Another opportunity to compare the colouring of 2024:
With the colouring of 1995:
It appears that Elizabeth's shirt colour is the only major difference. There is a slight difference in the colouring of the background walls. Lynn was clearly not trying to make them the actual colour of anything, just a background. So, the fading in of the colour in 2024 trying to make the colours look more realistic seems like the syndicate colourist was missing the point. I prefer the plain colouring of 1995 this time.
As for the joke, the setup is so labored, it takes away from it:
1. First of all, Elizabeth has to say that it is "clear soda" so that the reader understands it looks just like water and so it is understandable when Elly later on mistakes it for distilled water. In order for this to happen, Elly would have to ignore the odor and the bubbles. Just drawing it clear is not enough for the poor, stupid readers.
2. April has to complain that she does not want Elizabeth to take more, which is an odd way to phrase it. Nevertheless, this leads to Elizabeth using a measuring glass, so it will have the appearance of having been measured out for the iron.
3. April has to make the decision not to drink the soda and let it get cold and lose its bubbles, because 4-year-olds are a paragon of patience and will only drink "clear soda" when they want to. This sets it up that Elly can find the measuring cup with liquid undisturbed.
4. Elly has to see the drink and think, "Aha! There it is!" to let the reader know that she had previously measured her distilled water and before she put it in the iron, she forgot where it was she left it. Elly has a pretty significant short term memory issue for this joke to work.
5. I have no idea why Elly wanders zombie-like from the kitchen to the room where she irons. Nevertheless, it is necessary she does this, so she does not accidentally spot the actual distilled water she measured out before and presumably left somewhere on the way to the laundry room.
6. I have no idea why Elly closes her eyes as she pours the liquid in the iron. You would think this would be the moment when she would keep her eyes open. This is also necessary so that Elly does not notice the reaction of the iron to getting something other than distilled water poured into it.
7. We have the big "HISSSSSSSS" to let the reader know that Elly is ironing with a steam iron, just in case the reader was not smart enough to pick that up. In real life, an iron filled with even a clear soda is going to be leaving a stain on that white shirt.
8. Finally Elly has to tell the reader that the smell is grape. Then laughter ensues, assuming the reader can make it through all the setup and still think the punchline is funny. Anyone who has any experience with ironing would be so confused, they would just be saying, "That doesn't make any sense" all the way through it.
It's what they call an Idiot Plot because it wouldn't work if anyone had a functioning brain. You halfway expect Lee Salem to ask her why she gave the Patterson family small brains.....before ordering Prowl to seal them in the same cave the Dinobots were in.
Once Lynn got over 2000 newspapers carrying her comic strip, I suspect Lee Salem let her do whatever she wanted. The comic strip does not age well when looked again for quality of writing, but back in the day, it was selling very well because the fans tended to overlook these labored setups.
"Hey April, do you want to split a bottle of this invisible liquid that could easily be mistaken for water? I'll use a measuring cup even though you aren't even in the room to make sure it's been shared perfectly evenly and then leave the cup on the counter instead of putting it in the fridge so a bad joke can happen."
Plus- anyone who has spent any time with toddlers knows that April will never drink that soda. She's already moved on to something else. If it weren't used in the iron by an idiot who apparently can't smell liquid until it's heated, it would have just gone flat and been dumped in the sink.
Like I said.....an idiot plot. By now, an actual four year old has forgotten the soda but Lynn's need to catastrophize being near children "means" eternal screeching about soda.
"Hey April, do you want to split a bottle of this invisible liquid that could easily be mistaken for water? I'll use a measuring cup even though you aren't even in the room to make sure it's been shared perfectly evenly and then leave the cup on the counter instead of putting it in the fridge so a bad joke can happen."
Only slightly less obvious than Lynn Johnston. Good point about putting it in the fridge.
Why is Elly thought-bubbling quotation marks around the word "Grape?" This sure doesn't age well, considering that on some social media sites- like YouTube, "Grape" is used to describe something else in order to avoid violation strikes.
"clear soda"? OK, that's really overdoing the generic speech, even for this dumb strip. Any real life person, especially a kid, would say the brand name and/or the flavor.
The woman thinks Gruntburg would be a good name for a fast food place. Her idea of what's obvious tends to be insane so she's not going to see the average person assume that Megafoods has its own name for sparkling water.
I imagine this was one of those times where Lynn was out of ideas, desperately looking around, hoping that something she saw in the house would lead to inspiration.....
Another opportunity to compare the colouring of 2024:
With the colouring of 1995:
It appears that Elizabeth's shirt colour is the only major difference. There is a slight difference in the colouring of the background walls. Lynn was clearly not trying to make them the actual colour of anything, just a background. So, the fading in of the colour in 2024 trying to make the colours look more realistic seems like the syndicate colourist was missing the point. I prefer the plain colouring of 1995 this time.
As for the joke, the setup is so labored, it takes away from it:
1. First of all, Elizabeth has to say that it is "clear soda" so that the reader understands it looks just like water and so it is understandable when Elly later on mistakes it for distilled water. In order for this to happen, Elly would have to ignore the odor and the bubbles. Just drawing it clear is not enough for the poor, stupid readers.
2. April has to complain that she does not want Elizabeth to take more, which is an odd way to phrase it. Nevertheless, this leads to Elizabeth using a measuring glass, so it will have the appearance of having been measured out for the iron.
3. April has to make the decision not to drink the soda and let it get cold and lose its bubbles, because 4-year-olds are a paragon of patience and will only drink "clear soda" when they want to. This sets it up that Elly can find the measuring cup with liquid undisturbed.
4. Elly has to see the drink and think, "Aha! There it is!" to let the reader know that she had previously measured her distilled water and before she put it in the iron, she forgot where it was she left it. Elly has a pretty significant short term memory issue for this joke to work.
5. I have no idea why Elly wanders zombie-like from the kitchen to the room where she irons. Nevertheless, it is necessary she does this, so she does not accidentally spot the actual distilled water she measured out before and presumably left somewhere on the way to the laundry room.
6. I have no idea why Elly closes her eyes as she pours the liquid in the iron. You would think this would be the moment when she would keep her eyes open. This is also necessary so that Elly does not notice the reaction of the iron to getting something other than distilled water poured into it.
7. We have the big "HISSSSSSSS" to let the reader know that Elly is ironing with a steam iron, just in case the reader was not smart enough to pick that up. In real life, an iron filled with even a clear soda is going to be leaving a stain on that white shirt.
8. Finally Elly has to tell the reader that the smell is grape. Then laughter ensues, assuming the reader can make it through all the setup and still think the punchline is funny. Anyone who has any experience with ironing would be so confused, they would just be saying, "That doesn't make any sense" all the way through it.
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It's what they call an Idiot Plot because it wouldn't work if anyone had a functioning brain. You halfway expect Lee Salem to ask her why she gave the Patterson family small brains.....before ordering Prowl to seal them in the same cave the Dinobots were in.
Reply
Once Lynn got over 2000 newspapers carrying her comic strip, I suspect Lee Salem let her do whatever she wanted. The comic strip does not age well when looked again for quality of writing, but back in the day, it was selling very well because the fans tended to overlook these labored setups.
Reply
"Hey April, do you want to split a bottle of this invisible liquid that could easily be mistaken for water? I'll use a measuring cup even though you aren't even in the room to make sure it's been shared perfectly evenly and then leave the cup on the counter instead of putting it in the fridge so a bad joke can happen."
Plus- anyone who has spent any time with toddlers knows that April will never drink that soda. She's already moved on to something else. If it weren't used in the iron by an idiot who apparently can't smell liquid until it's heated, it would have just gone flat and been dumped in the sink.
Reply
Like I said.....an idiot plot. By now, an actual four year old has forgotten the soda but Lynn's need to catastrophize being near children "means" eternal screeching about soda.
Reply
"Hey April, do you want to split a bottle of this invisible liquid that could easily be mistaken for water? I'll use a measuring cup even though you aren't even in the room to make sure it's been shared perfectly evenly and then leave the cup on the counter instead of putting it in the fridge so a bad joke can happen."
Only slightly less obvious than Lynn Johnston. Good point about putting it in the fridge.
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Why is Elly thought-bubbling quotation marks around the word "Grape?" This sure doesn't age well, considering that on some social media sites- like YouTube, "Grape" is used to describe something else in order to avoid violation strikes.
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They just point a camera at her when she talks about the strip. She's never seen her YouTube channel.
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Are you talking about the Delano Grape Strike and Boycott?
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"clear soda"? OK, that's really overdoing the generic speech, even for this dumb strip. Any real life person, especially a kid, would say the brand name and/or the flavor.
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Lynn doesn't hear brand names and she can't invent them. I can do both:
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"grape clearfizz" works for me, but it does not account for Lynn's belief that her fans would not get it without being painfully obvious.
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The woman thinks Gruntburg would be a good name for a fast food place. Her idea of what's obvious tends to be insane so she's not going to see the average person assume that Megafoods has its own name for sparkling water.
Reply
I imagine this was one of those times where Lynn was out of ideas, desperately looking around, hoping that something she saw in the house would lead to inspiration.....
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Then she saw the grape flavored sparking water that Mavis bought for Rod and her muse said, "That's a stupid idea, so go ahead and do it."
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And Lynn once again thanked and blessed her muse.
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