December 14th, 2007
The Santa Theory: Expanded
In case anyone asks, the answer is ‘yes’ this one did take longer to draw than I’d normally want to spend on a single comic… But I felt is was sort of necessary in this case.
In case anyone asks, the answer is ‘yes’ this one did take longer to draw than I’d normally want to spend on a single comic… But I felt is was sort of necessary in this case.
The mildly sci-fi comic about a slightly off cyborg boy named Adam, and his dangerously nerdy friend Fred. Updates on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
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| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
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December 14th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Suspense!!! Aaaiiiiieeeeee! I’ve got to know! #@!%#$ the weekend!
December 14th, 2007 at 3:24 am
Hi Jim,
Great strip today!!! LOVE the drawing in this one ! The monkeys expression is spot-on!!
I’ve often wondered about the logistics about this whole Santa thing! Where Exactly does he get his info???? And how does he get to all the children in one night??? It just doesn’t add up !!!!!
Bunkers are always a good idea !
Jan
December 14th, 2007 at 7:04 am
nothing says being a kid like building a fort or bunker out of the sofa cusions.
way to bring back the feeling!
December 14th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Excellent!
December 14th, 2007 at 11:56 am
If you have a best JPTM, this is it. The underlighting in panel 1 is perfect as is the cushion fort and the blended images in the middle - well worth the “overdrawing”!
December 14th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
I have some time to elaborate now. I agree with “me!”, this is the best JPTM to date. I would hang a poster size print of this in my house! The art is second to none…. ever. The joke is extremely strong, it is 1. slightly cute, 2. slightly bizarre 3. clever 4. recognizable. I believe that is 4 out of 6.
If you could do 5 of these a week, you’d be guaranteed a deal with the syndicate of your choice.
December 14th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Loving this comic. Finnaly something to enjoy after memorizing all of Calvin and Hobbes. Sharp detail with wit and sci-fi. Only wish you could make one everyday. Keep up the stellar work.
Sam T.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Wonderful job on this one.
Kev: Gasp…are you using the Dilbert scale??
December 14th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
@Brandy: Sorry… It happens though… that’s why I always hated reading daily comics… Who has the time to wait a full day (or a long weekend?)
@Jan: Thanks!
@ Tyler: I do what I can.
@Sam T: Thanks Sam! I don’t know about every day though…
@me & Kevin: This one is the best? Really? And Kevin, did you just apply Scott Adams rules of Funny (or whatever they’re called) to JP&TM?
December 14th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Yes, it is the rule stated by Scott Adams (thanks to who ever posted it on the mammals site some time ago). I think it really applies to this strip. It still doesn’t quite fully explain why this one works so well, but it helps.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Jim, I agree. I’ve been reading JP&TM for a while now and not only do I really like this Santa Theory series, but I think today’s strip is the best you’ve done. I’m glad you brought back the monkey (love his expression in the first panel) and the use of light and dark is excellent. The underlighting in the first panel is amazing. But we already knew you were a really good artist; it should also be noted what a great joke this is — with a well-timed setup too. Awesome job.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Excellent work. My one burning question: was that plaid mattress in the last panel difficult to draw? I’ve always found plaid is a pain in the rear to draw. That’s why none of my characters ever wear flannel shirts or kilts.
December 14th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
@Wit: Thanks!
@PTAoA: Great… Now the bar has been raised… Talk about pressure!
also, everybody likes the monkey… He’s got to start making more appearances.
@Scott: As to the plaid…here’s where the advantage of working digital comes in… I use a digital brush called a rake, and set the size and distance of the bristles… So it’s no harder than drawing stripes would be, except that you have to do it twice obviously. That being said, plaid is fine for a single appearance character or one time outfits, but it’s still time consuming enough that I sure wouldn’t put it on my main character.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:29 am
What they said! Just brilliant, Jim.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
This Tuesday being the new Monday is really putting a cramp in my JP&TM reading experience.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:34 am
what is this “highlander”??
“there can be only one….on monday!”
we went from 5 comics on monday then jp&tm went to tuesdays.(whiich is fine)
now mandy has packed up her friends,so now where down to 3 on a monday.
pretty soon i’m not going to look foreward to mondays at all!
December 17th, 2007 at 8:04 am
The shading and crosshatching is great in this one. The final image of the pillow bunker is such a kid thing. My daughter has the same one in her room.
Good job!
December 17th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I liked the dramatic lighting in panel 1, but did not pick up on the flashlight so it was cool, but not especially funny. When I got to the bunker in panel 3, I realized what was going on, went back to panel 1, realized that was a flashlight that Serial was holding and suddenly it was hilarious. Brilliant!
December 17th, 2007 at 9:41 am
SonofB**ch…
If I hadn’t decided to quit last week, this strip would have put the idea in my head to do just that.
I have to agree, that this may be the best strip to date.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:10 am
Thanks for the feedback guys, even if you inadvertently applied a lot of pressure now that this is the comic I have to 1-up…
@Jarrett: That’s what I like to here… Nothing like making my fellow cartoonists quit just by tying to produce top notch strips.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I love the shadows in the first two panels. And the last panel is very Calvin and Hobbes-like, when they had the meeting of GROSS in a cardboard box.