welcome to the fest

Oh, I didn't notice that was MMXXII. Is 2022 a boy or a girl or ideologically confused?
Alas, no stork-delivery scene. And I miss the brutal slayings of the previous old years. They were fun to watch.
February is a bit late for the hand-over. Is Tat using up this plot-line, too?

Dilemmist wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 10, 2022 12:18 pm

ideologically confused?

well put. im gonna bet it's girl. when it comes to the subjugation of women, transactivists know exactly who to impose the handmaiden role.

Dilemmist wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 10, 2022 12:18 pm

Oh, I didn't notice that was MMXXII. Is 2022 a boy or a girl or ideologically confused?
Alas, no stork-delivery scene. And I miss the brutal slayings of the previous old years. They were fun to watch.
February is a bit late for the hand-over. Is Tat using up this plot-line, too?

I'm gonna guess the baby's sex is gonna be female. They had a short head of hair, which is usually how baby girls are drawn. Baby boys are usually bald or buzzcuts.

I think he's tired of the year personification deal. He is usually 1-2 months late on delivering the year strips, and this last one was sorta disjointed and didn't really have a point to her. She was gonna be supposedly a savior type, but she never actually finished what she set out to do.

It's on him if he can't keep up the tradition. I for one only dare to hope we will one day see fireworks again.

-Russly

Things We'd Like to See Again:

New Year's fireworks, after a rousing chase scene.
The Dragon.
Buddha.
Puppeteer God.
Criminey.

Dilemmist wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 13, 2022 10:47 pm

Things We'd Like to See Again:

New Year's fireworks, after a rousing chase scene.
The Dragon.
Buddha.
Puppeteer God.
Criminey.

we? you don't speak for me.

I have a strange feeling they still speak for enough of us....

Things we will actually see.

A fireworks scene again far in the future potentially.

The Dragon fighting that Snake.

Puppeteer God.

Criminy.

There's a reason Buddha has become so conspicuously absent. Perhaps Tat can't bring himself to break from reality. I don't even think he has any hope for Buddha's place in reality right now, short of an arc with him stopping through the Reality Zone. Unlike the Dragon, Buddha cannot play a major role currently because of where Tat is at and we all know it. This is clearly the single one controversy that would never die because it remains that obvious.

-Russly

Celina:
Very well then, things _I_ would like to see again. And perhaps others, as Russly says.

Who or what is that Snake? Will it get to talk? About what?

Part of the trouble with Buddha is that he enlightened two of the drones, now a devil-girl's pets. Does that mean that drones have souls? And if so, then does that make Xanthe a killer?

Some more things I'd like to see again:
Jesus.
The Reality Zone.
Milton.
Vainglorious!

I'd like Slick to take off his mirror shades.
I'd like Xanthe to prove she's not female Slick by taking off her mirror shades.

I'd like more of Lilith's story. We know it's tragic, we know it involved Lily, the Devil, Elk Witch, Granny Witch, and Fallen State.

I miss Percy and Pooch, but I get it, the originals have long since crossed the Rainbow Bridge. But how about Cartoonist?

And above all, I'd like to see...
_Fun!_

Any idea on where the strip he does that is? I was trying to figure out what even happened with that yeah.... If I'm correct, it does make Xanthe a killer and in a radical potentially anarchist comic that isn't exactly unheard of. The problem is if Tat is in this kind of, I suppose, a headspace then perhaps even if Buddha did arrive he wouldn't pull the kind of Butterfly Effect Hail Maries many fans ('we') hope for. However what I -do- look for is the return of comic relief. He himself maybe lightened up. I was told with comedy that it is (whether you punch up or punch down) as long as it's funny.

There are a number of points I didn't gather immediately. For one, damn, the pets are gone for that reason huh.... For two, lately I have been reading it as Slick taking the place of the in comic avatar. It makes complete sense he put some of that energy in Slick's place and owns the half-retcon, if he can't bring himself to return the in comic avatar in general. Not that it's impossible either, only that what's currently happening gets explained somewhat. Also, I can't say it isn't refreshing to see some of those absurd requests you put out there hahaha, the type of stuff the fandom at large is still about!

-Russly

Russly:
Please be more specific about what in Tat's headspace keeps Buddha away. And maybe Jesus too?

I recall a strip where Xanthe silenced Squig by angrily asking, "Why shouldn't I hate my oppressors?" Had Jesus or Buddha been at hand, and in character, then they could have answered that hatred harms its bearer.

On the other hand, if only Sinfest _had_ unabashed anarchist violence! Then we'd see energy and dark humor. As is, its politics are strangely passionless. When Pooch buried the Trump drone, the strip turned away from a copious flow of vile absurdity, well worthy of cartoon mockery.

Tat has tried 'message' cartooning - lately anti-wokism and anti-vaxx - but this is the wrong audience for those, and messaging is notoriously humorless.

I miss his madcap moments, like when Slick went to an auto-teller. It turned into a mecha, which shook him by the heels, ate his wallet, and said "confidence restored". Slick replied, "What, are you stupid? You just jacked me!" Those were the days.

I diagnose creative exhaustion. It happens to the best cartoonists. Seven strips a week is a brutally draining pace. For Tat to keep it up since early 2000 is a testament to his fortitude. Charles Schultz coped by running on fumes, reader nostalgia, his own depression, and reruns. (He even named a character Rerun.) Johnny Hart turned to fundamentalist Christianism, but White Christ did not save his comic soul, and "B.C." desiccated. Garry Trudeau and Bill Griffith found sustainable sources of absurdity: Trudeau in politics, Griffith in popular culture. They let the real world write the stupid jokes, they need only play straight-man. (The late-night comics use the same labor-saving device.) Scott Adams could have been sustained by the corporate-stupidity emails from his fans, but he was seduced by the Dork side of the Farce. Bill Watterson chose the healthiest path, both artistically and personally; he shut the strip down before he ran dry.

As for what Tat should do to keep "Sinfest" from becoming as soulless as "Nancy", I recommend the "Mary Worth" model. Go for the soap opera. As The Sinfest Turns! That, plus reader nostalgia, plus his excellent artwork, can keep the strip going for another twenty-two years, if he can stand it.

Dilemmist wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:10 am

Celina:
Very well then, things _I_ would like to see again. And perhaps others, as Russly says.

exactly. because _I_ am fine with those things not being mentioned for now.

Dilemmist wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 13, 2022 10:47 pm

Things We'd Like to See Again:

New Year's fireworks, after a rousing chase scene.
The Dragon.
Buddha.
Puppeteer God.
Criminey.

Oh wow, I would LOVE to see more of the Zen Dragon. The Sunday strips where the member of the Sisterhood tended to the Dragon after he'd been wounded are some of my absolute favorites.

I fondly remember the Sunday strip where one side of the big panel had the heavenly characters, the other side had the infernal characters, and wiggling down the middle to the bottom of the panel was the Dragon, who whispered to Slick, "Play them off against each other."

Sound advice! _That's_ how you bring balance to the Farce!

That's exactly it, Tat's headspace may be such that he simply doesn't believe in the "hatred harms its bearer" motto. A Pakistani guy sent me a trailer about a Superman-goes-violent movie that I'm pretty sure is Netflix, which, if I understand South Park correctly, is the way it is (unashamed at its violence and at its retcons) partly in terms of Chinese censorship. Thus hearing about all this a bit after the Afghan retreat sure makes me wonder about the geopolitical arrangements and complexities that occur behind those closed doors of the nether realm that is the Mariana's web we call life.

Recall, Tat is no Oda. He probably has his ideas on where to go with the broader message despite however he ultimately decides to reflect any current events in the process. He has a healthy switch off between the two. Not that these guys are, say, the likes of Sexy Losers or Duckman. Nor are any of those in the corner where Simpsons and South Park hang out. Groening keeps at it, whereas when Hillenburg wanted to try again they maybe sacked him worse than MJ or Isaac Hayes (okay maybe it really was Hillenburg's time what do I know).

Yes we have classic scenes from near and far in this comic and I would point out that yes, maybe certain characters are busted out when the time is right. But ye Tat be flawed in many ways as are we all.... That Frank Zappa quote about the old fuddy duddies being the best CEOs since they let true experimentation happen. Or maybe 3M went technological on us and hijacked those lessons for half baked ones that still make profits. It was when I drove by the official "Dunkin' University" site that I could tell something went a bit far.

-Russly