On the slide for fifty years
If ever there was a Chekhov’s gun waiting to go off, it’s that sweet clown car, but sadly (according to my notes) it doesn’t seem to appear again. Maybe I could give it its own series.
If ever there was a Chekhov’s gun waiting to go off, it’s that sweet clown car, but sadly (according to my notes) it doesn’t seem to appear again. Maybe I could give it its own series.
What a great character!
Never confront a clown gang boss in their clown car lair. Thirty dirty jesters could pop out of that trunk any minute!
Lottie and Mildred not rescuing 47 hostages from the clowns and escaping in the clown car in a dramatic chase scene is SUCH a missed opportunity
The ultimate plot twist is hiding all 47 hostages in the clown car trunk.
It’s her MOM! It’s Charlotte’s MOM!
I knew she wasn’t an estate agent.
Man this story just get better and better!!
With due respect, IMHO Chekhov’s Gun is such complete and utter CRAP. So there’s a gun on the wall. There’s also a clock, so what? There’s a moose head too, what’s THAT got to with anything? Set dressing does not equal plot development.
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the moose head should definitely figure in
To take this too seriously, Chekhov’s Gun is a gun that a character in the play PUTS on the mantlepiece. It’s not set dressing, someone goes out of their way to place it there, making it part of the action, drawing attention to it. Set dressing is having a wall of guns, perhaps to illuminate character or setting, that doesn’t get mentioned or touched.
It helps to understand literary tropes to identify them.
For this car to be set dressing you would see a bit of it over a shoulder or maybe the back half partly exposed by a tent flap with no reference made of it. It is just there to help set the location.
For this car to be Chekhov’s whatever it needs to be directly interacted with, referenced, or otherwise brought to our attention in some fashion in a way that may have meaning much later in the story.
To in that first panel the car could be Chekhov’s gun and the jacks holding it up or the walls of the tent are st dressing.
Sure. But when constructing / reading a story the specifics of how attention is drawn to the gun don’t matter as much as the attention itself. Because of foreshadowing (and red herrings) objects that the author deigns to attend to all arouse suspicion that it will be important later. It’s natural that we as readers ascribe importance to anything detailed enough to be noticeable — but since we aren’t writing the story, we forget the necessary level of detail to maintain immersion. Some guns are just there to keep us in the action.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
As long as it doesn’t make an ash of itself.
It’s Shauna
Shauna isn’t THAT tall.
‘Course, I guess she could be on stilts.
Shauna’s such a slender girl, though.
Boozoo got back.
I truly doubt it’s an existing character, but if it’s anyone it’s obviously Blossom. It’s the cloud hair, right?
oooohhhhh. it could be! such anger…
So Boozoo falls into the typical villain’s trap of revealing their evil plot before dispatching the hero.
…And we will RUUUUUULE the world!!!!!!!!!!!
On a scale of one to ten, how irked is Charlotte that the henchclown called her “Emily Strange”?
You need the Spinal Tap scale.
“Emily Strange?” Charlotte’s not going to be standing long if she keeps taking body blows like that.
She should appropriate it as an alias and fly around the world incognito with it, Carmen Sandiego-style.
Yes, especially after “Chibi Vampirella” earlier.
Looks like my Clown Car Theorem will remain unsupported in this story arc. Lots of others’ Estimated Plot Twists also seem to have run into the hay bales.
I’m still basking off calling the kraken attack a day early. I can miss a few tosses at the crooked coconut sky.
You could call the series “Robert Car,” and it could solve crimes
CARDAWWA?
Carry-Go-Round!
Everyone wins a prize for this thread.
Haha I used to love Emily the Strange graphic novels as a tween. It’s funny to hear Lottie compared to her. Emily is like Lottie if you took her paleness and atni-establishmentarianism to the extreme, if that were even possible. I reckon they would loathe each other though.
I like Boozoo. It’s the boss, but still do hardworking like repair a car. It’s seems to offers to Lottie a place with them… not a bad deal. But I’m not sure Lottie/Emily Strange will accept.
I don’t think it’s an offer. More like The Godfather’s “offer she can’t refuse.”
Still, I don’t think Lottie will accept.
Agreed.
I’ve changed my mind. Lottie is no longer the best character in this strip, Boozoo is. All comics by John Allison must now be about Boozoo.
I have spokeN!
Still needs to back off, though.
It’s a charming characterā”.
A Knight Rider for our times? Lead on!
Are clown cars electric now? Is Boozoo’s hairstyle a tribute to Prince? I have so many questions?
It’s a 47-cp engine.
(Clown-power, of course. They all get in and pedal.)
I’ve crawled under a car or two in my time but I have never needed a flower power tool like that thing in panel one. I’m struck by how much of my life I’ve wasted not working on clown cars and confusion over what it could possibly be used for.
It’s a spray bottle. In case a monkey pops out of the car. To spray the monkey in the face.
Yes, a flower-nozzle spray bottle!
I hadn’t thought of the possible hazards! Thank you. Maybe I’ll stick with conventional vehicles.
It’s Charlotte’s older sister! You know the one. Dated stoner teacher before he was a teacher. Friends with the other spooky one.
*this comment brought to you by not looking at a Wiki
Wrong shaped face for Sarah. On the other hand, there is some slight similarity in body language, I think.
This is very Speed Racer-ish theory.
“Unknown to Speed, Racer X is his older brother Rex, who ran away from home years ago.”
I suppose that clown cars need special maintenance… I mean, imagine the spatial distortion failing while a dozen clowns are inside!
That’s every clown’s nightmare!
Very hard on the upholstery.
Probably the best part about being the creator, John knows where this is all heading and “who is who”, and get’s to read all these far-out theories and just roll eyes and chuckle.
As a Patreon subscriber, I also am quite entertained.
Charlotte better be careful. Pretty sure that black teardrop means Boozoo has killed.
And the red star! Even worse…
A communist?
Yellow stars in the headlights. Freakin’ beautiful.
And a smle on the grille.
Smile. Oops.
There are even smiles on the ramps. Or are those evil grins…
My favorite detail here: the tear drop and star under Boozooās eyes. Sadness and mischief, grief and hope, in equal measure. Mixed with the yellow nose and asymmetrical hair, thereās a lot of signposts to Boozooās character here.
Looks like Mildred can swap costumes and paint her face pretty quick!
(That or it’s Shauna, or Carrot, or Fallon Young or.. nevermind…)
Could it be Carrot’s mom, the former editor (or was it publisher) of the Tackleford Cormorant?
That would be a huge hairstyle change for her, though.
What’s more impressive – the number of clowns that fit in the car, or that she got all of Charlotte’s hair under that wig?
Desmond Fishman and the Clown Car! You know you want it!
Between “Chibi Vampirella” and now “Emily Strange”, Lottie is getting a lot of new nicknames this story.
Comments section clearly wants Boozoo to be a recurring character. John take note!
It’s too late, whoever Boozoo is was committed to pixels about two months ago. I’m not retconning for anyone!
I believe they meant Boozoo should continue to appear in future stories š
Yes, this! I had to read through these comments twice more before I even understood the ambiguity.
(but it’s true, the comments section probably wants Boozoo to be someone we know even more than they want a new recurring Boozoo)
You meant “retclowning”, didn’t you?
That cruel clown could easily be Blossom Cooper; the gaming nerd has good reason to dislike Lotte and her clique.
Hmmm removed the makeup and still don’t recognize my new favorite character https://i.ibb.co/THb9QV4/Boozoo.png
Kinda looks like Tim Jones’ daughter Scout who came from the future to kill Shelley (I think? Or maybe Shelley and Tim’s baby).
I thought of Scout, but somehow, I can’t see John reusing her at this point in time.
I think it might be Gibbous Moon!!!!
YESSSSSS!!!!!!
Boozoo or Boo’s who?
Don’t cry! I’m sure Lottie will be alright!
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I think…
It’s obvious that Boozoo is actually… Norman Osborn!
Or maybe Boozoo is actually … Cilla Black!
Unprecedented amount of comments for today’s thread! Can we beat 74, folks?
Hmm. How does Boozoo know Charlotte’s name?
Highly distinctive fingernails is something I associate with Shelley Winters, but overdone makeup, an aura of authority, tremendous height (sometimes), and a tendency to muck with two-door hatchbacks are all Erin Winters attributes.
Most of those are also Big Lindsay attributes, who would obviously know Charlotte as the younger sister of her old friend Sarah…
Charlotte introduces herself in panel one! And Boozoo is on the ball enough to remember someone’s name after ten seconds, which I rarely am. I always have to ask them again.
Ah, yes. I suppose that it’s quite possible Boozoo actually directed thon minions to collect “the short one” and then slotted the name in when Grote asserted her non-Strangenessā¦
I’m fully prepared for a new character, but for some reason there’s a sense that I should know what’s going on. Like when someone tells me their name and I forget before I reach the back barā¦
I was getting an Erin vibe too. She has a tendency to take over large organizations when flung into them…
It’s Mildred, full stop.
Chekhov’s Clown Car will be my next band name.
The title of your first album – “We’re All In This Together”.
You win the comments
The last time I saw as much sheer indignant fury in an expression as in that last panel, I was trying to shampoo a cat.