I know how he feels. One day you’re ‘joe average’, the next you’ve got a family, mortgage, kids and a job and you’re going to a bug for therapy. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that story, sheesh, I’d…uh…ok, I’d only have a dollar. But that’d be one sweet dollar.
A mantis has those extendo-claw hands that make them look like they are praying. Hence the moniker, Praying Mantis. They look absolutely nothing like a roach. They are thin, long, and gangly, while roaches are more squat and short.
I really like this one. In this situation, the customer really IS always right!
Although I’m beginning to get a bit worried that the last few have been very episodic and have featured different characters every week. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all wonderful individually, but I’m not sure if they’ll work so well together when you publish the book.
Hey Esn. Every time I sit down to draw one of these strips, I debate whether I should follow the larger narrative (loose as it may be) or just have fun with whatever is on my mind. The latter impulse almost always wins.
I don’t know how (or if) it’ll work as a published book, but I’m trying not to think about it and just keep myself entertained.
Remember in Calvin and Hobbes when Calvin would transmogrify into an animal or create duplicates of himself and then turn them all into worms, or he’d travel in his cardboard box to another planet and face off against giant bugs? The Abominable Charles Christopher is as much fun as those and just as gorgeously drawn.
And I don’t mind for a minute that we haven’t seen Charles since before Christmas because your animal characters are terrifically entertaining. And I’ve got a soft spot for the bird, if this is indeed the same drunk bird as seen previously.
Thanks, J! It is the same drunk bird. I have a soft spot for him, too. I keep coming back to certain characters depending on the mood I’m in, and this poor guy is turning out to be a bit of a tragic foil.
Sorry,bird!
You’ve created a whole bunch of awesome characters, my friend, I love them all for different reasons. Moonbear, the skunks, the fox…. But I’m strating to develop a soft spot for the bird as well. His expression is always priceless.
I’ve absolutely loved the last three comics that this bird has appeared in. It’s always humour tinged with a kind of sadness, though.
That makes sense about the book, karl. You may have to change the order of a few things (who knows) or add something new, but I’m sure that you’ll be up to it, so I really shouldn’t be worrying. Please keep doing what feels right!
the only thing about a book is the separation between each …uhh… strip?…episode?…. i don’t know what you call em
but if you make the book itself or each volume =) small and rectangular about the size of the largest average ..uhh…one….then it will be the same as flipping through these webpages….. perfect!
gotta have a book… this is really really good stuff…. it will be “viral”….. through me alone
Haven’t forgotten, Spork! I’ll get back to part two of Vivol and Moon Bear when it feels right. I just didn’t want to give people week after week of sad baby animals. My heart can only take so much…
I like the fact your mind wanders when you come to draw this each time, Karl. I don’t think the narrative jumps around so much that a reader would have a hard time keeping up with the larger story.
The bird is indeed a wonderful tragic character but I do love that skunk :)
I’m in LOVE with this wonderful cockroach…. Almost as cute as the real thing, huh?
Maybe he should continue his work with the carrier/gymnastic pigeons that seam to love waking me up in the morning….whatcha think?
Good luck with next week – I am surely as fan now!
Regarding the previous comments on following the larger narrative vs. just having fun… on one hand, I am intensely curious about where Charles and Bravado the Snow Fox (love that name — who came up with that?) are going, about Vivol and the Moon Bear, and about the terrible danger of which Vivol warned. On the other, this world is still so new to us — and I think to Karl, also — that I am enjoying simply exploring it; and the strips about the other denizens of this forest are key to that exploration. For what it’s worth, please don’t be in too much of a hurry to move the story along. I for one am savoring every panel.
I don’t mind the episodic nature, personally, but I still think this deserves to be in book form some day. If for no other reason than it’ll make it easier for me to stare at for hours.
And I really really appreciate the break between the sad baby animals.
Though the cockroach makes me cringe (irrational fear of them, not even able to stomp ‘em), I love the comic. I also love the fact that this was a joke in Odd-Fish, too.
“Tell me about your mother.”
The universal problem for shrinks and psychos everywhere. Be you insect and bird or undersea fishies.
January 16th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I know how he feels. One day you’re ‘joe average’, the next you’ve got a family, mortgage, kids and a job and you’re going to a bug for therapy. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that story, sheesh, I’d…uh…ok, I’d only have a dollar. But that’d be one sweet dollar.
Keep up the good work, you’ve a rare gift!
January 16th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Look, it’s Mantis Freud! Go on Joe Sparrow, pour out your worries…… the diagnosis is that you want to have sex with your mother. That’s all.
Ahhh, the lovely world of shrinks.
January 16th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
That is clearly a roach, Mantis Freud, HMPH!
A mantis has those extendo-claw hands that make them look like they are praying. Hence the moniker, Praying Mantis. They look absolutely nothing like a roach. They are thin, long, and gangly, while roaches are more squat and short.
Harumph, I say, Harumph! Good day to you, ma’am.
*leaves in a huff, or maybe a minute and a huff*
January 16th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
wow, i love this comic. been a reader for a bit so i guess i might as well start commenting too.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:54 am
Fantastic! This is by far one of the best examples of the level of talent out there in the webcomic community. Keep it up, you have real talent.
January 17th, 2008 at 1:44 am
I really like this one. In this situation, the customer really IS always right!
Although I’m beginning to get a bit worried that the last few have been very episodic and have featured different characters every week. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all wonderful individually, but I’m not sure if they’ll work so well together when you publish the book.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:21 am
If roaches can survive nuclear holocaust, it makes sense they should be able to solve our problems -if we let them. Once again – brilliant!
January 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
heh, i imagined two more panels, a silent pause, and then our feather friend pecks and eats our friendly roach.
birds gotta eat afterall…
January 17th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Hey Esn. Every time I sit down to draw one of these strips, I debate whether I should follow the larger narrative (loose as it may be) or just have fun with whatever is on my mind. The latter impulse almost always wins.
I don’t know how (or if) it’ll work as a published book, but I’m trying not to think about it and just keep myself entertained.
-karl
January 17th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Remember in Calvin and Hobbes when Calvin would transmogrify into an animal or create duplicates of himself and then turn them all into worms, or he’d travel in his cardboard box to another planet and face off against giant bugs? The Abominable Charles Christopher is as much fun as those and just as gorgeously drawn.
And I don’t mind for a minute that we haven’t seen Charles since before Christmas because your animal characters are terrifically entertaining. And I’ve got a soft spot for the bird, if this is indeed the same drunk bird as seen previously.
Great stuff, Karl.
best,
j.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Thanks, J! It is the same drunk bird. I have a soft spot for him, too. I keep coming back to certain characters depending on the mood I’m in, and this poor guy is turning out to be a bit of a tragic foil.
Sorry,bird!
January 17th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
You’ve created a whole bunch of awesome characters, my friend, I love them all for different reasons. Moonbear, the skunks, the fox…. But I’m strating to develop a soft spot for the bird as well. His expression is always priceless.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I’ve absolutely loved the last three comics that this bird has appeared in. It’s always humour tinged with a kind of sadness, though.
That makes sense about the book, karl. You may have to change the order of a few things (who knows) or add something new, but I’m sure that you’ll be up to it, so I really shouldn’t be worrying. Please keep doing what feels right!
January 17th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Heh. Tiny shrink.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
LOL funny
the only thing about a book is the separation between each …uhh… strip?…episode?…. i don’t know what you call em
but if you make the book itself or each volume =) small and rectangular about the size of the largest average ..uhh…one….then it will be the same as flipping through these webpages….. perfect!
gotta have a book… this is really really good stuff…. it will be “viral”….. through me alone
peeeaaaaaaaaaaace!
January 17th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
for real
January 17th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Ha. That’s clever.
January 19th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I feel for the bird…Maybe it’s the situation I am currently in….But poor birdie.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:20 am
Great job, Karl. I love it. Keep it up.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:47 am
Sooo…about that origin story for moonbear? Did you forget about that?
January 21st, 2008 at 11:54 am
Haven’t forgotten, Spork! I’ll get back to part two of Vivol and Moon Bear when it feels right. I just didn’t want to give people week after week of sad baby animals. My heart can only take so much…
January 21st, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I like the fact your mind wanders when you come to draw this each time, Karl. I don’t think the narrative jumps around so much that a reader would have a hard time keeping up with the larger story.
The bird is indeed a wonderful tragic character but I do love that skunk :)
January 21st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I’m in LOVE with this wonderful cockroach…. Almost as cute as the real thing, huh?
Maybe he should continue his work with the carrier/gymnastic pigeons that seam to love waking me up in the morning….whatcha think?
Good luck with next week – I am surely as fan now!
Shanno
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Bad pun time:
Maybe the shrink will apply the RO-rsch-ACH inkblot test.
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 am
Good Lord. I’m not sure that qualifies as a pun. :)
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:50 am
this is great stuff, love the skunks and charles the best. this has to be my favorite webcomic of all times.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Regarding the previous comments on following the larger narrative vs. just having fun… on one hand, I am intensely curious about where Charles and Bravado the Snow Fox (love that name — who came up with that?) are going, about Vivol and the Moon Bear, and about the terrible danger of which Vivol warned. On the other, this world is still so new to us — and I think to Karl, also — that I am enjoying simply exploring it; and the strips about the other denizens of this forest are key to that exploration. For what it’s worth, please don’t be in too much of a hurry to move the story along. I for one am savoring every panel.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Is anyone reminded of Blade Runner for some reason?
MY MOTHER?! LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT HER
February 26th, 2008 at 6:11 am
I don’t think it’s a cockroach…. I think it’s a cricket, really…..?
March 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Nah, crickets have smaller necks … I think …
I don’t mind the episodic nature, personally, but I still think this deserves to be in book form some day. If for no other reason than it’ll make it easier for me to stare at for hours.
And I really really appreciate the break between the sad baby animals.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
ROACH ROACH ROACH aaaaaaaa *stomp* Brrrrr.
The bird is a crackup. XD
December 6th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Awww… It’s a cute widdle roach…
…
I-I mean, EeeK! Get it away!
December 14th, 2008 at 4:00 am
I took cockroaches for Jungians myself, really.
July 26th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Though the cockroach makes me cringe (irrational fear of them, not even able to stomp ‘em), I love the comic. I also love the fact that this was a joke in Odd-Fish, too.
“Tell me about your mother.”
The universal problem for shrinks and psychos everywhere. Be you insect and bird or undersea fishies.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:02 am
Kafka reference, or just chance?