Uh-oh. Well, to be fair, she really didn’t have much of a choice. And he does cut quite the dashing figure, doesn’t he?
I wanted to let you know that Thursday’s strip might be late. I have to finish my piece for The Webcomic Underdogs’ 1st Annual Valentine’s Day Love Child Project (or whatever we’re calling it). See, we each take a character from someone else’s strip, cross them with one of ours, and illustrate the Love Child that results. I’ll post it on Valentine’s Day.
UPDATE: Yep, Thursday’s strip is gonna be late. It’s almost done, but I need some sleep. I’m working at the library tomorrow, so we’ll see when I can get the time to finish it. Should be Thursday night at the latest. I think you’ll like it.
Thanks for your patience. You’re the best!
Oh, and I’ll have the Valentine’s Day Love Children art up on Friday. I think you’ll like that too.
You know, I think that if Sodom from Rasputin Catamite and Eleanor ever met, they would have the most delightful coffee chat about rearing adolescents. It seems that they both share very similar ideas on parenting.
*Restraining… first… of… rage.*
I hear you on the special Valentine’s Day project thing. I just finished one and I am working on another for VDSD. I can’t wait to see whose Love Child is born!
“Sodom and Eleanora?” Now there’s a title for a comic!
Charlie, if I didn’t have a head injury that has rendered me uncreative, I would want to see that crossover happen.
Ooh, nice burn, Jacob. Don’t go down fighting!
He’s starting to hone his “sarcastic teenager” skills.
But, but…Anya and Jacob are getting so adorable and less cougar-y!
And I’m enjoying that aspect of their relationship more. While I don’t want Groovy, Kinda to turn into a “teenage boy” kind of strip, like Zits (which is a very well done strip), I think there’s room to explore their relationship more.
If they stay together, of course. Otherwise we’ll be exploring their lives apart.
It’s hardly in danger of becoming like Zits. Jeremy lives under the roof of two loving parents and deals with regular straight white American teenage problems. Jacob, with his girlfriend twice his age and his fairly sinister legal guardian….not so much.
Very true. But he’s still a teenaged boy, prone to sarcasm, messy rooms, bizarre opinions, hormonally induced mood swings, crippling insecurities, and that gigantic, stand-in-front-of-the-refrigerator-complaining-that-there’s-nothing-to-eat appetite.
Hi, re panel 3: I was sure that there was going to be ‘fowl’ language. . . .
Seriously, this is going a very difficult decision for Anya and Jacob.
Of course, if a couple of years it won’t be a (under)age problem.
No mention of the Hypno-glasses? Do you know how many copies of Grit they had to sell to get those?
Yes, I saw them but I ‘chickened’ out.
To paraphrase Admiral Fisher of The Grand Fleet: ‘There is something wrong with our Puns today.’
I didn’t want to derail this thread by indulging in chicken/egg puns. I know you’ve barely scratched the surface, but I felt it best not to egg you on.
You win!!!!
hey, it was worth a laugh or two.
unfortunately, none of this will help Anya in doing what she needs to do.
Now whether, she does it, is another matter.
You sound a bit shell shocked. And, while very cliche, I think the yolk is on you this time. Just start something like this again the next time you want to feel hen-pecked.
No, no no. THINK, gang.
They all have X-ray glasses on. They are all looking at Eleanor.
Now…where are their hands? Around the necks of the chickens.
So THEREFORE…
I just knew somebody was going to go there. Those are Hypno-Glasses (even though they look like X-Ray Specs).
Besides, Toivo doesn’t swing a chicken that way…
Maybe he didn’t want to feel left out. 🙂
Of course, this is Eleanore’s story-time. How much is truth and how much is lies?
In this case, she’s telling the truth. She really does have the paperwork.
What exactly does that mean for Anya and Jacob (and Esther)? We’ll see.
I was thinking more along the lines of the “disowning”…and just who it was that told their father. Was it the bishop? Or was it Eleanor herself?
YES, I’m being cynical. I flat out don’t trust Eleanor. I’ve known folks in my life who had money and messed up folks’ lives just because they could.
I still love the comic and the storyline. It takes seriously good writing to make you really dislike a villain.
Jacob implied here that it was their father’s boss who told his father. Of course, it was Eleanor who invited him.
Of COURSE it was.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheChessmaster
Hooray! Another trope to add to the Groovy, Kinda TV Tropes page!
Done, and done. If you know of any tropes, feel free to add them.
Hi everyone! First comment here. I love the comic and read faithfully. I don’t seem to recall actually seeing the orgy that Eleanore mentions in today’s strip. Could someone please give me a number for the strip that does have the orgy scene. Trust me this is strictly scientific research!
Hey Karl, welcome to Groovy, Kinda, home of the best commenters on the Internet! We’re all glad to have you here!
I never did draw the orgy. Anya gives a mention of it here.
The funny thing is, back then, Jacob and Esther and the orgy were all just funny little asides, put there to illustrate how “eccentric” Eleanor was. I had no idea how important they all were to become to the story.
Some thing has been nagging at me for the past few pages, and I finally figured out what it was. You are putting more work into the characters, and a lot more work into the backgrounds.
Is this your idea of “taking it easy” young man? Apparently drawing will expand to fill the time available. 🙂
I really don’t like blank white backgrounds. Oh sure, they work in the right situations, but most of the time I like panels that are filled to bursting with stuff. If I do it right, I can get a nice composition and feeling of depth to the picture. And if I do it wrong, important stuff can get lost.
I love perspective. It’s so much fun to lay out the lines and angles of things, and then try to figure out how to shade them properly.
It’d be easier if I worked in color, but that takes so much time overall that I’d be lucky to make one strip a week!
I’m constantly experimenting, trying to get things to look right. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it just comes off as confusing.
And you’re right-the drawing does expand to fill the time. Normally I’d do three 5 panel strips in a week, for a total of 15 panels. The last two strips were 11 panels each.
Man, it’s just like being on vacation!
Actually, I like the new look you’ve come up with. I was just so pleased with myself for commenting on something art-related before any of the artists who read Groovy, Kinda did, that I couldn’t resist a comradly poke in the ribs. 😀
I just completed a complete archive re-read, which helped refresh my memory on a few things that had sorta muddled together. Stephanie has gone through a few significant personality changes from the early days, I noticed. She offered to show Larry his liver in daylight once if he puckered up at her…. My, how things have changed. 🙂 Plus she used to NOTICE when someone took a potshot at her. I think I like her better naïve and painfully honest. She’s adorable and lets the others occasionally see themselves differently.
Something you do frequently but I’ve never seen commented on is the polarization of costuming between Stephanie’s shirt and tie and Larry’s negative image. It’s great fun when you take notice. Your costumes in general are just plain fun. I was born in the fifties, so I’m a fan of the “look” you favor, mostly. Though I think Edison’s “minis” are just a little … uhh… more mini than I recall from the day. But she’s got the legs for them, so hey. And I remember Annette Funicello and company with some fondness, too.
I love how Robespierre started out as a couple of noodles that you thought looked a little “livelier” than a food product should. Now he is starting to lead a fairly active comic life. I can only hope Miffy never spots him – that might just be more tragic than Mrs. Rossum’s early departure.
Eleanor… sorry. Can’t like her. Can’t even just “accept” her. The definition of “evil” is one that has a lot of variables in it – but one of the primary ones in my book is someone who thinks they are so much cleverer than anyone else that anything they do is perfectly ok. So far, you’ve managed to slide her into the clear by the skin of her teeth on that count a couple of times, but (mundane morality though it might be) the fact that she let the 15-year-old twins not only participate in the orgy that started off this web-comic but that she then “rescued” them by turning them into her sex toys makes her a person to despise. Incidentally, their parents don’t shine in any better light as far as I can see. We haven’t met the father yet – but I’ve heard nothing that makes him worth much. Their mother … gah. But Eleanor? Just because she occasionally looks sad doesn’t make me want to forgive her.
Anya … She can be awesome and she can be … let’s just say “less than awesome.” When she’s doing her job, she’s terrific. Especially with the kids at Storytime. And though I disapprove of this relationship with Jacob, I like the fact that she’s actually trying to resolve the problems with his parents. Though I could wish that she was equally concerned for Esther.
Edison can also be utterly terrific and / or utterly awful. She’s got a few mental twist-ups, that’s for sure. I’m still trying to figure out what really happened between her and her husband. Her dreams seem to suggest that she got a bit “loose” while drunk. She did SOMETHING that he’s not forgiven her for – or at least she believes not, no matter what Dilbert said during that first phone call. Her meeting with him is going to be … interesting. Though, given how you do this comic, it’s going to go COMPLETELY other than anything the rest of us imagine or suggest. XD
Larry is, hands down, my favorite character. Well… I’ll also admit to a sneaking fondness for Toivo 🙂 But he’s just amazing. Also, though he’s very mentally flexible, he’s also no push-over and is quite capable of losing his temper when someone crosses one of his few lines. He also watches himself for bad behavior – such as when he got annoyed with Edison when she first met Prospero. He’s also delightfully silly.
Uhm… sorry for how long this got. I just had a blast reading the whole comic end to end (plus Eleanor and now that you linked it – Utopia, Unlimited as well) and wanted to say some stuff. THANK YOU for all your work 😀
Hey Tru, I’ve got to admit that I’ve done a couple of Archive re-runs as well. I got hooked on Groovy Kinda (Lyssa and the Pirates and Eleanor) when I was undergoing cancer treatment (Nowhere near as bad as it sounds) and I’m addicted. Still hit the random button now and again just for giggles.
Dragonsreach, I’m just glad everything worked out with the cancer treatment. At the rate time moves in the GK universe, this storyline could take years to work out, and I want you around for the whole trip!
Charlie; Prostate Cancer caught relatively early. I spent one night on a cancer ward, made me realise I got off really lightly.
And I’m not going to give up yet I’ve waaaay too many years of irritating my wife left to go.
And thank you for that comment! I really can’t tell you how great it feels to read comments about these characters who I love so much.
I think Anya is turning out to be the most complex character. She’s sweet and nice (with a sharp temper), and she wants to do the right thing. She’s also insecure and needy and very lonely, which leads her to, well, Eleanor and Jacob.
She would be more concerned with Esther if she wasn’t so busy with Jacob and now this whole thing with Eleanor and the discombobulationotron. If she can get Jacob back with his parents she’ll also get Esther restored as well.
She’s also got a lot of mystery in her past. Eleanor referred to it at one point, suggesting that she “saved” Anya.
Stephanie has been such fun to write. Especially since she comes up with such great lines on her own. I hadn’t thought about the contrast between her shirt and tie and Larry’s-I just wanted to put her in a nice blouse, and solid black was easier to color. But you’re right, they compliment each other nicely. And those fish thingies? Those are called paisleys.
I admit I didn’t have as clear a picture of her personality when I started GK. She’s turned into the sweetest, most adorable character, and she makes me smile almost every time I see her-except when she’s getting her heart broken.
And she’ll kiss Larry eventually.
As far as the fashions go, well, it’s no secret that I came of age in the 70s, and they had a huge influence on me. I still love them.
And I remember one girl in high school who wore skirts as short as Edison’s. Since she can’t drive, she has to walk everywhere, and she considers her legs one of her best features.
And Eleanor…man, I had no idea that she was going to go this far. She’s pretty selfish and amoral in “Importance,” but here…
I still love her, because I know more about why she’s doing what she’s doing. But the more I think about the whole Jacob and Esther thing, the angrier I get at her too.
Something to think about: What it Eleanor knows she’s in over her head with Esther? Eleanor could be floundering, but her pride is preventing her from trying other solutions. Maybe that’s why she suggested a Military Academy. She may have to get to the point where she sits down with Anya and the twin’s dad and works something out.
Or she may have other plans.
To be honest, I think having Jacob and Esther return home might be the worst possible solution, in terms of emotional issues. The family appears pretty dysfunctional from what clues you’ve dropped so far – and the look on Jacob’s face when Anya told him she was going to contact his parents spoke VOLUMES to me about what living with them felt like. You don’t end up in the kind of situation the twins did (15-year-olds as apparently willing orgy sex toys) without there being a few major problems in the psyche.
And congratulate yourself on creating characters that your readers WORRY about! 🙂
I think staying with Eleanor may be the worst, followed by the family. We’ll see how the dad is. Mind you, he doesn’t have a great track record so far.
While Anya’s relationship with Jacob has its unsavory aspects, she does care for him, she listens to him, and she genuinely wants him to be a better person. How she’s going to manage this when school starts (if he’s even with her then) is anybody’s guess.
And it’s flattering to have people care so much about these characters! I’m glad I’m not the only one who worries about Jacob and Esther.
with all of the attention being given to Anya and Jacob, I would to see how Esther is doing with Eleanor. For one thing, they could both left but Esther pushed Jacob to do it.
I like the name, Esther. I have a younger sis named Esther. nice.
I’ll try to do an Esther strip sometime. Yes, I worry about her too.
I suspect when you started this web-comic, you didn’t expect to find so many readers of “conventional” morality (more-or-less), or you’d never have started with an incipient orgy to begin with, much less had a couple of underage participants to get us all stressed out. ( I”m not really a prude, I just read that way. 😉 ) But we all have lines in the sand; they just aren’t all in the same place.
I had no idea these two were going to play such a large part in the comic. At first they were just a throwaway line to show how decadent Eleanor was. I thought the twin offspring of a minister would be about as far out as I could go. Then they became a pair of silly magpies when Larry and Stephanie visited Eleanor. And then…
Honestly, if I was reading someone else’s strip, and they did this, I’d be put out too. As long as they handled it with some taste and sensitivity, I’d still read it, but I’d have my comments.