Cory Thomas's "Watch Your Head" continues to be one of the most underappreciated and most interesting of syndicated strips.
It's always risky to do gags that require the reader to know the characters and moreso when the characters change. The gang at Oliver Otis University are in constant flux, which -- while a rarity in comic strips -- is appropriate given their age. But Cory obeys the general rule of making a gag accessible for the newcomer and twice as funny for the regular reader.
Any campus Casanova could have delivered this line, but it's got special nuance when you know that Quincy is transitioning from ne'er-do-well minister's son to mature, sincere Christian. Apparently, it's not as easy nor nearly as instantaneous as simply raising your hands, shouting "Hallelujah!" and walking up to the front of the tent.
But he might as well be sincere in his new direction now. This is a funny line, but it sure does making backsliding an impossibility, at least with this particular fellow-student.
You don't have to have had a religious conversion experience in order to empathize with poor Quincy's plight. I came to the conclusion many years ago that I don't think I'd want to regain my youth unless I could regain my youthful lack of conscience. Half the fun was being witless enough to do the stupid, self-indulgent, insensitive things a 19-year-old could justify. (And, yes, half the pain was having them done to you by equally witless 19-year-olds.)
The strip is particularly timely given the number of editorial cartoons today that are commenting on just the opposite: The folly of someone who somehow reached middle age without ever managing to get the bridle of maturity fitted on his adolescent hormonal instincts.
What is funny in a 19-year-old is pretty damn pathetic at 46.
(Hey, this song was gonna run through your head whether I added it or not.)
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