#27: Introductions, interrogations, and interventions
Hello soldiers of fortune,
It’s that time of the week again. Time for another set of cartoons.
In this week’s batch you’ll find a corporate introduction, a Kingly Q&A, and an all-too-familiar DIY adventure. It’s everything you ever wanted in a set of cartoons.
Bracing himself,
Chris
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Caption: “Master of the dark arts, destroyer of worlds, you say? Then you must meet Phillip, who runs our HR department.”
This is a cheap shot at HR, I’ll admit. But what a shot!
We’ve all been to these mixers. The host, wanting to make sure we’re all having a good time, tries to pair all the like minds, no matter how unlike they might be. And this might be the pairing to beat all pairings.
Apologies in advance to any HR people.
A little artist’s note: Would you look at these two gentlemen? The thing to notice here or, at least, the thing I want you to notice is: the similarities and the simple differences between the two. The big hair on the master, the small hair on the HR guy, but both of them with the same streaks. And then, just to hammer it home, the pouches hanging off their belts. I’m not really sure what they’re for, but fantasy wizards tend to have them and these fellas do too.
Caption: “Sire, we can't keep ending 'Ask Me Anything's like this.”
If you could ask anything, would you?
And then, if you did, would you do it in real life? To the King? And then, and then, well you get the idea. To me this feels very much like the royals you would find in the old (and excellent) TV series, Blackadder. But, since that was often a satire of real royals, then perhaps this is more accurate than I would like.
Cutting it fine.
A little artist’s note: You have no idea how many backgrounds I went through with this cartoon with each one more elaborate than the last. There was everything from castles to landscapes to torture rooms. Some fully drawn, others sketches to test the water. In the end, though, I realised that all of them added fun details that didn’t really move the needle on helping anyone understand the cartoon and the scene. Really, all you need is a king, a helper/clerk, and a subject stuck in the gallows. Simple, right?
Caption: “Frank, this is you're eighth trip to the hardware store this morning. We think you have a problem.”
This is an intervention and, egad, this is me. Both past and, I suspect, future me.
For my Australian followers, this hardware store will look very familiar: it’s Bunnings, a store that is part of almost everyone’s weekend. This place has everything of everything, which it makes it very easy to buy something thinking it’s the right thing, only to get it home and discover it’s not only the wrong thing, but that it’s also for a different part of the house entirely. For me, this has happened often enough that I have been convinced that the staff would pull me aside, sit me on a chair in a corner and begin an intervention.
And maybe this is you too?
A little artist’s note: The part that makes me the happiest about this cartoon is the variety of faces. I call this the hardware store old guard. You know who they are. There’s the guy who always wears a hat, often a flat cap. There’s the silent type with the beard being all levels of stoic. There’s the younger woman who is forced to prove herself to a bunch of dinosaurs. And then there is a bald, moustached guy, wily and seasoned, and the one everyone else turns to when they’re not sure what to do. Nobody quite knows his history, and he continues to refuse to tell them if they ask. He probably brings his own lunch in one of those old-fashioned square lunchboxes.
But, I digress. The real challenge of this cartoon is, once again, our old friend the background. It’s Bunnings. And it had to be Bunnings. But the store is really just for context and the joke works fine without it so it didn’t need to be prominent. Just, kind of, there. Ready to be noticed when, and if, if needs to be.
Thanks for reading MiddleSquiggle!
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