Mindless Ones

26 Responses to “Terminus - a weekly comic strip”

1. dave graham Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 1:14 pm

   ha! excellent.

2. Qthgrq Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

   Serioushead

3. Roshan Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

   I notice these aren’t funny.

4. Duncan Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

   Are you trying to be, Roshan? Or do you have a point to make, at all?

   Because, otherwise, if you’re applying for the position of Spineless Penis, the internet - so I hear - is full.

5. amypoodle Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 6:04 pm

   I think Roshan might be explaining that things have to have an obvious effect (eg. produce laughter/make us cry) for them to have value or be interesting.

   But Roshan’s wrong about that.

6. Duncan Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

   All i’m seeing is a buster - a plain buster.

7. Papers Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 8:44 pm

   I love how Kirbyesque that golem looks. Gorgeous.

   Terminus is all about the creepy amusement, and this one delivers.

8. The Beast Must Die! Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

   I was pure channelling Kirby at the time, having just ingested the ‘Kirby: King of Comics’ book of awesomeness.
   So good call.

9. Qthgrq Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

   Terminus is all about the creepy

   Yup. Not really the funnies, but not really supposed to be.

10. Bots'wana Beast Says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 9:18 pm

    Yeah, it’s… there’s a certain whimsy, but uneaseful, I’d say has characterised most if not all thus far of your strips, Dan.

11. Qthgrq Says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 9:26 pm

    DARK WHIMSY

12. Papers Says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    WHIMSY THAT WILL SNACK ON YOUR BRAINS.

13. Bots'wana Beast Says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

    Oh God, is ‘dark whimsy’ a Gaiman descriptor?!? I am teh sorry.

14. Ryan O'Hara Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 1:30 am

    I was wondering myself if these were supposed to be funny. The reason I didn’t ask is because of people like Duncan.

15. bobsy Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 11:39 am

    ‘Supposed to be funny’ - isn’t that a really strange question to ask? You’re allowed to react to them however you like. Do you really need to have a prearranged pigeon-hole for them?

    Most of the Terminus strips provoke a number and mixture of responses from me - I chuckle, grimace, shiver, ponder, admire, sometimes all at once. Some of them are clearly meant to be more wry and innocently amusing than others, some obviously play up the horror or fantatsic elements. Is there some assumption at work that one-panel comic shots have to be purely funny, and that anything that doesn’t go for a belly-laugh is in some way dissonant or inappropriate? Really? Shit, I thought WE were meant to be mindless…

    And, to respond to the implication that Duncan is some hunter-killer snark monster mercilessly jumping on innocent, well-intentioned queries from poor old souls like Roshan: bullshit, basically. I can’t think of a single way to read Roshan’s original comment that doesn’t come out catty or snide, entirely justifying Duncan’s effortless backhand in response.

16. Ryan O'Hara Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    “You’re allowed to react to them however you like.”

    Apparently I’m not. Bewilderment has been my reaction to all of them.

    “Some of them are clearly meant to be more wry and innocently amusing than others, some obviously play up the horror or fantatsic elements.”

    There’s nothing clear or obvious about them.

    “Is there some assumption at work that one-panel comic shots have to be purely funny, and that anything that doesn’t go for a belly-laugh is in some way dissonant or inappropriate?”

    Yes. Aside from Family Circus I’ve never seen a one-panel cartoon that wasn’t supposed to be funny.

17. Qthgrq Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 3:01 pm

    While I know where you’re coming from with that last point, Ryan - one panel strips are, in my experience, often supposed to be humorous - it’s not a huge leap to suppose that something else might be going on.

    Bobsy, there is another way of reading Roshan’s question: as an innocent question. Perhaps ze felt ze wasn’t getting something.

18. Ryan O'Hara Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    “…it’s not a huge leap to suppose that something else might be going on.”

    I thought the joke might be that there were no jokes. Like I said, Family Circus is the only other example I can think of. So, reading these has been like opening a fortune cookie and finding an obituary inside. An obituary with lovely art.

    “Bobsy, there is another way of reading Roshan’s question: as an innocent question. Perhaps ze felt ze wasn’t getting something.”

    Roshan’s comment did seem a bit snarky, but the statement was a true one. I don’t think Duncan’s response was in any way justifiable. He responded to what he perceived (on the Internet) to be a rude comment by being much ruder. Why not be the better person instead of aggravating the situation?

19. The Beast Must Die! Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 9:50 pm

    I created ‘Terminus’ to be thought of as short stories. Really really short stories. Take from that what you will really. All opinions are welcome, but snark is always boring.
    I do however think there’s scope for the single panel form to be more than just ‘funny’.

20. bobsy Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    Wouldn’t a question-mark have gone an awfully long way? You’re being far too kind Qthrg. You really reckon there was a sincere, constructive intent behind Roshan’s original comment? I’d be very surprised to discover that was the case. If there was any genuine curiosity there then why on earth was the comment so brief? I feel quite confident that it was an expression of disapproval.

    I think this discussion is insane. If I’nm reading it right: there is a generally accepted prejudice that a one-panel drawing with text underneath it is by definition going for your ribs with a feather duster, and if it attempts to conjure any other kind of reaction it is somehow broken? I hope I’m being too reductive, as I find that horse-behind-the-cart reasoning completely stupefying. Thank the heavens Dan appears to have been otherwise engaged when this fact was passed around the class and is prepared to do these bits that have a slightly greater range of possible responses.

21. Ryan O'Hara Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:19 am

    Not broken. Unusual.

    Family Circus is the only other one I’ve seen. Are there others?

22. Qthgrq Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 am

    Not many that I’ve ever come across.

    All I was asserting above is that people often come to things with expectations. I entirely agree that to allow said expectations to dominate one’s reading is a bit silly, but I also think it happens all the time.

    On balance, yes, Roshan probably was being a cowardly arse. My first thought was FUCK OFF. But I’ve been burnt when making assumptions about people’s motivations far too many times for me to feel comfortable doing it here.

23. bobsy Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 am

    Fair point, perhaps benefit of the doubt is a good rule of thumb in cases like this.

24. The Beast Must Die! Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    It has to be said that

    ‘..reading these has been like opening a fortune cookie and finding an obituary inside…’

    is a great quote to use for any collections I do of ‘Terminus’.

25. Ryan O'Hara Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 11:40 pm

    It would be a good quote for anything, whether it was accurate or not. People love obituaries.

26. Bots'wana Beast Says:
    May 25th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    Ryan, you do seem to be taking ‘Duncan’s (for I am he and he me) tasking of ‘Roshan’ a little… personally?

    Frankly, I’m perfectly entitled to tell trolls to back the fuck up out a blog I (just about) cowrite, not be nobs to my team, and I could just as easily have deleted his comment with nary a second’s remorse. A comment I notice he hasn’t come back to quantify (it isn’t “true” as a statement, btw.) Or HAS HE?!?! *dum-dum-dum*

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