October 21st, 2009
Evidence!
I’m off to Europe tomorrow!
I’ll be gone for a month, but The Abominable Charles Christopher will continue each Wednesday, as scheduled, and I’ll try to blog some fun photos and sketches from abroad. If you find yourself near any of the shows or stores listed below, stop on by and say hello!
Au revoir!
-karl
October 21st, 2009 at 8:06 am
It never is over : )
And Charles choking on food is hilarious!
And this Luga character… I don’t know what to make of him yet, but I’m sure his run-ins with Charles would be something to look forward to.
Thanks again for a new page, Karl.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:28 am
Loving it! Another great strip, Karl! ^^ Luga has a fair point… greedy skunks. XD
October 21st, 2009 at 8:34 am
Hmmmm… Luga seems a straightforward fellow. I’ll be glad to see more of him.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:51 am
Huh, whadya know? I had to flip back a few pages to see. Sure enough, they were free samples! It was the chipmunk who yelled “thief!” Convinced me. Great storytelling, Karl!
October 21st, 2009 at 9:14 am
awesome, just awesome. standing up for justice! i love wolves!
October 21st, 2009 at 9:23 am
… why can’t you offer free samples to members only? My samples, my rules… or not?
I think Charles got off the hook way too easily with this one…
Apart from that, still awesome. :D
October 21st, 2009 at 9:58 am
i can’t wait to see this strip in motion. i can hear luga. i can always hear your creatures. today’s strip is funny and heartfelt…as always. thanks karl.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:16 am
@Alex: You can’t because you would need to include restrictions as a sub-text, like they do in automotive commercials and on credit card applications. As such, without it, it would be considered deceptive advertising because it’s essentially a “Bait and Switch”, a practice which is illegal (although scarcely enforced) in most places in the relatively free world.
Thank goodness for Luga and good sense prevailing here, i love the last panel. Keep up the great work.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:21 am
the fifth panel made me almost fall out of my seat laughing… your art is amazing, as always. :)
October 21st, 2009 at 10:32 am
Thanks, Anonymous. I was just going to chalk it up to ‘Cedar Forest Rules’ but your explanation is much better.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:34 am
Just want to say, I’ve been reading the strip for few months now, and it’s really great! Charles’ expressions and the animal designs are made out of pure, unfiltered awesome!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:35 am
can’t go wrong with wolves :)
October 21st, 2009 at 11:16 am
Great comic today, have a safe trip! I’d love to see your take on some of the European wildlife, despite it being awfully similar to North American…
October 21st, 2009 at 11:44 am
Sounds like there’s some (dum de dum) hidden backstory here. There’s history between the skunks and the wolves, a dark and mysterious drama…
October 21st, 2009 at 11:44 am
I really love your text and balloon-work. its so clean and sharp, especially the tails.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:48 am
@i-hate-socks: I hear the wolf character’s voice being played by Keith David or someone equally as heavy and dark.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:51 am
Man, that skunk is the Pheonix Wright of forest critters.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:54 am
OVERRULED!!!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:59 am
Funny and as brilliantly drawn as ever. PLEASE continue sending your weekly update emails. I count on those to know whether to tune in or not.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Fair trade… amazing.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Oh man, Luga reminds me of my grandfather (in a good way). A cop never stops being a cop, even in retirement! Love it :).
Great page, the skunk and the look on Charles’ face definitely made my day.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Greg, I kinda hear him as Harvey Keitel.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
LUGA IS AWESOME! Just don’t kill her/him anytime soon and bring him/her back often. Maybe for the conflict with the skunk’s mysterious greedy matron.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Bon Voyage, see you in Milan. :o)
October 21st, 2009 at 2:32 pm
First, awesome comic. As always. Second, Keep up the facebook reminders. People who don’t like them can block the notices. I know you haven’t asked, but I’m working on music themes that could be used in a possible animated version. Just because I’m a fan and can do it. Let me know if you’re interested in giving it a listen.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Karl, I really hope you keep sending the facebook reminders. I wouldn’t forget without them, but they sort of make my Wednesdays.
Your work in this comic and Wednesday Comics has really put me on a Kerschel kick. It’s really inspiring, beautiful stuff.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Panel 5 actually made me laugh out loud…well done!
And, of course, I immediately thought of Luga as “Inspector Luger” from Barney Miller…but I’m old. ;)
October 21st, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I like how Karl didn’t even need to speak for himself, Luga just basically spoke up for him in his defense.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Hahahaha, the *bap!* “EVIDENCE!” Made me laaaaaugh. Great work as always, Karl.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:07 pm
As always I love it.
What started out as a sketch turned into a storyline laying future groundwork, new characters with their own moral path bisecting Charles’ own story. Awesome. That’s what you do so well, there’s just this tick, tick, tick pacing to the storyline which is so subtle that I sometimes forget it’s there and then when it picks back up all that’s gone before flashes before me in an instant and I’m desperate to flick back over it.
Karl, did you see the Mouse Guard Black and White oversized hardcovers? I saw David Petersen say they did those at substantial cost (to print and then to retail) on the basis that a group of fans said they’d pay it. When Charles see’s print I want that, and I’d pay through the nose for it. A huge hardcover of the first two years, oversized strips (what size do you work at? I’d love to see them like that?) maybe in a limited run if necessary, but damn … I want one … any hope?
October 21st, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I absolutely love that last panel! :D
October 21st, 2009 at 8:25 pm
panel: cedar forest version of the heimlich manoeuvre
and since when do accusers get to stand on the alleged perps?
pretty pushy skunk!
October 21st, 2009 at 8:26 pm
oops “panel 5″
October 21st, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for the Facebook reminders – I also follow you on Twitter…but some days am too busy for both. Have a great time on your road trip…meet lots of interesting people and enjoy yourself! Love the comic, gets me through the week :)
October 21st, 2009 at 11:31 pm
BAP!! Nice one my friend! Have fun in Europe!
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:03 am
Luga is James Earl Jones in my head.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:13 am
I almost hear him as Ian McKellen…
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 am
OMG that was hilarious and a great editorial at the same time. Mr. Schultz would be proud.
Great work as always!
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:54 am
I hadn’t thought about Luga’s voice at all, but now that you mention it, I’m hearing a cross between Michael Ironside and Kris Kristofferson.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:30 am
really karl? that would give him a sort of gravelly, country sounding voice. i guess that’s in keeping with the rural, forest feel.
i thought of him with a deeper, more sagely sounding voice, like a younger, sensitive James Earl Jones.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:34 am
Smacked the evidence right out of him! What a riot!
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:31 am
This story reminds me of that one time I was in the grocery store with the free samples. Ok, it reminds me of EVERY time I’m around free samples, heh.
I can never find sap cakes though, and I looked!
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
Finally the voice of reason!!!!
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
I like this one.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Brian Dennehey (sp)
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Bloody amazing! Nice to see abit of drama between other animals in the forest! “Tell your boss she’s getting greedy.” – Nice way to build tension :D again you have impressed me beyond belief!
Counting down to wednesday! :)
Chris
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
“This isn’t over…” XD
Great strip! Thanks!
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
Pacific Time Zone guy + trip to Ottawa office + CC = can’t sleep – must reread all of Charles Christopher.
It just doesn’t feel like I’ve spent two-and-a-half years with CC. I follow a number of excellent webcomics, but this is the only strip that consistently makes me say “wow”.
Book! Soon! Please!
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 am
So I was right that it wasn’t Sissi herself. :) I don’t think we’ve seen Sissi yet, but now it’s pretty much established that she’s female.
I feel sorry for the skunk. It was clear from how he asked the chipmunk if it was a member that the cakes were for members only–and it should be pretty clear that there’s a limit of one per person. The wolf let Charles off easy…probably out of a grudge against the skunks’ business (and perhaps how it’s beginning to eerily resemble human commerce).
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:38 am
*BAP!* *hoorrrrk!* Ahahahaha, poor CC, but that was hilarious.
Luga is great. Very logical, unruffled–everything a good cop should be.
Oops, I thought that the skunk was Sissi! (my bad) And finally I know that Sissi is a ’she’! (didn’t want to assume) Her employees are a bit overzealous, it seems…
Love it. Love it love it love it.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 am
And my $.02 for Luga’s voice–Ice T =D
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Re: Weekly Facebook updates are cool by me. I have an absent mind and need reminding to check out things that I enjoy!
Looking forward to the book collection, man. Have a great time with the TX gals!
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
haha Threatened by a skunk. Classic.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:10 am
What I wouldn’t give for a sap cake, right now…
October 25th, 2009 at 9:22 am
James Earl Jones would work for Luga. Or Avery Brooks. Deep, slow, old testament.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:50 am
In my head Luga is Tom Selleck from the TV films where he played the cop called Jesse Stone.
And I will also join the group of people expressing need for owning this amazingness in bookform. And make it shippable to Sweden! =)
October 27th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Maybe it’s typecasting, but I’m seeing Joe Don Baker, with or without the stereotypical sunglasses.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Hmmm. A level-headed folksy and avuncular police character? I’m thinking Andy Griffith as Sheriff Taylor.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I smell a war coming.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:41 am
He’s a Skugnacious Punk!
December 29th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Ok, so we had the typical (loveable) flatfoot cop, what would be the fed? :D