December 2010

I do think Mike & Dee's relationship could improve - and part of that would be stepping back a bit from attaching themselves to Mike's parents at the expense of Dee's.

As for Mira, I'd hope that seeing some of her daughter's family problems (with a few accompanying clue-by-4s courtesy of Wilf :) would help her, well, act better.

Not Quite Continued

I was originally thinking of letting that simmer and Mike having a version of this conversation after April had left on her trip, but sometimes the comments do get me to thinking, and it makes sense for it to come out now.

More Family Stuff

This was a bit inspired by the "what do you want to freak out about next" strip (July 15, 2008, so actually not in Foob's Paradise continuity, as things diverged at the start of July)

Back in Milborough

Late Spring 2010, Late Night...

I did a scary amount of quick & dirty select regions + colour erase fills to deal with lighting gradients.

And Now for Something Completely Different

(I've used that post title before, haven't I?)
I played a bit with bucket fills for the silhouetted parts

and over dinner

I just can't seem to stop sniping about the FOOB storytelling*, what with "Mike learns to care about his interview subjects" being forgotten at least twice, never mind the increasingly detached parenting.

* = not that that's a bad thing.

No, this isn't turning into some PSA about depression - but I did put in off-panel that Wilf has known people with it, so it seems a pretty natural worry, given how Dee acts.

a different dinnertime

a beginning?

I only realized a pancakes comment would fit just before I started drawing :-)

well this was supposed to be Saturday's...

... but I had GIMPing issues. So it was a quickly-drawn one:Just what Mira thinks can be done (since I hope it's clear she isn't talking about divorce) is almost ready for tomorrow.

continuing along

24 Dec 2009: Not that I've forgotten about Wilf & Jim...

All this stuff has been going on over a period of a couple of hours - the Sobinskis were there while the turkey was being prepped, so at least a few hours before dinner. Much coffee should be being drunk, many cookies being eaten (and let's not forget the zucchini bread!), as well as cards being played. Along with Merrie and Robin playing or reading/ being read to. But because those things don't advance the "deal with the Christmas From Heck" story, they only get to be implied or happen in the background. So I put Merrie and Robin in the foreground to show some of what they're up to.

And I finally blocked out how the events which must still happen will make it into strips ... I think I actually will get through this comic-strip day before 24 Dec 2008 rolls around :-)

24 Dec 2009: pause for a breather

I really ought to have put a narration box: With further conversation pointless, Mira offered some help with the potatoes and Wilf retreated

or: After venting, Deanna calmly went back to work on dinner while her parents retreated

Ever since I ended the initial Foob's Paradise un-wedding arc, I've mostly thought of vignettes of what would happen next - not a continuous flow of a story. So I don't think I'm giving a smooth, continuous flow of the Christmas Eve From Heck story here. Maybe some narration boxes would help.

As for Grandpa Jim, a little looking into aphasia indicates that there are many levels of verbal and written-word impairment. There can be major difficulties with both, or just one, and I expect the therapists would have worked hard to give Jim as many ways of communicating as possible. It's not unrealistic that he could write some things.

24 Dec 2009: another rare Wednesday installment

... in order to continue Deanna's conversation with her parents. It did look like something of a breakthrough was happening.

Well, maybe not quite the breakthrough they were hoping for.

Yes, this on-the-edge obsession of Deanna to make Mike a success is my tribute to the "small sewing school" future in the Strip of Destiny, which clearly wasn't going to work unless Mike could support the family himself. It hasn't occurred to Deanna that she might not feel work was such a drudgery if she weren't run ragged doing everything so that Mike is left free of all responsibilities except his muse.

Wilf clearly has his own ideas of the root of this obsession.

Either way, Deanna is doing everything, because while freelance writers complete projects on their own time, Mike has been given a ton with hard-to-schedule subjects. (Maybe he's annoyed people in the industry?) And it looks like Mike has neither been asked to nor has he figured out on his own to use the rest of his time wisely.

Nov 11: we finally reach the end of Dec. 23

There are two things about this bedroom scene that I've taken from how FOOB handled this couple. One can only be seen in the artwork.

Oh, and feel free to dissect all the implications of "last Christmas' meltdown about how she'd never have more grandkids because Liz wasn't married"

23 Dec 2009: At This Rate We'll Catch Up With Dec 23...

I'm obviously skipping over parts of this conversation. Considering Liz' exasperation, I'd get bored setting up the argument to go over and over and over until she puts her foot down. And maybe some dialogue is best left to the imagination.

I tried a 4-square layout here. I don't think it's bad, but I don't think I'll be using it much.

Oct 8: Isn't Family Togetherness Fun?

First, a brief interlude...



... then it's time for immediate family