Saturday, June 21, 2014

A ONE-WORD STORY WITH A SURPRISE ENDING

This Calvin & Hobbes comic strip-- one of my favorites-- is taped above my desk to remind me of Thoreau's important maxim: "Simplify, simplify."


The strip contains only one word which is repeated once in each panel.  The word never changes but its meaning does.

I am so inspired by the crystalline perfection of this structure, and so filled with admiration for its simple beauty, that I am going to skip my customary bloviation and shut up right here.

11 comments:

  1. This is the first time I've seen you speechless over art. Usually you can talk about anything.

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  2. James Gurney and Kev Ferrara-- I can see you guys have an ear for good dialogue.

    Scruffy-- The only thing better than something well said is something left well unsaid. It's Watterson's restraint that makes this magic.

    MORAN-- Speechless is definitely the proper reaction to this. In fact, I aspired to be a little more speechless.

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  3. scruffy, you were supposed to say PLIP PLOOP PLOP. :)

    David, I didn't know you draw (unless you use the drawing board for something else). Is any of your work online?

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  4. This is why Waterson was a genius. He was so simple and yet so true.

    JSL

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  5. Ales-- Have now amended that line to say "desk."

    docnad and Anonymous / JSL-- Yeah, for me this is the kind of work that vindicates comics as an art form. There's none of the typical tug of war between the words and pictures, or between profundity and simplicity. The sequential nature of the work is necessary and unstrained. The panels are unconfining. Just beautiful.

    etc, etc-- Can you give us a vowel on this? Are you making an ontoloical statement (it is what it is?)

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  6. from The Days are Just Packed, no?

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