Using Lists in Comics

Intro

One of my favourite things to do with a comic is to take a basic idea and come up with a list of related things that go with it. Sometimes it's obvious that I'm doing that, because the drawing is in the form of an actual list.

One of my favourite list comics

Let's Be More Subtle

It doesn't have to be written. In my recent Area 5.1 cartoon I decided to build an image around my list instead. It less obvious and rewards the reader when they spend time searching through your drawing.

A less obvious list

Here, the list is based around stereotypical objects collected during a night out. I think I also had in mind to include a street sign, but I started to run out of space. The traffic cone definitely had to be there.

I hadn't intended putting the cow in the shopping trolley/cart, but I didn't have room to put them next to each other. I think the result is funnier for it.

Finally, I added the Jan 1st calendar on the wall to make it relevant to the new year. So happy new year folks.

FunStreak Cartoon - Bone Appétit

Introduction

I've done a few comic ideas based on lists. I enjoy them and think they give an extra dimension to my work. It's also a great way to get ideas from other people, allowing you to add their examples without concerning them about artistic details.

Two of my Previous List Based Cartoons

A lot of my work is based on word-play and lists allow you to take a simple idea and really run with it. The only down-side is the limited opportunities you have for using them. You're limited to written formats like:-

• menus
• fake newpapers
• drawings of pieces of paper
• whiteboards

Bone Appétit

My latest example also features a list and was inspired by a joke I saw recently..

Dog says to puppy: Don't eat too much homework or you'll spoil your dinner.

(nb. Can't remember where I saw it, but it's similar to this Argyle Sweater from 12th Feb.)

I took the idea of a dog eating homework, although I don't think there's any real-world evidence of that actually happening. The etymology is often quite sketchy on these sorts of things, although the Oxford English Dictionary suggests late 20's.

That lame excuse is still very much in the common psyche, so on that basis, it's a good thing to build a joke around. I created a list of other things that dogs eat (but shouldn't) and built them into a menu.

Click image to view comic.

The punchline follows a different scheme, but I think that's OK because it's separate to the menu list. It could easily have been Hot Dog, German Shepherds Pie, or Chow Chow Mein. But you gotta draw the line somewhere.

Working On List Ideas - Part 2

Intro

If you remember last time, I had a list based idea that I'd almost finished putting together. The main challenge was to create a cartoon without spending too much time drawing because the comedy is in the list. Anything else should just support that.

(NB. Thanks for the list ideas Shiela, although they came a little late. Go-Ape was a nice idea and I'd have used that one)

The Solution

Okay, here's what I came up with,.. pretty simple, a marketing guy explaining charity suggestions to an unknown client. There are a few similarities with the maths professor cartoon I drew.

Comparison of ideas

I started with another screen grab from my phone's notes application and turned it into a flipchart or whiteboard list. A few scribbles help to differentiate the new ideas from the established charity month ideas.

I drew a marketeer (delivering it as a presentation), and added that little bit of dialogue so the reader understands where the idea came from.

Final cartoon here: http://funstreak.webcomic.ws/comics/22

Part One

Working On List Ideas - Part 1

Intro

Today I'm breaking the mould and writing about a cartoon that I haven't finished, in fact I haven't even started drawing. I didnt want it to go out half baked, but I thought it might be interesting to share what I have already.

Sometimes ideas aren't very visual, the challenge then is how to turn it into a cartoon, and this is definitely the case with lists. When I tackled this problem last time (on Area 5.1 - Imprinted Habits) I created a fake magazine page. In the blog entry for it I described the process, but I remember it being a lot of hard work involving generation of additional ideas to fill the rest of the page.

The challenge will be trying to come up with something simpler. This one's intended for FunStreak, and my rule is no more than two hours drawing, ideally less than an hour.

My List

There's a few charity events coming up that promote certain actions for a whole month. The one that's being promoted quite heavily now is "Go Sober for October", but soon there'll be "Movember" too and Facebook will be awash with facial hair selfies.

It's all good stuff, but it got me thinking about what other things could happen for the other months. I started scribbling ideas down on a pad and then eventually I typed them in to notes on my ipad and tried to assign an emoji.

My Monthly Event Ideas

Some of the ideas need work, or replacing. Other's like "Banuary", if I decide to go with it, need a little explanation.

Part Two