But this correction doesn't solve anything? So scratch is just choosing to not speak person? Scott just just ignore the fans and write whatever he wants.
I'm assuming that with reader's copy of the original this is moot, but I distinctly remember the first panel lacking the <>'s indicating the feline speech (underscored by the fact that the * and box is in the second panel). Which makes even less sense, since presumably they'd be able to hear Scratch already at that point. I'd also think that the actual text/speech doesn't suggest freaking-out-and-falling-back-to-feline until later on, so the point at which he does switch languages seems just weird. My two cents.
Darn lack of edit-ing anon posts. Just to elaborate on the timing issue: In panel two, it appears that he's actively addressing them and potentially being annoyed (typical "Haven't you ever seen a..." context), so consciously switching languages defeats his attempt to berate them. In panel three, the silence/mood has actually sunk in, and he's moved past the "people must be awed/speech-less by how awesome cats are" impression. Hence it fits that he would unconsciously stop speaking English.
Sooo, in general, I felt insulted by this particular edit, since it didn't seem thought out, and also because my original impression was that this comic implied Scratch was always speaking feline. But hey, it's SK comic, not mine, so it's silly to get worked up about his choices.
Two words: Thought bubbles. Inner dialogue fixes the entire thing and almost makes the joke funnier. Because he's so busy panicking he doesn't even notice he's making the distressed sounds.
I believe someone mentioned thought bubbles already (Because it was me), and considering the amount of mentions Garfield and Jim Davis has been getting I'm surprised it hasn't been on more people's minds. Anyway, it would only be a continuity fix and would totally break the joke from Freak Out.
Heck, the "cat clamped onto the face" is an old-school Garfield thing to do, too. Someone should find the strip(s) where Garfield does that. :)
I'm just more confused than ever now. I saw the discussion about Scott posting some revised version, but I had never seen it, so I didn't know what had happened there.
Seeing this, I don't get it. Did Scott just forget that he had established that Scratch was understood by humans, or is he going with something deeper like some other commenters have theorized? Blargh.
I probably wouldn't have even noticed that if it wasn't for this blog, and now I'm wishing I hadn't.
@the duck: Yeah, Scott admitted he merely screwed up, apparently forgetting all those times he'd defined the cat's situation in the past.
I do love comments like the anonymous person above me claiming it's 'obvious' what's happening given it's already been acknowledged as just a mistake. So 'obvious' even Scott didn't realise it was the case until someone told him.
No he didn't, keep up would you? This is not so hard to grasp.
Scott posted a strip in which scratch addresses the humans directly, talking in English. This was the mistake. As a result of this mistake, people began to speculate why he did this, which is what spawned the theory that he can't talk anymore that is now confusing everyone.
The reason for this is, the strip gave the *illusion* that Scratch only thought he was talking english, but was really making strange cat noises. It looked this way because the last panel showed him making those noises AFTER he had spoken to the humans without being noticed, appearing as a change in perspective.
Scott had intended this panel to be Scratch "freaking out" after having spoken in English, and the last panel is meant to be seperate from his talking, not a part of it. He had simply forgotten that the humans didn't know Scratch could talk, and his speech was not meant to be significant at all.
After critics here pointed out the strangeness of this strip, Scott realized his mistake, and released an altered version, which has been added to the top of this blogplage by FSM.
The altered version contains the notice "translated from cat", with translation marks around every translated phrase, ending with the strange cat noises. This returns everything in the strip to its intended status.
Now, Scratch is talking in his own tongue, addressing the humans (with the only alteration being that he knows they can't understand him, because he is talking cat), and after he is done talking he begins to freak out and make strange noises.
Because of the confusion that has risen as a result of this, it may be easier to understand how this strip was intended if you imagine a different character in Scratche's place.
Imagine it was Brent, who started the strip complaining about the noise, realized that Skull was missing and everyone looked awkward, and then began to figure out that Skull was missing. In the last panel, Brent becomes incoherent and catatonic, comically expressing his fear and dissapointment at losing his friend.
That is how the strip was intended in the first place, but with Scratch in Brent's place. It was messed up by his oversight that Scratch's ability to walk is a secret, making the strip pretty much undoable. Even the altered version doesn't work, because Scratch is still addressing the humans directly, which is pointless because he knows they can't understand him.
I suspect this is why he took the altered version down, what I don't understand however is why he stuck with the original, maybe he once again melodramatically overreacted to the critics here and decided he was being bullied into making changes. I don't know.
So, in summary. The intended message of this strip was not supposed to be a statement about Scratch's ability to talk, au contrare it was just the opposite, his "secret" had in fact been entirely forgotten, it was just supposed to be your classic "overreacting to a negative change" gag.
Really guys, all the subtext and speculation you are adding is foolish and just overcomplicating the matter. I don't understand why you find it so hard to grasp what actually happened here. It's not that hard to figure out.
Achewood
In my opinion, there is no finer web comic than Achewood. You want subtlety of art and a one-of-a-kind worldview? This is it.
Penny Arcade
The classic. Gabe and Tycho are true pioneers in the world of web comics, and few have done more to expand the reach and influence of the medium. Plus they're funny.
Diesel Sweeties
Like PVP, DS has been coasting for some time. But it is worth reading, nonetheless.
PVP
Yes, I do recommend it; its very popularity is what recommends it. It is the ultimate example that web comics can have mainstream appeal, and shouldn't be disregarded by the industry just because they're web comics.
14 comments:
But this correction doesn't solve anything? So scratch is just choosing to not speak person? Scott just just ignore the fans and write whatever he wants.
I've got the original. How I do I get it to you?
My email is in my profile:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/05183652264190911338
Yeah, I saw that right after posting. The e-mail's been sent.
reader
I'm assuming that with reader's copy of the original this is moot, but I distinctly remember the first panel lacking the <>'s indicating the feline speech (underscored by the fact that the * and box is in the second panel). Which makes even less sense, since presumably they'd be able to hear Scratch already at that point. I'd also think that the actual text/speech doesn't suggest freaking-out-and-falling-back-to-feline until later on, so the point at which he does switch languages seems just weird. My two cents.
Darn lack of edit-ing anon posts. Just to elaborate on the timing issue: In panel two, it appears that he's actively addressing them and potentially being annoyed (typical "Haven't you ever seen a..." context), so consciously switching languages defeats his attempt to berate them. In panel three, the silence/mood has actually sunk in, and he's moved past the "people must be awed/speech-less by how awesome cats are" impression. Hence it fits that he would unconsciously stop speaking English.
Sooo, in general, I felt insulted by this particular edit, since it didn't seem thought out, and also because my original impression was that this comic implied Scratch was always speaking feline. But hey, it's SK comic, not mine, so it's silly to get worked up about his choices.
It is looking like we won't see a proper resolution to this gaff.
It is going to be shifted aside and forgotten,
Two words: Thought bubbles.
Inner dialogue fixes the entire thing and almost makes the joke funnier. Because he's so busy panicking he doesn't even notice he's making the distressed sounds.
I believe someone mentioned thought bubbles already (Because it was me), and considering the amount of mentions Garfield and Jim Davis has been getting I'm surprised it hasn't been on more people's minds. Anyway, it would only be a continuity fix and would totally break the joke from Freak Out.
Heck, the "cat clamped onto the face" is an old-school Garfield thing to do, too. Someone should find the strip(s) where Garfield does that. :)
I'm just more confused than ever now. I saw the discussion about Scott posting some revised version, but I had never seen it, so I didn't know what had happened there.
Seeing this, I don't get it. Did Scott just forget that he had established that Scratch was understood by humans, or is he going with something deeper like some other commenters have theorized? Blargh.
I probably wouldn't have even noticed that if it wasn't for this blog, and now I'm wishing I hadn't.
I think it's pretty obvious that the rules that allow for a talking cat in their world were taken away because Skull left.
@the duck: Yeah, Scott admitted he merely screwed up, apparently forgetting all those times he'd defined the cat's situation in the past.
I do love comments like the anonymous person above me claiming it's 'obvious' what's happening given it's already been acknowledged as just a mistake. So 'obvious' even Scott didn't realise it was the case until someone told him.
The mistake Scott made was in explicitly showing that Scratch was talking in Cat. He didn't admit to the entire concept of the strip being a mistake.
No he didn't, keep up would you? This is not so hard to grasp.
Scott posted a strip in which scratch addresses the humans directly, talking in English. This was the mistake. As a result of this mistake, people began to speculate why he did this, which is what spawned the theory that he can't talk anymore that is now confusing everyone.
The reason for this is, the strip gave the *illusion* that Scratch only thought he was talking english, but was really making strange cat noises. It looked this way because the last panel showed him making those noises AFTER he had spoken to the humans without being noticed, appearing as a change in perspective.
Scott had intended this panel to be Scratch "freaking out" after having spoken in English, and the last panel is meant to be seperate from his talking, not a part of it. He had simply forgotten that the humans didn't know Scratch could talk, and his speech was not meant to be significant at all.
After critics here pointed out the strangeness of this strip, Scott realized his mistake, and released an altered version, which has been added to the top of this blogplage by FSM.
The altered version contains the notice "translated from cat", with translation marks around every translated phrase, ending with the strange cat noises. This returns everything in the strip to its intended status.
Now, Scratch is talking in his own tongue, addressing the humans (with the only alteration being that he knows they can't understand him, because he is talking cat), and after he is done talking he begins to freak out and make strange noises.
Because of the confusion that has risen as a result of this, it may be easier to understand how this strip was intended if you imagine a different character in Scratche's place.
Imagine it was Brent, who started the strip complaining about the noise, realized that Skull was missing and everyone looked awkward, and then began to figure out that Skull was missing. In the last panel, Brent becomes incoherent and catatonic, comically expressing his fear and dissapointment at losing his friend.
That is how the strip was intended in the first place, but with Scratch in Brent's place. It was messed up by his oversight that Scratch's ability to walk is a secret, making the strip pretty much undoable. Even the altered version doesn't work, because Scratch is still addressing the humans directly, which is pointless because he knows they can't understand him.
I suspect this is why he took the altered version down, what I don't understand however is why he stuck with the original, maybe he once again melodramatically overreacted to the critics here and decided he was being bullied into making changes. I don't know.
So, in summary. The intended message of this strip was not supposed to be a statement about Scratch's ability to talk, au contrare it was just the opposite, his "secret" had in fact been entirely forgotten, it was just supposed to be your classic "overreacting to a negative change" gag.
Really guys, all the subtext and speculation you are adding is foolish and just overcomplicating the matter. I don't understand why you find it so hard to grasp what actually happened here. It's not that hard to figure out.
The Founder
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