Again, winter break is awesome. Even though I spent far more time this week at the paying gig than I would have liked, I still got to baby this strip more than any other comic I’ve done in quite a while. It’s little things, mostly–like correcting a fully black background in panel 3, but I think it all adds up to a much better final piece.
I’ve had two interesting revelations this week (in the loosest sense of the term). First, I rather like the pop music that’s getting airplay right now. FlyKy and I even went so far as to pay money for Ke$ha’s album. It’s trashy, but certainly washes the taste of all that Disney channel pap out the pop-cultural mouth. Has anyone else noticed top 40 radio getting more listenable lately? I’m not exactly an indie rock snob, but I haven’t actively listened to mainstream pop since about 1995.
The other thing that struck me and stuck around this week is a question. Where does all that lave in the end-of-level castles in Mario games come from? Yeah, it makes sense in world eight, which is usually lava themed. But in the ice world? Really? My theory is that the mushroom kingdom and surrounding environs are built on an active volcanic island (or continent, who knows how big the whole she-bang really is) and therefore relies exclusively on geothermal energy. The castles just happen to be such energy hogs that they have to pipe the lava right in. Yeah, it’s dangerous if you happen to be Bowser or one of the Koopalings, but the trade off isn’t worth it. Even villains don’t want to contribute to global warming, right? I might just have to draw a map of the Mushroom Planet…you know, to get it all figured out.
Later,
J
Well, it’s obvious, really. The snowman would have come to life while being stabbed with its own rake. And I want Anton’s overcoat.
1. No
2. In the ice world its red liquid nitrogen. That’s like normal liquid nitrogen, only colder. The rest comes from a magma pump.
That’s what is missing from other popular webcomics these days: explosions. I love that Billy is mostly off-panel, his weakened legs trembling.
oh, trashy pop music.
I like explosions too. although,… that poor snowman.
I somewhat agree with your evaluation of recent pop music. I might not go as far as to buy much of it, but the fact that I’ve bought some of it does say a lot. I also noticed that the Avatar soundtrack is the #5 album on iTunes right now… What’s happened to you, Average American? Buying and listening to something almost entirely instrumental? Gracious me.
The snowman clearly needs a corncob pipe to come to life.
I was gonna say what Greg said…about the stabbing…cause I guess I’m just that cruel. I sure love Anton’s team player attitude.
Nile, I contest the view that the lava in the ice world castles is red liquid nitrogen. In the New Mario on Wii, you can cancel out the fireballs that jump out of the lava by shooting them with an iceball. How would that work with Liquid Nitrogen, huh?