A Greenhorn Takes the Tiller

I’m Brian Fies, your CSOTD guest host (see below for Mike Peterson's note explaining why). When I volunteered to fill in, I told Mike I had two goals: keep the lights on, and return his toys in the condition he left them. His Prime Directive is also mine: no snark or abuse. Creating something is risky and hard, sniping at it from the sidelines is easy and lazy. Otherwise, Mike gave me free rein. He may regret it.

Like Mike, I have a background in newspapers, freelance writing and editing, and a long love of comics. In addition, I’m a cartoonist. My webcomic and graphic novel Mom’s Cancer, my graphic novel Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow, and my webcomic The Last Mechanical Monster have all been nominated for awards, and won a few. I’ve been writing and drawing comics all my life, even the first few decades when I couldn’t figure out how to get paid for it. Though I have no idea what each day’s comic strips will bring, I hope to have something interesting to say about them.

If I don’t, never fear—Mike will be back soon to reclaim his toys.

How About a Monocled Robot Monkey?

Agnes by Tony Cochran is near the top of my list of underappreciated comics gems. I love this strip.

Agnes lives with her Grandma in a trailer park, next door to her best friend Trout. She’s gangly, homely, poor and unpopular, yet remains a hopelessly optimistic hustler certain that her next scheme will bring success and riches. She’s a dreamer.

Agnes recalls some of the same loopy situations and faux-grandiose wordplay I treasured in Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac. Like Thompson, Cochran remembers what it was like to be a kid and puts it on the page, exaggerated and distilled. Last week’s story arc had Agnes embrace the steampunk aesthetic and apply it to remodeling Grandma’s “farm patina” pick-up truck. It ended as most of her ambitions end: gently undone by reality.

Today’s strip is early in this week’s arc in which Agnes and Trout set out to find their region’s “mysterious, never-seen something.” They’ve decided to create a fake monster, which isn’t bad as local legends go.

For years I’ve wanted to do an essay or comic about how towns/cities/counties always try to be unique and, in doing so, are more alike than they think. Every town has a kid who went off to be a big sports star, sat on the bench a couple of years, and came back to sell real estate. Or the local amateur historian who knows the names of all the settlers, remembers all the old storefronts downtown, and laughs about how kids used to swim down at the crick on dusty summer days. You think she’s a little odd for caring so much, until she’s gone and there’s nobody left to tell those stories.

Every town has its first, best, biggest, smallest, highest, lowest, hottest, coldest, or specialest distinction. Agnes and Trout will spend the rest of this week discovering theirs. “World’s Best Tourist Trap” is already taken.

Maybe because I raised two daughters, I have a weakness for young, awkward, gangly, geeky girl characters who you know are going to grow into amazing women even if they don’t yet know it themselves. One of my favorite characters on TV right now is Sue Heck, the daughter on “The Middle” played by Eden Sher, who deserves an Emmy Award. Sue’s older than Agnes—she just started college on the show—but shares her unshakable optimism in the face of an indifferent and occasionally hostile universe. It’s a quality I admire, and sometimes envy, in both my fictional and real-life friends.

I like this gig. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow.

 

Comments

[Sherwood]

"... the local amateur historian who knows the names of all the settlers, remembers all the old storefronts downtown, and laughs about how kids used to swim down at the crick on dusty summer days." You just described about 90% of the members of a Facebook group about my hometown -- including me -- right down to swimming down at the crick.

You'll do fine, kid. Let's hope we all avoid any comments involving Wally Pipp.

[Tim]

Finally, a CSotD worth reading! Just kidding, Mike. Nice job, Brian!

[parnellnelson]

Hello Brian - I think you will do more than just "keep the lights on." Thank you.
You are right on about small towns. I do a comic strip for a couple small town weeklies and, as I try to expand, I hear the "It has to be local" argument which I have to counter with "There are many many more similarities between towns than differences-the differences mostly being the names..." Also in this era of cable TV and the Internet, any residents who are not aware of the larger world are that way by choice so they probably wouldn't get even the local jokes anyway...
I enjoyed "The Last Mechanical Monster" and look forward to reading the other books. Thanks again.

[Abigail]

Hi Brian. Glad to have you filling in :)

[Jan]

You are SO right about the Agnes comics. I have loved them since forever. Smart, silly, funny. So underrated that there have been only two compilation books over all these years. Sigh.
Thanks for filling in. I have "Mom's Cancer." Incredible. So, thanks for that, too.

[Brian Fies]

Thanks for the warm welcome and comments, especially about my comics. Please stick around!

Wally Pipp wuz robbed.

[Heather]

Please do! Thanks. Big shoes to fill, but admirable start.

[Jim Short]

Welcome aboard Brian.

[Mike Peterson]

First time on line since tuesday and little energy but if it goes south it likely won't be for a while. Could be whilt before I feel too blabby.