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Reader's Letter to The Toronto Star:
We once called the comic strips the funny pages. Why are they no longer funny? The bulk of the current offerings are negative, some verging on the abhorrent. In this latter category, I place this feeble attempt at humor. At best, it elicits a sigh of disgust. At worst, it mocks The Little Prince, the wartime masterpiece by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This runaway world best seller may be understood on several levels. It captivates as a children's tale. It symbolically tells the story of creation. At its peak, it is the autobiography of a sensitive and lost soul dedicating his work to a dear friend in need of consolation. The friend is cold and hungry in Nazi-occupied France, while the author is safe in New York. Lines for the story appear in every book of quotations. "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." (The original French is even more beautiful.) Writing like that deserves better treatment than an ill-considered distortion.
That aside, can you name all the space-related cameos that appear in the background of today's strip?
PS: Big thanks once again to Dan Piraro for the great opportunity!
11 comments:
I'll have to read the novel, because the comic makes absolutely no sense to me. Even with the explanation.
Well, I see a Space Invader, the Death Star, and the Planet Express Ship. I don't get the others.
I noticed the Futurama ship in the background and immediately remembered the episode "The Route of All Evil" in which Le Petit Prince appears.
The propeller headed alien is Quisp of the same named breakfast cereal?
I spy Interplanet Janet on the top right, and Planet X from "Duck Dogers in the 25-1/2th Century" below her.
You're in good company. This summer French magazine Telerama published an adaptation of The Little Prince by comic artist (and genius) Joan Sfar and received at least one angry letter accusing Sfar of desecrating a masterpiece.
Don't mess with The Litle Prince !
I recognized the Planet Express Ship, of course, but I did not see anything from the Hitchhiker's Guide. Like the thumb from the book covers.
Yeesh...get a sense of humor already! I'm a gigantic fan of "Le Petit Prince" (I read it in French in high school) and I thought it was a terrific comic. Any classic that can't stand up to a little satire doesn't deserve the designation. I don't think Antoine's book is going to shrivel up and die because someone poked a little gentle fun at it.
Well done, Ces. :)
I couldn't agree more! Humor and wit have no place on the comics page! Especially not when they're at the expense of something that someone somewhere enjoys!
So help me god, if you go after the Muppet Show I'm taking you out.
YOU'D BETTER NOT MAKE FUN OF FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE OR WE WILL COME TO YOUR HOUSE AT NIGHT AND GET YOU THIS I SWEAR ON ALDO'S WEED-COVERED GRAVE AND JOSH FRUHLINGER'S PREHUMOUS TOMBSTONE
Also, if you ever comment on design changes that may or may not be being made over at Archie Comics again, you may find the kids from Riverdale aren't quite as friendly as they seem. What, you think this is a game? You think the point of this stuff is to be funny, to make people laugh?
There are funny parodies in which the subject is mocked for being inherently silly or worthless or too self-serious. Then there are laugh-out-loud (and I did!) hilarious parodies in which something serious is taken to am absurd extreme of seriousness. This was one of them.
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