Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Excuses, Excuses

Well, this is a bit unexpected. But it's also a good thing. The implication that Max seems to have known about his unpopularity for awhile is a good way to set this storyline up. Max 

has often been one of the more one-note characters and it'll be nice to see him (potentially) experience the same character growth as the others. 

Except for the girls, who're stuck in some sort of a rut. Zing!

15 comments:

Brett Schiller (Sage) said...

Today's strip "Excuses, Excuses"

It is good that MAx has become aware or finally voices why Cole and Brent has it out for him, but its weird that he would do it AFTER he was rejected from Thanksgiving after he invited himself. It makes me feel very little sadness for Max or anger at the PVP guys because if someone did that at my work, my reacion would be the same.

Now if he was bemoaning the fact he was alone and then they said "well that sucks but WE have families that we can spend our holiday with" then Id have more sympathy for him.

"Safe" but not "suck" we'll have to see where this storyline goes before the true worth of it can be determined.

The Trouble said...

7 Words Max:

Turkey buffet at your neighborhood strip club.

Dan said...

I think this is a bad move. The charm of Max is that he is an oblivious @$$ that everything manages to work out for and that KILLS Cole (and to a much lesser extent Brent.) Maybe this is a set-up, but I don't think a suddenly sensitive aware Max is gonna go over very well.

R.W.McGee said...

I think this strip portends doom, but I think it makes sense to let Kurtz unravel the thread a little more before I jump in...but I just can't see how this goes someplace interesting or funny.

Brett Schiller (Sage) said...

@RW
If we get a flushing out of Max, previously done for the Panda, can we demand that Reggie gets the same treatment?

R.W.McGee said...

I hear ya, as a matter of fact, I'd be far more interested in Reggie getting fleshed out, because he is a character whose interactions with the other members of the cast have been a bit ambiguous.

Max on the other hand is pretty well set up as Cole Richards unknowing nemesis. I actually don't see this as a fleshing out of his character, so much as muddying it up.

It's like a plot arc in which Francis loses interest in video games: It might happen in real life, and it might be something 'interesting' to have the character go through...but it doesn't really serve the PvP strip.

Sko said...

"We all got families of our own", hmm? Shouldn't there be a "'ve" after that "we"?

Anonymous said...

@rdy:

Grammatically, yes. But people (myself included) occasionally omit words that aren't strictly necessary. Especially if you're being terse with someone.

Sko said...

I realise people smooth the bumps of speech, turn to slang and words are lost through local dialect but Cole never struck me as someone who would fall into such a pattern and come off as an idiot with the basics.

Anonymous said...

He hates Max *that* much.

Ben Sunshine-Hill said...

This'll be better than that Garfield story arc where Garfield becomes bulimic in response to the constant insults about his weight.

TheOriginalJes said...

I think it's a great into into a new arc. And, I have to agree with Sage and R.W. about letting this flesh out alittle.

I particularly like the point-blank 'why don't you like me'? Since there are only 5 more strips before Turkey-day, SK can dispense with some of the stuffing.

But, I don't see too many ways this can end. Especially if it's going to have a trite holiday message at the tail end.

Dedos said...

Max's leg really confuses Cole's shoulder for me in the first panel...

And I know it's beating a dead horse, but some emotion would be GREAT to see in the characters faces once in a while. Is Cole's "pleasant surprise" sarcasm, or what? His face is no different than his standard look.

And Cole gets an Eyebrow, nothing, and then a curly hair in three different panels.

And yes, he needs to pull back the camera. The last panel could have used some distance.

Man, I guess I've been saving this up for a while. :D

Brett Schiller (Sage) said...

About Cole's "arm" collar
Since people were still talking about it after a couple of weeks I decided to look back about a year.
http://www.pvponline.com/2007/07/09/jul-9-2007/
Compared to
www.pvponline.com

There is a difference in the collars here as in the on efrom 2007 the line is more of a subtle curve than an abrupt turn. The fact that the turn changes from panel to panel is also more noticable. It doesn't take away from the character art too much but its a little jarring. Plus is his collar is doing that (Mrs. Richards pressing his shirts I guess) then why is the collar in the front of the panel perfectly smooth?

Hehe I love the little nits sometimes.

Dedos said...

@Brett: nits, by their very nature are tiny. ;-)

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