traveling green shirt – Page 24

A Bizarre, Pointless Interlude on the Road to Nowhere

Their Conradian quest to locate Cliff Anger complete, the Starbuck Jones dream team rush back to… Montoni’s? Th’ hell? A month ago they were tasked with scripting and storyboarding a sequel, to be shot concurrently with the feature they were already working on. Did this development lead to the boys working even harder and longer? Nope: Pete proceeded to have another of his Batom flashbacks, which was followed by a road trip to Ohio, not to Cleveland to scout locations for the story’s origin scenes, but to Centerville for a screening of the obscure SJ serial. They followed this with another trip yet further east to locate the serial’s obscure leading man. Anyway, the upside here is that mopey Pete is looking and acting positively chipper!

Angrily We Roll Along

Professor Fate
March 29, 2016 at 9:11 am
…And Mason unless your plan is to find the grave of the late Mr. Hanger and dig up his skull and drink wine from it while learning your lines, no you haven’t had an amazing thought.

No such luck, Professor. Mason’s just so pleased with his idea (and Pete hails it as “genius!”) to find a cameo role for the actor who played SJ in the “serial from the early fifties.” Well, in a comic strip universe where a WWII veteran still can find work driving a school bus well into the 21st century, this is totally plausible. In fact, I can almost see how that cameo might look:

Jarr Jarr Thinks

The gang enjoys some pizza (does Montoni’s ever serve a pie without pepperoni?) and continues their discussion of Starbuck Jones. Mason Jarr, the actor who is going to play Starbuck Jones in that new Starbuck Jones movie, appears to have experienced some kind of epiphany; he’s had…a thought. This incredibly amazing thought. Dot dot dot. Hope it’s a doozy, because you and I are going to have to wait a whole twenty four hours to find out. That’s a real “cliff’anger!”

They Don’t Write ’em Like That Anymore

Packed like sardines in Mason’s convertible, our pals hurtle through the inky blackness, snarking on the cornball dialogue in the Starbuck Jones serial. Pete can afford to laugh because he, being a newly minted hotshot Hollywood screenwriter, will craft a script that’s going to bring the franchise up to date and bring new depth and complexity to our hero. That is, if Pete ever stops dicking around back in his Ohio hometown…and as long as they don’t pressure him with any deadlines…and only if nobody dares to suggest any changes…

The Fan-Tom Empire

Cowboys, thunder riders dressed in quasi medieval armor shooting futuristic weapons, robots with flamethrowers— The Phantom Empire viewed genre boundaries as mere inconveniences rather than limits…I became fascinated with the idea of taking what was considered to be a low art form and creating something of substance within those confines, of trying to take what others considered junk and turning it into something more. That thought continued to inform my cartooning choices for the next fifty years. It’s hard to overestimate the impact that The Phantom Empire has had on my developing brain.

From the introduction to The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume One

So today, Batiuk’s “writing what he knows'” sharing with us readers a space opera that influenced his creative vision as a youth. At the same time he’s writing about something about which he has no idea: how today’s Hollywood motion pictures are made. “I think seeing that old serial is really going to be helpful with our movie.” Mason might as well be talking about a campfire skit or routine that they are preparing for a middle school talent show. And I’m waiting for the day when Darin snaps at his old buddy Pete: “Shut the fuck up already about ‘back in the days of Batom Comics!'”

Anyway, snarkers, it’s good to be back in the SoSF wheelhouse as we approach the 6th anniversary of Son of Stuck Funky! Stay tuned for a special announcement of the first contest around here in awhile. Details to follow! Happy Easter!