Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto
Let the Introduction of Characters...Continue!
posted by Clay on Fri, Jul 23rd 2004Wow. Quite a cavalcade of characters we've got going, eh? And there's more to come! After I drew this comic, I realized that the robot looks kind of like a cross between GIR from Invader Zim, and C-3PO. To some this might have come as a pleasant surprise, but it just made me feel unoriginal. Sometimes it feels like I have been so inundated by popular culture as I grew up, that all I can produce is a sludge comprised of random references to TV, movies, and comics. But now I'm being self-deprecating, which is, of course, a reference to Charlie Brown (or Piro). My brother and I have this game we play called "I know where you got that from, you derivative bastard!". We grew up with such similar tastes in TV, movies, and comics, that any time one of us would inadvertently quote something, the other would immediately call him on it, saying "you got that from Calvin and Hobbes/The Simpsons/whatever". This incredibly annoying game made me a little sensitive about originality. Sure enough, when I showed the comic to Hampton, his first words were, "The robot looks like GIR". Well played, Hampton. In the end, I didn't change it because I really like GIR and it adds a sense of innocence to the robot in his good mode, not to mention the fact that I’m kind of lazy.:) Speaking of Hampton. he was gone for this past weekend, attending the orientation of one of Virginia's finest universities, Virginia Tech. I say one of the finest, because I'm a UVA man myself, and I've got to show some school spirit. I suppose we should get some of those UVA/Tech "house divided" bumper stickers for our parents, but I really don't care about school rivalries. However, in a debate over soft cookies vs. hard cookies, I am willing to fight to the death. (Hard cookies rule.) The fact is, I couldn't be more proud of my brother for getting into such a great school, and I hope he has as good a time at college as I did. Kudos!