It's a cool layout.
The first scene with the otter and the fishes is a good hook. It carries forward the comedic tone of the first issue, it's a well executed bit and the illustrations are detailed enough to give it a complete sense of personality. The otter goddess gives me questions and it feels like a cool character introduction. Otterman's post-transformation pose is great.
The court session is skipped but Gilda's comment about being the only one making good-faith arguments tells me everything I need to know about this side of the character. The exchange here is good. The narrator's objection might help distinguish him from the author and gives him some character.
The tongue lasher killer news broadcast is a smooth way of setting up that plot and makes it feel like the world isn't centered around the main cast. This is also true about the agency except that it's followed up immediately. I like the "Don't bring this up with Gilda." and Bernadette's response. Casual exchange that's in character for both of them.
"Terrorism is scary enough when you don't know the motivation" This is a very grounded line and helps keep the tone real. I like it.
The scene with the agency members fits with their later appearances and the development they individually go through.
Otterman flashback again makes the world feel big and hints at some lore. Other than that it's tonally consistent with the surrounding Agency scene.
Meek at the door with his nice friend and his strange unhinged neighbour is an awesome scene and endears me to the character. It also successfully uses comedy to contrast against the agency scene before it and make me feel comfortable around the main cast. The news continues to casually expand the world. Gilda's take on the Golden Hammer helps establish a sense that she's a discerning person who comes to her own conclusions. Immediately following that with her strong reaction to the news about the agency attacks also builds character and shows me a sensitive side of her.
Hank revealing that he works at the aquarium makes the scene feel self-complete and almost but not quite comes off as contrived, more of a coincidence. But it is satisfying on some level. Gilda is outwardly thankful and is candid in expressing her thanks.
If the transition to the aquarium through Hank is overly coincidental the scene with the Piranha interrogating people with his riddle eleviates any sense of irritation I have with the story. I notice a stray quotation mark at the end of Bernadette's speech bubble.
I like that the narrator points out Bernadette's shame at her own comment in part because it's not necessarily something I would have taken note of myself at this point in the story. If he hadn't pointed it out, my takeaway would be that it further draws attention to Gilda's discomfort about the agency attacks.
Hank and Bernadette's exchange brings another side of them both into the scene and makes it feel large.
Gilda and the Piranha looking at the fish tank is a nice drawing.
I like that we're in a Gilda scene when the Agency comes in. It sort of helps keep the ideas organized and helps me see the change in tone from Gilda's perspective.
I like the agency dynamic even before knowing anything about the characters. It kind of feels like a legit team.
Meek slyly insulting Barracuda shows me another side of him and endears me to him.
I like the Piranha taking charge of the situation with Otterman. He was hidden from Barracuda and Renald so they won't notice when he goes missing. It also builds character.
Renald grimaces at Barracuda and again I like the dynamic.
Otterman and the Piranha ties the issue together and makes it feel like part of the bigger story. It's immediately personal for both of them and I easily understand how and why; it was already established that the Piranha doesn't know about his past.
The fight scene is decent and I love that it ends with Otterman apologizing when he actually hurts the Piranha.
Humor is again used to reset the tone when the scene changes back to Bernadette and Gilda. Some clever humor here.
In the helicopter scene, the drawings manage to portray the action and what is happening reasonably well.
The comedy consistently lightens the tone without detracting from the dramatic notes
"In other words, we're BOTH awesome" is one line that's stuck with me since I first read this
no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 09:58 pm (UTC)I get what you mean about Hank working at the aquarium seeming coincidental. And while it sort of is, it was originally designed that Hank was like Donald Duck, and had more random jobs around Appleton than anybody else. We later see him as a museum security guard but I don't feel like I successfully got across that aspect of the character. Although Bernadette DOES note in this issue that he has taken a lot of random jobs.
On the other hand a LOT of the coincidences in The Un-Iverse are down to Universal Design and the Universe putting its thumb on the scale for Gilda. That's not necessarily what's happening with Gilda and Hank. But it COULD be.
Oh God, the stray quotation mark after Bernadette's line! The early issues were PLAGUED with that shit as well as the page numbering always being utterly fucked up. I didn't used to proof-read the comic as often as I do now. I also spell-check and that helps too.
I feel the fight scene is decent too, which is good because that has always been my weak spot and it's nice that I can fake "decent" in the second flipping issue. It lacks a lot of tension compared to later action sequences, but it's boarded all right, and you can still tell what is happening.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 10:37 pm (UTC)One of the interesting things I do in my (rare) fight scenes is I usually put in one unique sound effect per panel. Sometimes the effect comes across as humorous. That is definitely true for this scene.