Comments on: Can you be a genius if your dog doesn’t talk?

By: Fred Fnord

Fred Fnord — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:21:41 +0000

Heh. Dammit. And I was hoping to be the one asking whether talking plants counted.

-fred

By: Gar Lipow

Gar Lipow — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:15:38 +0000

Barry - what about Boondocks before it got tired and died?

By: Charles

Charles — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 06:44:27 +0000

So it is mainly the crediting issue. A comic that was written by one person and penciled by another would be legitimate if properly credited, but is illegitimate if the penciler is not credited, and presumably especially so in the case where the project was originally a single person writing an penciling who then farms out hte penciling without credit. That seems like a fair thing to object to.

By: Ampersand

Ampersand — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 06:43:03 +0000

Well, the main way it differs is that writing and penciling are both seen as making you a “creator” of the work, whereas an inker is seen more as an assistant.

What this means for comic strips is that it’s often considered unethical to have an uncredited person doing the writing or the pencils, but it’s not considered unethical to have an uncredited inker.

By: Charles S

Charles S — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 03:16:20 +0000

Isn’t dividing writing and drawing fairly common in the comics world? How does farming out the drawing differ from collaboration between a writer and visual artists?

By: RonF

RonF — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:24:15 +0000

I thought today’s Doonesbury was pretty good. Tell me that the scenario depicted hasn’t played out in the last 30 minutes somewhere in Iraq.

By: Ampersand

Ampersand — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:56:54 +0000

Well, Sam specifically asked about daily strips, so “Dykes” doesn’t fit the bill. But I think it’s an absolutely brilliant strip; probably the best soap-opera strip ever done.

By: Dianne

Dianne — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:42:13 +0000

It’s not a daily strip, but how about “Dykes to watch out for”? It’s one of the better strips out there, in my opinion, and it has animals who never talk or otherwise act like anything other than animals of the species they happen to be. (Ok, technically it does have animals that talk, but they’re all of the species H sapiens.)

By: Ampersand

Ampersand — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:57:04 +0000

David, in my opinion Doonesbury isn’t as sharp now as it was in, say, the 1980s, especially in the period following Trudeau’s hiatus. But I agree it’s awfully damned good now.

Keith, it’s not true that Trudeau doesn’t draw Doonesbury. He does detailed pencil drawings, which he faxes to his collaborator, who does the finished drawing in ink. I don’t know any cartoonist who would say that someone who does detailed pencils is not drawing his own strip.

I agree that Doonesbury has been enormously successful in the real world. But it’s not a strip I frequently here “comics literati” getting excited about. That’s what I meant by saying it’s underrated.

Finally, unfortunately, you’re right to say that farming out the art completely is a common practice. But in my opinion, it’s a practice that sucks. Cartoonists who find drawing their own strips too tiresome to do, should retire. (But let me repeat: Trudeau draws his own strip, so I’m not criticizing him at all when I say that.)

By: Kevin T. Keith

Kevin T. Keith — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:01:56 +0000

I don’t get the category. Is it “strips without talking animals”, or is it “strips with animals that don’t talk”? If the former, then I’d definitely nominate Doonesbury. And I don’t know how underrated it is - it’s hugely popular and he did win a Pulitzer.

As for the art, Trudeau admits he’s farmed it out for years. He hasn’t actually drawn the strip for a long time. (There are others who’ve done this.)

By: David Schraub

David Schraub — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:44:20 +0000

I was going to say Doonesbury, and as a fan of the earlier strips (I’ve read most of the early 1970s strips and a fair amount from the late 70s to the millenium, when I became a daily reader)I don’t think its at all lost its edge.

But for Doonesbury, the question does present itself–do talking plants count?

By: ComicsPedia.com | Your best source for vintage comics!

ComicsPedia.com | Your best source for vintage comics! — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

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