Character: Russian Council of Ministers

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.

Ref: HUAC | Architect

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.

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.