Stripped

I watched Stripped yesterday, the new movie by Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder. I enjoyed it. It didn't say much more than we know about the state of cartooning these days, but it was nice to put faces with the various cartoonists we know by name.

So many things said in the movie reminded me of childhood since so many of the newspaper comics memories I have are of childhood. I want Tomversation to end up in the newspapers, but to be honest, I don't really read the comics in the paper anymore. I do read The Miami Herald daily, but I read the comics online -- webcomics and the newspaper comics. I love the comics, I think I just don't enjoy them in newspaper form, perhaps it's just the Herald's choice of comics that they run.

There was a part in Stripped where they talked about Sunday comics. I remember when the NY Daily News had them wrapped around the whole paper back in the day. It seemed so special then. When I would visit my cousins, my cousin Beth and I would get into a big chair and read the comics together, she would read the female parts and I would read the male parts.

Stephen Pastis in "Stripped"

I liked when Greg Evans said in the movie that he couldn't believe how one person alone would complete such a compelling world every day and that's true. Comics are one of the few mediums where usually one person does it all. There's a thing going on the Real Housewives of New York now where they are arguing over how many people it takes to write a book. One of the housewives Aviva Drescher said that it takes a village, her rival Carole Radziwill, an actual writer, is arguing that it only takes one writer and one editor.

I enjoyed seeing the different drawing techniques shown in Stripped. From pencil to pen to digital now it was nice to see the different styles.  I've gone to digital and I can't look back, but it's always nice to see a large wooden drawing table full of ink and nibs and all sorts of tools.

The movie is fun and I'll watch again. I'm not sure how many people might enjoy the movie other than those who are in the comics business now. It's sort of a love note to the industry. A very well done love note.