193 - What’re You Going to do with the Rope?
I almost didn’t post this comic. I wrote this comic and the next few a little bit ago, I couldn’t help but be slightly concerned about the possible connections to the recent school shootings. The fact that they have been happening at such a rate that we can actually refer to them as ‘the recent school shootings’ at all is absolutely horrendous. I hadn’t really thought of the comic in any kind of connection to them at all because my characters are shooting foam darts and throwing tennis balls and the game that they are playing is absolutely innocuous in and of itself. Within the context of the comic these things are intended as a completely harmless game amongst college friends. The thing that popped me out of the world that I had created was drawing someone hanging upside down in a tree shooting anything at another person. The fact that the darts are made of foam and will not cause even the slightest bit of injury felt immaterial to me at the time.
It was at that time that I consulted with my wife to see if she shared my concerns. She re-read through the scripts that I had written & looked at the sketch of this week’s comic and told me that I should continue on with everything as planned. It helped that a woman whose opinion I hold above anyone else’s was urging me to keep with it, but I remained concerned that her judgement might be a tad biased.
I then contacted another friend. She’s been a long time friend and fan of the comic who I could count on to give me an unbiased opinion on whether or not I should continue. After reading through the scripts, as my wife had, and seeing what I had drawn she also suggested that I go forward. She suggested a few tweaks; mostly changing one or two words to remind people that the guns aren’t real. One of those tweaks, however, is the reason why the comic is in color this week.
I’m sure that I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here, but I don’t ever want anything that I do to even have the perception of making light of a violent situation. Violence against women & hate crimes are things that strike very closely to home with me and my household. Having been very close to people who have been the victims of both of these things has shaped my adult life dramatically. There are very few lines that make me draw in the sand, but people making light of those kinds of things is a very quick way for me to draw one.
-Tom 6.13.2014
