Volume 11 – Brad Breaks It Off
Volume 11 – Brad Breaks It Offs
Behind-the-scene commentary from Greg Evans:
” As I mentioned in a previous blurb, relationship stories are most interesting during the early stages when the couple is… Read More
Behind-the-scene commentary from Greg Evans:
As I mentioned in a previous blurb, relationship stories are most interesting during the early stages when the couple is circling around, getting to know each other, dealing with the uncertainty – and sometimes embarrassment – of young love. Of course, this can’t go on forever. Eventually, a couple either gets together (boring) or splits up (end of fun). The middle ground is to have them split up temporarily. This adds intrigue and keeps the story going. In the case of Brad and Toni, this off/on strategy kept the story alive for 15 years!
Which brings up the issue of “comic strip time.” In a strip that’s telling a story, it’s logical to assume that each daily installment represents that day in time. And sometimes it does. But most often, each strip is only a moment in time. So an entire week – or even month – of strips could represent only a few minutes in the lives of the characters. A conversation that in real time would take only 5 minutes, could require several days in a comic strip, where 100 words is pretty much the limit before the text starts to overwhelm the drawings.
Naturally, this odd time shift leads to some awkwardness. Characters set a date for “Friday” but actually begin the date on Thursday and end it a week later. Or Christmas Day lasts a week. Or a couple like Brad and Toni have a 15 year courtship (if Brad was 20 when he met Toni, he’d now be 35!)
Thankfully, readers understand this comic strip time weirdness and are willing to play along.