#93: Sock it to me

Hello keen professionals,

It’s just about that time. What time, you ask? Why time for a few more cartoons.

This week we get a glimpse into what really goes on when you turn your back at in the laundry, and we witness the pied piper discover every musician’s dilemma.

Holding a tune,
Chris

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Caption: “Two may enter, only one may leave.”

Why is it that socks just seem to vanish?

Is it because of fate? Chance? The mysticism of the washing machine? Or is it because there is an epic battle happening right under our feet? Literally.

Watch where they step.

A little artist’s note: Like many of my cartoons, this was a reject from many many months ago which, up until now, I had completely forgotten about. At the time, I don’t think I thought much of it. I needed one last cartoon for the batch, and this was what I had.

However, time, and perhaps exhaustion, brings new perspectives. And to that end, I rediscovered this recently and found that I actually quite liked it. I also remembered how many tries it took to get the shading in the washing machine right so that the announcer sock wouldn’t get lost. But, it actually turned out okay.

Although, I’m conscious that if I look at it again tomorrow, or next week, I might dislike it once more.

Caption: “They stopped following when I started playing my new stuff.”

The pied piper had a thing going. But what if the rats were really just casual fans?

Every musician knows this. You get people through the door with a promise of the hits, and then you hope they don’t go to the bar the moment you start playing your new stuff.

And maybe that’s when the piper’s business plan fell apart.

Fun fact: The actual pied piper’s story is one of the great examples of people not respecting the arts. The short version is that the mayor promised him cash to get rid of the rats in the town and then, when he did it, the mayor didn’t pay. He probably promised to pay him in exposure.

Also, fun fact: The pied piper apparently retaliated by leading away the town’s children. Which was also not cool. So, uh, I guess, the awkward moral of the story? Pay your artists.

The Wikipedia article is worth a read.

A little artist’s note: I really wanted to do a cartoon about the very legitimate trope of people at concerts who skip out to the bar when the artist plays their new music, and I also really wanted to do a pied piper cartoon. So, I felt like these topics kind of worked together nicely within my personal wheelhouse. Of course, reading more about the actual story of the pied piper highlighted a few fairly problematic things and it really does seem like the moral of the story is that you should always pay artists what you promise them. Definitely food for thought.

Visually, there’s nothing too complicated going on here. But, in truth, there didn’t really need to be. The challenge was to indicate that the rats were running away. But, I wanted it to be realistic, so I kept one rat there who would signify the one true fan who listens to everything. He’s the little guy still hanging around when everyone else has left.

Because that’s also what it’s like to be a fan.

Thanks for reading The Mid-Week Squiggle.

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