This reminds me of the first comic convention I ever went to, the San Diego Comic Con (which is coming up in the next weekend or so, although I won’t be there), tabling with funny-man Stan.
I was a totally independent, no idea what I was doing, and barked all weekend to the attendees streaming by “A comic, like watching a french movie, nothing happens, and sometimes it’s funny!”
Man I love those foreign films.
Bruno was never 100% clear on the tenets Catholicism, but she was always LOUD and clear when she felt someone preached one thing, even wanted her to live by it, but that they didn’t live by it themselves.
But, for some reason her and Jay developed a deep caring for each other.
Remember, this first ran in 1996, when lots of people still smoked in restaurants and offices.
Smoking, of course, is unhealthy. And I like that food and drink establishments have largely gone smoke-free, mostly because I don’t like my clothes smelling awful (AND I don’t smoke).
But this strip was inspired I think by the question of whether self-protection laws are good. These laws preventing us from being stupid. I don’t smoke, but I do plenty of stupid things consciously, and would hate them to be curtailed.
I have no answers. Only commentary. :)
This was a very popular early strip, how people can so totally miss each other in their thoughts, as well as the stereotyped notions of what a woman feels in this situation. The truth simply is that people are different, and many feel many different ways.
And it’s good for a laugh. :)
The books are “Readers Digest Condensed Books” and “Sigmund Freud Complete Works.” I’m sure that meant something to me at the time. :)
I believe this strip was in response to a tuition hike at UMass, where I was attending at the time. After two years I had quite a few loans to pay off.
This strip is taking place near the back table in the “Basics” dining hall, although perhaps not accurately.
Lol. Did i write this strip?
The F.A.C. (Fine Arts Center), it was built in 1975, and even by the time I was there 1992-1994, the art rooms were poorly insulated and it leaked. Rumor was that it was designed for the desert, but the original purchaser fell through and UMass bought up the designs, but I have NO idea if that’s true.
The point being that it had lots of issues, and lots of stories regarding it (it was modeled after a smashed piano). And so, hearing it was being waterproofed sounded like a dubious endeavor at best.
I did spend a lot of time wandering the halls and tunnels of it though. Fun times. :)
And, possibly of note, right now she’s standing in the middle of it the F.A.C., which used to be open space, but now has been filled in and I believe is an art gallery.
Recently, Beth said almost the same thing to me that Bruno is saying. I pulled out this strip and showed it to her.
School is jumping through hoops, but so are jobs, so it is doing a fine go of preparing you, don’t worry.
In the beginning, I didn’t know which characters would stick. In this first appearance of Susan, I wrote her as a bit of a simpleton. But I think it was her good natured earnestness which led me to have her stick around. She came to be one of my favorite characters.
And just so you know, I actually did drop out of UMass after two years. For better or for worse.
I think this background was actually  referenced from the admission offices of UMass, and that heart card was because this strip appeared shortly before Valentines day.
This strip came about from the vicious hatred people have for Valentines Day. I mean, I get it, but I never did get too worked up about it. true, it’s been a little sad each year when I’ve been single, but I never gave ANY holidays much ground.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a good laugh at both sides.
New England has some crazy weather, and I remember that this was the actual weather situation at the time.
To draw this, I did an incomplete drawing, leaving out many parts, and then specked white paint daubs all over the things I DID draw.