![]() The four-panel gag strip ‘works’ on the likes of Instagram because Peanuts and the like have taught us to read image/text combinations in a way that suits social media’s preference for short-form content. I would propose an alternative thesis: that comics were part of a development of reading habits in the 20th century which infected digital design. ![]() Boop) is due to the fact that we’ve become used to looking at squares thanks to the preferences of social media UX designers. Writing for Wired, Peter Rubin argues that the return of the four-panel strip (which Robbins utilizes for Mr. This is the second book in a row I’ve reviewed for this site which collects what was originally a webcomic, and in both instances the artists have strictly adhered to repetitive page layouts - a tendency that has not escaped critical notice. It’s all quite sex-positive, which is maybe the biggest twist on the Betty Boop character that one could do. It’s lewd and strange, but the general sentiment is that this couple is genuinely head over heels for each other - they talk things out, and they work on their problems together. Humor is only part of the picture, however, as a lot of the time there’s actually quite a wholesome quality to everything. These interludes are provided by cartoonists such as Carta Monir, Sean Muscles, Emma Hunsigner, Ryan Pequin and Remy Boydell (who also provides the cover illustration), and they range from the meta self-reflective to the erotically charged. Boop universe but aren’t necessarily plot-related, and which feature other well-known intellectual properties in strange contexts. The collection also includes guest strips that exist in the Mr. If her dad is anything like mine, they’re in serious trouble!!!”Įxtremely light on scenery and background details, Robbins employs a scratchy, naïve visual style that prioritizes expressive character drawing and focuses attention on the story’s bizarre humor. As Mickey Mouse tells one of the Dragon Ball Z characters, erection fully visible, “Oh, brother, that’s bad news. Fleischer) threatens Alec with a lawsuit unless he divorces Betty, so that Fleischer can take her back to the studio to resume her career as a perpetually single sex symbol. This side of things is brought into play in Volume III, when Betty's father (the “President of Cartoons,” later referred to less ambiguously as Mr. Sonic’s maddening jealousy leads him to shoot Alec at the end of Volume I (of the four books collected here), an action that allows Robbins to branch out into dream sequences, alternative universes, and redemption arcs from Volume II onwards.Ĭopyright infringement and the exploitation of so-called intellectual property is a major theme, and has been much commented upon in reviews and articles about Mr. Peter Griffin, Bugs Bunny and Sonic the Hedgehog are three of the most common secondary players. As Betty reminds him, “It would be soooo stupid to divorce me.”Ī range of other recognizable characters such as Fred Flintstone and Jessica Rabbit appear, usually as the third (or more) party in Mr. Not that he’s really going to do this, mind. Alec loves Betty so much that he instructs a local attorney to shoot him if he ever files for divorce. The opening pages depict Alec and Betty in domestic bliss, reminding each other how much they love each other. In both tone and style, there’s many similarities here with surrealist comedians such as Eric André, on whose Adult Swim show Robbins has worked. Boop himself - or, to be more precise, its author, Alec Robbins, and what seems to be his (and, more broadly, our) dependence on fantasy worlds as relief valves for desire. ![]() Satire is often about ridicule, but the main character that ends up being ridiculed in Mr. Typically referred to as a satire, it’s not "satirical" in the way one might think of a 21st century comic featuring Betty Boop.īecause it is taking a character who in the first instance was already a satirical take on the “flapper” girls of 1920s USA, a significant part of the book could actually be described as satire inverted. This deluxe hardback collects Alec Robbins' webcomic, published online in 2020, with a video finale released on the first day of 2021.
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