Wednesday, March 19, 2008

G-g-g-g-Ghosts?

I suspect Scott is right, Ghosts is probably funnier to him than everyone else. I also suspect there are many ways it could have been made funnier.

It's not that the joke isn't clear, it's just presented in such a milquetoast manner that a lot of the funny is sucked out of it.




A couple people have commented on Francis' expression in the last panel -- I'm pretty sure I understand what's going on:



The line across the eyes aren't eyelids, or at least they aren't his top eyelids. If you look closely you can spot very small pupils looking off stage right. The lines are Francis' bottom eyelids, pulled up as he makes a pinched-face "I'm frightened" look.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

His expression in the final panel looks very strange to me - are his eyes meant to be closed or...?

Otherwise I liked.

R.W.McGee said...

Part of the issue is Francis' hair these days. Simple, clean lines tend to be better for the audience...but there is a lot going on in Francis' face...so when it comes to strange contorted expressions, it's real easy to make something confusing.

That said, I liked the joke, mostly because it reminded me a bit of playing flashlight tag back in the day...sometimes being along with a flash-light in the dark in the middle of the woods...the mind goes to strange places.

Anonymous said...

What, people are actually confused by what he's expressing in the last panel?

Oi, what a world of idiots.

Brett Schiller (Sage) said...

Says the anonymus poster, whose kind has had the most brilliant of comments

Anonymous said...

I liked the "Ghosts" line. I've spent a lot of time in the woods at night and have had moments like that so I can relate.

That being said, I think the "Racoon Buddy" joke was a bit of a letdown. I know it's more in line with Skull but that's not where the build up seemed to be going.

Anonymous said...

Actually I am glad that I wasnt the only one who had a bit of trouble deciphering Francis' expression. The raccoon buddy reminds me of bsome crazy Giligans Island routine with skull as the skipper. Pretty funny I thought.

With all of the painful injuries that the paintballers have suffered (or caused) I think the last place I would want to be is in the woods at night with these fools who seem more intent to shoot first and ask questions later.

Funny stuff though.

Anonymous said...

new strip up. not funny, not meant to be funny, but beautiful beautiful drawings. and playing with the format. im going to leave this comment anon, to balance things out.

Anonymous said...

Lemme guess, those with names believe that anonymous posting should be illegal.

Get a life.

The Wax Lion said...

I did think those were his top eyelids, and that he was giving us a furtively embarassed expression--like now he's out in the open, he knows ghosts are stupid, and he's ashamed to admit that he was freaked out. But PvP does do the bottom eyelid thing a lot, and on examination I think FSM's got it right. I like the panel layout in the subsequent comic, 'bout time Scott broke the box a little!

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