Tag: Cindy

What a Troup-er

We all recall that “brighter the picture the darker the negative thingy,” don’t we? It’s what Cindy absently muttered into her drink after Cliff confirmed that he’d once worked with “‘Butter’ Brickle” (and yes, I will continue to use quotation marks around that name for as long as I feel like it). Mason immediately predicted another Emmy for his wife, the documentarienne.  Maybe he thinks it’d look great alongside his Oscar for Starbuck Jones.

So we learn a little more about Brinkel’s backstory, namely, his beginnings as part of a vaudeville “troup” [sic]. It’s a real testament to Cindy’s ability to acquire rare footage, as it’s not clear how many “troups” back in those days were capturing their stage performances on film.

Buster Brinkel

Don
June 23, 2019 at 12:36 pm
I didn’t know the special effects were that impressive back in those days; it’s amazing how that window shifted about four feet to the left just before the building landed on him.

Professor Fate
June 23, 2019 at 12:36 pm
Well for one thing the way the joke is shown in the comic strip the stunt would have at the least badly injured if not killed Butter…Lord is this arc going to be painful.

As we saw last Sunday, “silent film actor” “Butter” Brickle tried, and as confirmed in today’s comic, failed, to replicate Buster Keaton’s most famous film stunt. Forget about a falling papier-mache wall landing on you and hurting your neck: Blonde and Blonder here are in imminent peril of being crushed to death under all that panel 2 exposition!

If you think a sore neck is bad, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, on whom Brickel is probably based, suffered second degree burns to both buttocks after sitting on acid-soaked rags at the garage where he was having his Pierce Arrow serviced.

A Butter Pie?

“How dare you?” is usually asked rhetorically, but in Battywood, it gets answered with a pie in the face. Comedy gold.

The draughtsmanship in today’s strip is nothing special. “Butter” Brinkel looks like a pre-dementia Bull Bushka, while his leading lady has a very contemporary look for an “old movie serial” actress. The film reel sprocket hole borders are a nice change from the usual photo album corners.
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The Stupid! It Burns!

So at long last, here we go into the “Butter” Brinkel arc. Those readers of the dead tree editions, the ones who run only the truncated, bottom-panels-only version of the Sunday strips, are missing out on a classic bit lifted from Buster Keaton’s 1928 silent comedy Steamboat Bill, Jr. Now that they’re finally ready to start work on the documentary, Jessica is literally throwing up her hands saying she doesn’t know where to begin. What does Cindy even need her videographer for, if they have a ton of archival footage?