Tag: Darin

Delivering Darin

Happy birthday, dear Darin. In your honor, TB is showcasing his full array of fancy, non-hand drawn visual effects:

  • Panel 1: whenever an image is displayed on a screen or is behind glass, it must be faded and have highlights streaking across it (and what does today’s panel 1 have to do with the rest of the strip? ).
  • Panel 2: when lit candles are depicted, apply a glowing effect to suggest an arc welder’s blinding glare.
  • Panel 4: When depicting past events, if photo-album corners are not used, make the colors even more washed-out and muddy than usual, and apply halftone dots over all.
Bonus (hand-drawn) visual effect: check out how Darin’s adoptive dad Fred Fairgood ages about twenty years between panels 2 and 5!

The Sports is Saved

I have no idea why everyone had to leave the country club and travel to Montoni’s, in sleeting weather no less, to tally up the take from the “Save the Sports” raffle. To the astonishment of no one who reads this blog, the fundraiser was a huge success. Future prom couple Summer and Keisha throw discretion to the wind and use the occasion to engage in a PDA*.

(*Public display of affection)

I Am the Man in the Box

Where I come from, we print things out. “Printed it off” sounded weird to me (like “playdowns” instead of “playoffs”). But a Google search turned up this forum thread, so we’ll allow it. Today’s strip continues to beat the same dead horse, but anyone reading it outside the context of the rest of the week’s strips would have no idea what the joke was.

Your humble scribe feels the need for a mental health week; for the next seven days, guest blogger davidorth will serve as your guide to the Westviewniverse!

To Each His *yawn*

The odd perspective in panel one of today’s strip is no doubt meant to draw attention to the cup filled with pens and pencils atop Tony’s quaint and homey roll-top desk.  It is one of these writing implements (and not a flip phone as I first thought) that Tony wields, and I hoped that he was sneaking up on “Boy Lisa” to “stab him in the eye” as suggested by Epicus Doomus. It’s been interesting to follow the comments here this week: it’s an unscientific sampling, to be sure, but the bottom line is that, paper-based or digital (or both), you’re going to use what you’re comfortable with.

'Roids

“It’s-a meeee, Ton-eeee!”

“…and speaking of Asteroids, I think I’ll go downstairs and lose myself in my collection of vintage arcade games.” The harangue continues into Day 4, and yeah, folks, I peeked ahead because I have to: the theme continues through Friday and Saturday. As I pointed out Tuesday, Darin has, over time, lost his Pinocchio nose and become less “cartoony”, while Tony is just a red cap and pair of overalls away from going into the plumbing business.

SoSF would like to note the passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, a genius entrepreneur and inventor whose vision changed the world (while unfortunately giving rise to smug know-it-all technogeeks like Darin). Rest in peace, Steve.