The Six Nations
Posted by Paul Musgrave on 17 February 2005 | 9 responses
Darby Conley’s Get Fuzzy is one of the few syndicated newspaper strips to refelct the sensibilities of an oppressed minority group: Young, professional, well-educated, cynical White men. Today’s strip is, as is usual for the series, brilliant and so quirky it hurts. To aid you in understanding: The Six Nations is a rugby tournament; the nations in quo are England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy…and France, which hitherto I had not conceived of as a rugby-playing sport. And, indeed, their habit of sipping Beaujolais instead of quaffing Gatorade means their performance improves and then slips as the game progresses.
9 Responses to “The Six Nations”
“Brilliant”? Er, . . . hmmm . . .
Yes, brilliant. “Donut theft makes me so…MAD!”
This strip runs from very good to quirky to brilliant.
If you don’t appreciate it, maybe you should read something else. Snuffy Smith, maybe?
De gustibus no est disputandum, I guess. I mean, it’s cute an’ all, but . . . what’s the difference between Satchel saying “Donut theft makes me so . . . MAD” and Garfield saying, for example, “Lasagna theft makes me so . . . MAD”? Granted, “Get Fuzzy” is funnier than “Garfield” (so’s Paul Krugman, for that matter) but on the comics continuum, between “Family Circus” and . . . oh, say . . . “Pogo” where would you place “Get Fuzzy”?
Which “Pogo” are we talking about? Walt Kelly’s, or the crummy revival?
And, as a casual glance around the archives of GF should show, “donut theft makes me so MAD” is not a catchphrase, the way Garfield’s Odie-kicking or Cathy’s Irving-marrying is.
Hmm… single white male resides with egotistic cat and dopey dog. Anyone think Get Fuzzy isn’t patterned after Garfield?
The point has been raised in criticism (as in ‘literary criticism’) of Conley. But Bucky Katt is not Garfield, Satchel isn’t Odie, and the whole thrust of the comic isn’t directed toward marketing. Also, Darby Conley actually draws and writes his strips; Jim Davis does neither.
*shrug* Never said I didn’t like it. Most days I find it funnier than Garfield (my local paper carries both). But in defense of one of my home town’s favorite sons, the marketing aspect of Garfield is simply a consequence of the comic’s success. I know there’s a line of thinking that commercial success = sellout, but I don’t accept that as generally true.
I love Get Fuzzy, partly because of the strip’s several references to Kansas City’s own Monarchs Negro Leagues baseball team, but mostly because it almost always makes me laugh.
the marketing aspect of Garfield is simply a consequence of the comic’s success.
Not according to Jim Davis, Jim has been very open about Garfield being just a marketing vehicle. He preferred his Mr. Potato Head strip that died many years ago.