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June 20, 2007
Legitimate Commentary
There are some out there who think that Shrubville is not a valid resource to help understand the mixed up muddled up shook up world that is Scott Stantis's Prickly City. There are some who think that the three very distinct auteurs of this site -- CJo (me; Monday, Wednesday, Friday), The Furnace (Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday), Sacki (Thursday) -- are one in the same to be referenced as "The Shrubville Guy." There are some who cite four out of approximately 1,000 posts on Shrubville -- we've been publishing a daily* critique of PC since 9/25/04 -- to note that "this is not legitimate commentary. This is not thoughtful analysis. This is a smear-job, pure and simple."
And, listen, maybe our critics have a point. Maybe we on occasion fall too easily into attack mode. But it's been a tough slog covering this strip. We've been up and down the Stantis oeuvre three times over. We probably know more about his characters, his technique, his storylines, his political points than he does at this point. It's tough packaging a fresh delicious sandwich every day when the bread is moldy and stale.
But slog on, I say. And slog on we will.
Which brings us to today's strip. If you will recall all the way back to yesterday, the Prickly City presidential primary has been moved up to July. Today's strip features Winslow in front of his increasingly-ubiquitous Winslow '08 podium. Excellent, one thinks. This is a good opportunity for Stantis to combine current events (the push in some states to move up their primaries) with an ongoing Prickly City storyline (Winslow is running for president in 2008). However, Stantis doesn't bring the execution to a satisfying synthesis.
As daily readers of this strip might remember, the press is fully aware of Winslow's presidential campaign. On the following occasions, Winslow, standing in front of his podium, has been grilled by the press:
April 20, 2007: Re: how much money he's raised compared to Clinton and Obama.
May 17, 2007: At the Democratic Debate, addressed by name (Mr. Winslow), told by the moderator to stop throwing water on Hillary Clinton. (Winslow wondered why she wasn't melting. She's a witch. Get it?)
May 18, 2007: At the Democratic Debate, addressed by name, told by the moderator his time was up after he spent his allotted time soliciting an autograph from Barack Obama.
May 19, 2007: At the Democratic Debate, chased and beaten by Chris Matthews (!) because he said he doesn't hate President Bush.
May 28, 2007: Re: whether or not "Free Paris Hilton" was his only platform.
May 29, 2007: Re: whether or not "Free Paris Hilton" was his only platform.
May 30, 2007: Re: whether or not he has a platform on which he's running. Why yes, yes he does. And his platform is "Free Paris Hilton," thanks for asking.
Stantis has gone to great and repeated lengths to establish that Winslow is running for president. The press seems to be fully aware of his run and his one and only platform. So when Stantis has Winslow in front of the podium today and a member of the press corps ask who he is, it took me out of the moment. It ruined the continuity. I no longer believed the fantasy world Stantis had created. I could only see Stantis's hand moving the parts around to service the joke, as it were.
If I were to offer some unsolicited constructive criticism to Scott Stantis, I might suggest he try to remember situations in which he's previously placed his characters. Either that, or he should stop trying to build momentum with continuing storylines that weave in and out of continuity.
OK, dawg? You know it, baby.
*We started covering the weekend strips on a daily basis in July of '05.
Comments
How dare you smear Scott Stantis by suggesting he doesn't understand the word "continuity." Smear-monger!
Posted by: The Furnace at June 20, 2007 10:41 AM
I think you need to show proof that this is a problem, and that it is a problem unique to Prickly City. Because don't all comic strips have these two-week deadlines? Just because Frazz and Doonesbur and Cathy manage to avoid story line confusion doesn't mean that Prickly City is special. Oh, and don't do any original research.
Posted by: Annie at June 20, 2007 01:41 PM
I felt strongly about Shrubville's inclusion in the external links on Wikipedia, but the Timeliness and Exectuion section I don't really care much about. Annie is right that Doonesbury doesn't seem to have this problem as much, but I am not sure if it is a huge issue. Also, Annie, those other comic strips aren't political, so any timeliness issues would be rare (Frazz, Cathy, etc.)
Actually, just to expand on that issue, I was thinking about why liberal strips don't have that problem as much as Stantis -- and this, my friends at Wikipedia, is not smearing but legitimate discussion about a legitimate issue. I came to the conclusion that for no apparent reason there is more character development in liberal strips. Say what you want, but that's what I decided. Bloom County, The Boondocks, Candorville, Rudy Park, The K Chronicles, Doonesbury -- hell, even Tom the Dancing Bug -- all have significant character develpment and take time to develop stories around those characters FREQUENTLY -- rather than just making jokes about sociopolitical issues, as Prickly City and Mallard Fillmore (our top two conservative strips today) do.
Really, can you say much about character development in those two strips? How many stories have we had ABOUT the characters? Not as many as in the liberal strips I listed above.
Thus, by spending more time actually on their characters and less time directly discussing politics, they are less liable to have timeliness errors. That's my theory. Anyone second it?
Posted by: Chris at June 20, 2007 03:40 PM
Okay, a second thing now (bear with me, I have a lot of big thoughts about Prickly City today).
When it comes to political comic strips, having your characters "run" for president during the real presidential election has huge potential. It could be a goldmine for comedy and for commentary. Anyone who has read Bloom County strips from 1984 (Reagan vs. Mondale) and 1988 (Bush I vs. Dukakis) knows that Breathed did this the best. The long series featuring the Meadow Party candidates, Bill the Cat and his running mate Opus, is hilarious, timely, and full of commentary (mostly subtle, but some direct). For anyone following politics at the time, it must've been a blast to read. Even if you are not really very aware of what was going on back then, it is still excellent work.
So here we are getting ready for the 2008 election and Winslow has declared his candidacy. This would be great if not for a few things. First, he has no party affiliation. I know that Stantis loves to play this game where WInslow doesn't really know which party's politics he supports, but why would Winslow be in a primary if he was an independent? This makes no sense. Second, if he's going to be running for president all the way through the election, and he better if Stantis wants to keep anyone entertained, then by God, he can't be a Republican or Democrat -- he has to be some third party or independent. So, Scott, I advise you to make up a party a la the Meadow Party in Bloom COunty, so Winslow can run until the end.
Third, how do they expect us to believe that Prickly City is an actual place that could have its own primary if we never see any of its residents other than Winslow and Carmen, and never see the actual city, just the desert around it? (Thanks to "Snowman" for pointing this out in the comments yesterday.) I think Scott needs to show some people in Prickly City or something...maybe have Winslow go door to door campaigning?
Fourth -- my absolute most important comment. Stantis, if you are reading this, please pay attention. If not, someone tell him. This Winslow '08 thing will only be funny if you have Winslow run all the way 'til election day. You need to give him a running mate soon. Therefore you MUST introduce a new character, or reintroduce an old one such as Dio or Kevin. It is vital. Carmen can't be Winslow's VP; her character would fit best as an outside observer. So, bring in a new character. Please.
So ends this large piece of advice for Scott Stantis. But I hope he doesn't bungle this storyline, because, for any comic strip, it has major potential.
Posted by: Chris at June 20, 2007 04:00 PM
Sorry for these long comments, but I have really big thoughts with relation to Prickly City today, as I told you. So here's the last portion of it.
CJo, I applaud this post. It is thoroughly legitimate and the complete opposite of a thoughtless smear. It would make Pellucid proud.
Obviously, based on my last comment, I am in favor of the Winslow-runs-for-prez storyline, so I am glad that Stantis is continuing it. I also must admit that today's strip would have been pretty funny if it hadn't broken the continuity, as CJo wrote, of Winslow attending debates and being asked again and again about his platform.
But overall, I am thankful because there have been three strips in the last week or so that I have not completely groaned at as of today. That could be a good sign.
Well, that concludes all the big thoughts I had about this strip today. If you have read this far, I salute your patience. -- Chris
Posted by: Chris at June 20, 2007 04:09 PM
Candorville had a bit of a flub after the 2004 election. For the week afterward, the storyline had Lemont and Susan volunteering to count votes. But that never came to pass, in part because of some irregularities in Ohio and the help of our friends at Diebold.
Within a week after the election, though, he changed course, unlike Scottie, who waited until two weeks after the election to gloat . . .
. . .And then, six months after the election, claim that conservatives don't gloat, only liberals do.
I think I could tolerate Prickly City more if it hadn't affected Candorville.
Posted by: Annie at June 20, 2007 08:32 PM
Bill and Opus running for office (and their time in the metal band DeathTongue) are some of my favorite moments growing up. Just remembering the delegate from Texas screaming at Opus makes me smile.
Posted by: The Furnace at June 21, 2007 02:56 AM
"I wouldn't go a-puttin' no prickly burrs up my tailpipe, if ya gets mah drift, you little prairie poop." -- "Texans for Bill the Cat" delegate, 1984.
Posted by: Chris at June 21, 2007 03:04 PM
