I felt this comic was some of the best art I’d done in a while. Not sure what makes it pop out compared to my other work, but I haven’t felt this satisfied in a while.
Incidentally, this comic is on the first anniversary for my lovely wife and I. I didn’t plan this comic to land then, but it is nice that it did.
Ref: Relationship | Slightly relevant?
The idea for the visuals in this comic popped into my head a few weeks ago, and I knew I had to work it in somewhere.
Also, the “three years”comic serves to remind that even though this is the fourth year of the comic, they are still in their junior year.
Ref: Comic 100 (counting filler) | Comic 100 (not counting filler) | KLTZ News (with a different reporter)
Welcome to the 200th comic of Spoofy Randomness! It’s hard to believe I’ve lasted this long! And yes, that’s the 200th COMIC, so that does not include filler. I included the filler 100th above because it was awesome (and the actual 100th doesn’t even mention it).
I feel like I should apologize for Jorocks’ sole line in this strip, but I’m pretty sure it’s federal law by this point that there has to be a “Hi Mom!” joke at some point when the news is involved. So I was really just fulfilling my patriotic duty.
I did some sketches of Monica to practice drawing her, as I was having trouble with her hair. I also spent a lot of time figuring out how to draw her skirt and legs, which I don’t have a lot of practice in. When I went to actually draw the comic, however, I never wound up using that. Oops.
FYI, the building they are outside of is the Kremlin Senate building, as seen from above here.
Ref: Others taking notice | And again | Percy gets on the news | Thomas Gabriel sees the sleigh | Thomas Gabriel introduces himself | Jorocks’s unplanned appearance | Thomas Gabriel helps | Unscrupulous comrades | John is being watched
I think I just broke my record for most reference links, even if I didn’t include links to this same story arc! This comic pulls together a few old loose ends, some of which I’m betting you didn’t see coming. The big one, of course, being General Anatol’s endorsement of Percy’s plan, allowing him to proceed. Those of you who are James Bond fans will likely recognize him as General Anatol Gogol, who is one of my favorite characters of all time and appears in several Bond movies.
While I have always had the idea of outside forces affecting Percy’s dream, nothing was set in stone until the Tornado arc and the creation of Thomas Gabriel. I really like the name as he was a sort of guardian angel during the events of that arc, and I liked the character I had made, so I expanded his role to maintain that guardian angel character. He then appeared in the airport to ease Percy’s passage and helped explain Jorocks being there (how did he know?), but it was never shown who that was. I have since updated his character tags, so apologies if you’re a new reader and had that spoiler.
Next comic is #200! We finally leave the building!
The shadowy character from the airport returns, only not in shadow anymore! Who is it? Any guesses? You will see his face in the next comic, I promise!
John remains a lot of fun to write for with lines such as the one in Panel 2.
For those of you who are curious, this takes place behind the stage. Also, there was a lot more discussion that took place off-panel, but that would be a lot of details that really don’t fit in a comic.
The conversation about ownership of the North Pole is actually the result of some light research I did in preparation for this arc. Russia is one of several countries attempting to establish ownership; however, given it is one of the most influential as well as the opportunity it gave me in terms of the comedy of John in Russia led Percy to make his first attempt there.
Jorocks is a lot of fun to draw in this arc. He is so bewildered and out of his depth, and it shows in this strip. He has no idea what he is doing here.
I meant to include an earlier reference to the fact that Jorocks’ major is architecture, but I’m not sure if that ever got mentioned before this story arc! I’ve known it since shortly after the comic started (about the time Percy and Nikki were discussing their majors), but I never actually stated it in the comic.
Jorocks amuses me a lot in this part of the arc; he is totally out of his element and lost. He hardly knows how he wound up in Russia, let alone in a room filled with the most powerful people in the country. I enjoy drawing his expressions as he sits and listens to Percy address these people and they take him mostly seriously in regards to becoming Santa Claus, in Russian nonetheless. Poor guy.
I had gotten about halfway done with the text for this strip (the last step) when I realized that Jorocks and John had no idea what was being said. I toyed with a couple ideas, including John knowing Russian (an interesting character twist) and Percy translating for Jorocks, but I decided the translating would be redundant and monotonous. I couldn’t think of an easy way to mention the earpieces in their conversation, so I went with the blurb at the bottom.
I’ve been really trying to refrain from adding comics to this already long arc since it does only update weekly. However, I felt that between the joke and recent current events in Nebraska and elsewhere that this comic was entirely necessary. That four-letter s-word is in the forecast AGAIN for later this week; ENOUGH ALREADY!
I suppose I should count myself as lucky. I live in the southeast corner of NE, where it was warm enough that the snow did not accumulate. Out west they had nine foot drifts. In APRIL. Not allowed.
In regards to the actual comic, I tried to find images of the actual meeting place of the Russian Council of Ministers; no luck. I did find that it takes place at the Kremlin Senate, which is shown in Panel 2.
Hey look, John has his helmet off!
…I just realized that John is very much like Beetle Bailey in appearance. The fact that it’s taken me nearly four years to realize that is a little depressing.
Also, in case it isn’t clear, Jorocks and John are sitting while Percy is standing. You can see the back of John’s chair.
