May 20th, 2009
A Deal With The Devil
This strip marks 100 consecutive episodes of ‘The Abominable Charles Christopher’ and I’m celebrating by riffing on Goethe!
I like the idea of using the Cedar Forest Players to touch on pop culture references I can’t normally address in the context of forest life, so I think we’ll be seeing more of these guys in the future. Imagine ‘Die Hard’ performed by a theatre group of animals…
May 20th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
hahaha… “I’m going home… how’s that for a stratagem?
Classic.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
This is really beautiful. I don’t know if it’s intentional, but that shadow under the word balloon in the 2nd to last panel is brilliant!
Congratulations on no. 100!
May 20th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I like the skunk’s horns. Costume. Thing.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Hmmmm . . . Sorta ties in with the position Charles was in with the Bird/Tree – - – but I’ve guessed wrong too many times . LOve the “snarky” look expressed by the doe in panel 3 – priceless .
May 20th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
It’s a badger, Jim.
You sheltered city kids with your lacks of close skunk encounters…
May 20th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
The most gorgeous use of Goethe ever. Love Madam Rabbit’s disdainful look in panel 2.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Badgers, MBala? We don’ need no steenkin’ badgers…
May 20th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Hilarious “I’m going home… how’s that for a stratagem?” I want that on a t-shirt!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Pretty interesting, but I’m afraid I don’t see the joke in the last panel. What’s funny about someone going home because he has too poor an understanding of vocabulary to enjoy the classics?
May 20th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Grats on the 100th strip. Best webcomic ever.
I do, however, need to point out the EURASIAN BADGER. No one ever draws north american badgers! It burns my cheese because apparently no one takes the time to know our indigenous species and pop media perpetuates this! This naturalist has had enough! But I suppose there are lions and yetis so…. ;)
May 20th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
How very interesting…so “Rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead” To see the play as it is being lived around you. Yes, I know it is not Shakespeare but Goethe…very cool 100th
May 20th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
I am now imagining Die Hard as a Disney film, and I have to say that I suddenly want to see it more than anything.
Still loving the strip, Mr. Kershl, and I’ve been spreading the word about it to everyone I know. So far, I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t love it almost immediately. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to a hundred more.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
congratulations karl! one hundred strips means one hundred weeks, which means inspired commitment from you…and from us.
in your honour here’s some more goethe for you:
‘the first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth’
i particularly enjoy the badger-horn-costume – excellent theatre work.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
ha! first i’v read CC with a dictionary!
amazing work, and Mazal-Tov
May 21st, 2009 at 1:14 am
Congratulations on 100 consistently excellent, beautiful strips. Once again, you’ve outdone yourself. Now, a serious question – if you can have Eurasian Badgers, is there any chance of a few antipodean animals making their way into this?
May 21st, 2009 at 1:34 am
as363, I was thinking the exact same thing. Deal with the not so imposing devil.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:01 am
Congratulations, but isn’t this “only” 99th strip? Or are you counting “Possesion” strip as two separate strips?
May 21st, 2009 at 3:24 am
mmm. Very well done. Compliments from a seasoned thespian. Would a Cedar Forest Players shirt be too unreasonable a request? :D
May 21st, 2009 at 3:24 am
Congrats on 100, Karl. I love the strip.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:10 am
Arg, the couplets! D:
Great for comic effect… but otherwise terrible. So… “you write funny-bad well”?
May 21st, 2009 at 4:35 am
I just saw “Is Anyone There?” in which Michael Caine’s character said he wanted to come back as a badger “because they’re ill-tempered – and good-looking.”
May 21st, 2009 at 5:34 am
Yay, Faust! This is such a great play! The porcupine should know better.
The expressions are priceless, as usual. I love the badger Mephistopheles.
Congrats to 100 strips! :) How about a book to mark the occasion?
May 21st, 2009 at 6:20 am
Another great one.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:21 am
Oh, yeah, and congrats on the wonderful milestone!
May 21st, 2009 at 7:10 am
Congratulations on 100 strips!
As a literature major and a theatre minor, I always love to see the Cedar Forest Players. I hope they do continue to show up more!
May 21st, 2009 at 7:57 am
Congratulations on 100 strips, Karl!!
Yes, so when will we get the collected Abominable Charles?
May 21st, 2009 at 8:38 am
Panel 4 – “Exxxxellent”
May 21st, 2009 at 9:12 am
So many things to say!
@Stephanie: I’m actually a little embarrassed about this North America/Eurasian badger foul-up! Let’s assume this guy is a thespian from abroad. All of the best theatre actors are from overseas, right?
@Rami: Yes, ‘Possession’ was actually two strips in the book I draw in. I was going by the numbers I scribble beside each one. …are you counting them??
@Adder: The couplets are all Goethe’s! Every one of those lines is taken directly from the original ‘Faust’.
@All: Thanks for the congratulations and support!
-karl
May 21st, 2009 at 9:17 am
All I can say is that every once and awhile Ill go to a web-comic and it will grab my attention and not give it back.. this is one of those times. Thanks
May 21st, 2009 at 10:04 am
Goethe and Faust, me, I like Star Trek . . . .kidding aside, I laughed out loud at that last line . . .great stuff m’man!
May 21st, 2009 at 10:30 am
I find it humorous that my first taste of Faust has been given to me through the mouths rabbits and badgers. I suppose I should get a bit of culture like Mr. Porcupine. Unbounded creativity as always Mr. Kerschl. Here’s to a hundred more (if you like).
May 21st, 2009 at 10:35 am
Congratulations, Karl, on the achievement! Here’s to 100 more! Nono, 1000! yeah! (seriously, awesome work as always)
May 21st, 2009 at 11:43 am
Beautifully done! Many congrats on your 100th–has it really been that few?? I think perhaps it’s the richness of your content that makes me think there has been so many more.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I can imagine Die hard…. awesome lol
May 21st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Happy 100!
I always found it a bit odd, the fox faling for the rabbit… but hey, it is the theatre.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Yeah, at least they let actual females play the female roles now.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I can see the marquees now!
Die Hard . . . With a Hairball!
Terminator 17: Rise of the Rabbit Robots
Wolverine: No seriously, it’s a wolverine.
Mall Rats 3: Rats Gone Dumpster Diving
AvP 27: Aliens vs Porcupines
Underworld: Rise of the Werevoles
GI Jaguar
The Rockey Horror Pilchard Show
Monty Python and the Holy Grackle (ok, predictable, but with real pythons?)
May 21st, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I’m SO out of touch. I’m playing catch up on a ton of online comics. Even though I missed it in July of ‘08 I happened across this tip of the hat to our favoritist abominable . . . http://www.kukuburi.com/v2/2008/07/02/ninetytwo/
May 21st, 2009 at 3:19 pm
The porcupine is a philistine, hah!
I adore this strip. I may have to get a print of it! Bravo for Goethe, too. Whose translation did you use, by the way? :)
Perhaps Shakespeare next time? ;)
May 21st, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Multitudinous congratulations on your abominable century, Kar-El! I raise my caffinated beverage in salute! Here’s to the next 100 threads of joy you’ll weave into the otherwise bleak tapestry that is our petty existence on this orbital mudball we call “Terra”!
(See what happens when you wax poetic?)
May 21st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Badger badger badger badger… usually the devil is a snake. Oh no, a snake!
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 am
My strategem is to add my congratulations for reaching comic 100. But moreso because of the sheer awesome beauty of the comic. This comic is truly one of the internet’s most prized treasures, and I am profoundly grateful that you are sharing your talents this way with us. P.S. Keep me in mind to compose the soundtrack if you ever make an animated version of this amazing story.
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:45 am
“Can without escort home repair.”
“Well, sure, you can hardly fit any building supplies in an Escort.”
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:02 am
Hi Karl,
This is the first comic of the series which I read today. Following which, I ended up reading the whole series from the first episode. I find the artwork and narration marvelous. I especially like the ones which don’t have any dialogues.
Thanks for the comic!
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:13 am
Perhaps the next play Cedar Forest Players should do is Act II of Waiting for Godot.
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
What play is this from?
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Just found ACC today. Excellent work, here!
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I’m afraid I still don’t see what the joke is supposed to be…
Could the fact that I understood the language of the actors have something to do with it? Is the joke dependent on the reader being confused by the language, and therefore sympathizing with the porcupine who thinks that all of it is a load of rubbish? I must be old-fashioned or something.
And why is the rabbit saying “hmm” to the phrase “to stratagem we must resort”…? It’s not exactly a confusing phrase, isn’t it?
I loved the artwork as usual, though. Especially the rabbit’s expression 3 panels from the end and the badger’s expression in the one after that. I just don’t get the last panel.
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:51 am
Esn: try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe%27s_Faust
I love the looks on the actors faces.
And the costume of the Devil is inspired.
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:54 am
I’m a new reader and I’d just like to say that this is such a heartfelt and wonderful comic! It almost had be crying when Townsen died!
Thanks for having a regular schedule Karl!
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
I think the rabbit is just wondering what’s coming next in the play – what strategem. In other words, he’s caught up in it, while the porcupine can’t deal with the story, the contrived couplets, or just being in the theater at all.
Plus, the foreign accent the badger has is putting him off. ;-)
May 24th, 2009 at 1:22 am
@ThisFox: Yes, I know where it’s from.
@The Ridger: I actually thought the rabbit was female. The way it’s drawn strongly suggested it.
May 24th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Digging all those iambs!
May 24th, 2009 at 11:05 am
>_< I feel dumb. I needed to spend more time thinking about it. I just realized who the rabbit in the last panel is and why he’s saying that.
May 24th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Theatre….ah, theatre. Golly gee, I love this strip.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:07 am
This comic is a real treasure. The art is beautiful and the story is completely captivating. And the humor works perfectly every time.
May 26th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
[...] For a look at how it’s really done, check out this link to one of my favourites as his cute and fuzzy cast takes another visit to the theatre – always good for a laugh! http://www.abominable.cc/2009/05/20/a-deal-with-the-devil/ [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Badger badger badger badger… usually the devil is a snake. Oh no, a snake!
May 27th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Wow! This is an amazing comic! I love the whole style of it!
May 27th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Wow love this episode! You nicely brought the words of Goethe into it :)
May 27th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
*claps* Bravo, sir! I’ve been following this webcomic for a while, and I absolutely LOVE that you did Goethe’s “Faust” for the 100th strip/episode! I remove my hat and bow in deference to you! *removes hat and bows*.
All flowery prose aside, keep up the great work! I love Charles Christopher and hope he will grace the web with his innocence for a long while to come.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Happy 100th, on to 200!
P.S. I don’t suppose you could convince the company to perform de Merstone’s “Reynard the Fox”, could you?
May 28th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Karl’s question: are you counting them??
My answer: Yeah. I download every single page and name the files by numbers.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Congrats on 100! That porcupine is testy. lol
December 29th, 2009 at 4:13 am
Belated congratz on strip no. 100. :D May severel hundret follow them.
January 21st, 2010 at 1:03 am
Wow. If it hadn’t been for the “SHHH! HERE COMES THE DEVIL!” I wouldn’t have guessed it was Faust. I haven’t read the book, so this proves that even people with a passing knowledge of your references can still get them. Nice job. :D