Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…
As does the update regiment of this blog. Hopefully there will be another comic before the end of next year! And apparently, I missed #33 along the way somewhere. Of course, this just means I will release it in a few years as a “lost comic” and make a bundle…wait, forget I said the last part…
We are back! Chester is stuck in an air duct, Bryn finally has some peace and quiet and Berkeley is somewhere else. Hopefully this is a return to a weekly strip by Sean and I. We have the ideas, but do we have the time? I have the time, too much time, and Sean probably doesn’t have the time. If only there was a way to transfer time. Hmmm, I’ll get Chester and Berkeley on this project immediately!
-Beerman
Bryn as Harry Potter. What, a girl can’t be Harry Potter?
More comic book goodness from Sean as he adjusts to living in a new state. Though between this and Green Lantern Berkeley, I am sensing a trend. Is Dr. Harvey Thor next? By Odin’s beard, I hope so!
-Beerman
Usually, when I send script ideas to Sean, I tend to avoid making any pop culture references. Yes, me, the crown prince of Trivial Pursuit, wants to avoid pop culture with Hollow Oak University. It is a twofold reason: one, the comic takes place in a different universe, where a pop culture gag more than likely wouldn’t grow organically out of most situations, and two, I feel a lot of webcomics out there already make pop culture jokes, probably way better than I could, and there are even a few that make those sorts of jokes with nerd humor (a certain series that links together 4 random letters, for example). So, when I talk to Sean about what jokes should go where, I don’t think about the latest movie or the book I just read, I just think about what works the nerdiest.
That’s just a long-winded way of saying this: despite my hesitation about using pop culture, I love that Sean sketched out Berkeley as a Green Lantern here. It was totally unexpected. My last go round with reading comics on a weekly basis was all about Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewat, and Kyle Rayner. So it is nice to see Berkeley has joined their ranks and is probably giving Ch’p a run for his money on the cuteness scale.
-Beerman
Now that the solution has been found, things can return to normal at Hollow Oak University. Well, relatively normal. Which may actually be relatively INSANE. But things have to reach some sort of equilibrium and that equilibrium is reached when the lights get turned back on. Chrster goes back into a vent, Bryn chides Berkeley, Berkeley remains fairly oblivious to the chiding. All in all a typical day at an atypical lab.
Grinding through the summer months now, aren’t we? Griding isn’t the right word. Sweating is. The other day, it was a 100 in the land where ideas are born. Not my brain, cause that would mean I would have a fever. I meant the land where that brain currently resides, in the DMV area. Which makes my walking to the Metro to commute to work even more strenuous. Cause walking before was a whole lot of exercise for me.
With a return of the lights (and the color), Sean’s artistic skill goes back the norm, too. But there are some interesting wrinkles: the vent, the chair, an actual back of a Dirigible. It is good to see these characters again after the little detour into darkness. Now we have a series of strips coming up that will push the art envelope (which I imagine has a very cool stamp on it) even further.
-Beerman
Correlation is not causation. Just because the lights went out when Berkeley was using the laser doesn’t mean that the laser caused the blackout. Of course, in the end, Berkeley did create the early night with another invention, but the point still stands: Berkeley was fairly right about his actions during his date with Bryn. There’s a beeping, a beeping that indicates the power has been sapped, the lights are out…QED.
Today, I am at a wedding. Yes, another one. No, not mine (again). A coworker’s. So once more, I get to share in the joys of marriage (mainly cake) without dealing with the proverbial ball and chain. I can totally see why the Wedding Crashers did it. It was for the cake right? I only saw the trailer, so I assume it was for the cake.
-Beerman
I guess every cloud does have a silver lining, or at least, Chester can artificially create that silver lining. The darkness gives Chester the unique opportunity to improve the equipment in the lab. By way of destroying said equipment. I mean really, it is like a fire clearing the underbrush in a forest in order for new vegetation to grow, right? Each is destructive but each are employed for the improvement of the system. Of course, in Chester’s case, deception is included in the process. I doubt the fire is going to turn around to the bolt of lightning that generated it and lie about why those plants had to burn. in the analogy, the bolt of lightning is Dr. Harvey.
Moving on from talking about clouds, lightning and fire, I am very proud to say that now both authors of this fine strip are doctors. Not medical doctors, but doctors of philosophy (though we can take a look at that if you want). That philosophy? Being awesome. Sean recently defended his dissertation and passed. Hence why last week’s strip had our names as “Doctor.” Cause we totally are!
Congrats once again to Sean. Who would have thought that over the course of nearly 30 strips, we both would become doctors? And yet, a little part of me is most proud of our accomplishments on Creative Bender than in the lecture hall. Just a little, though. It is still awesome to present research and see my work being referenced elsewhere (as I recently witnessed at a conference).
Nothing to say about the art this week. I mean, Sean continues to do fine work with all the negative space the power outage plotline dictates. I really do like this idea of drawing and defining these characters in different ways: by only their eyes, but Berkeley’s facial hair (in a previous strip) and so on. We are really fleshing out these characters (with the pun definitely intended).
-Beerman
When the lights go out in the university, and the eyes shine on the way, do I want to be there, in my university, ohoh ohohoh oho. Didn’t know that Hollow Oak was going to reference Journey, now did ya? Okay, well, they didn’t reference Journey, I just did. Still, I think it is appropriate. In an ironic way, since Bryn definitely does not want to be at the university in the dark. Any hope of a romantic evening (as romantic as Berkeley can make it) went out like those lights. As you can tell, in the darkness, the only thing that can be used to identify which Dirigible is which are their eyes. I peg their eyes at about 40 Watts, give or take. And you never know who is around if their eyes are wide shut!
Currently, I am in the 50th state, Hawaii. Aloha! One of the perks of being a researcher is presenting your research in exotic places like Hawaii or the south side of Chicago. Hopefully their are some Lost sights within walking distance of the hotel. I mean, do you really think i flew ten hours just to present? Heck no, I want to see the Hatch!
Sean’s artwork this week may appear minimal, but it is maximum in terms of the desired effect. By just their eyeballs, Sean invokes not only which character is speaking, but also their expression. I especially like now with color, we can tell which Dirigible is the best (the one with blue eyes, obviously!)
-Beerman
WARNING: DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY INTO THE COMIC LASER. DOING SO MAY RESULT IN UNINTENTIONAL LASIC AND COMEDY.
Berkeley’s idea of a snack bar included focused light. As much as I love lasers (they may cause ablation, yay!), I don’t think you would want a pimply teen handling a laser behind the counter at your local megaplex. And, given Berkeley’s track record, I don’t think you would want him to handle it either. I do love Bryn’s reaction to first seeing the laser, pretty much summing up how anyone would feel seeing Berk and that device together in the same room. That is, immediately calling it a doomsday machine. Unfortunately for Berkeley, it is more like a doomsdate machine. Dimming the lights may be a romantic gesture, but blowing a fuse and killing the lights is decidedly not. And they didn’t even get to check out the hilarious end credits outtakes of the movie!
Sean stressed to me how hard the background was to draw this week. I think he did a splendid job. That “M” shape in the third panel just blows me away every time I click over to the comic to figure out what to say about it. I think the art in the first three panels stand out even more and is eye popping cause of the lights out gag in the final panel. Negative space, anyone? No? Add in the fact that Sean is nearing his own Ph.D. defense and dissertation editing and the fact that the art came out this way and not half-assed (say, like my Back of the Envelopes) speaks volumes of his talent.
Now, don’t let him know that I said that or he will think he doesn’t need me with all that talent and I won’t get to write another strip.
-Beerman
Creative Bender 