BJ, or Boyd Johnson, thinks himself the ladies man. He couldn't be more wrong, but that doesn't stop him from trying to woo the fairer sex when he can.
Red was a boy until a new genie tried to get Melvin a girlfriend. That's when the genie turned Red into a girl so Melvin could practice talking to girls, and forgot to turn her back before disappearing. Red is hopeful that her situation is only temporary.
Me too. After the last strip, I was wondering if it was leading into one with Red at school. Not that I mind that it didn’t. I’ve just been curious about Red’s life in girlworld since the Jeanie strip where she complains about how much mocking goes on at girls school. Even hearing her relay details about her day to Melvin and BJ would be interesting.
Just to be clear I want to see here in that uniform to it just seemed a handy subject to make a joke about maybe I should have said we and included a big grin emoticon?
If I understand contract law, since the picture of Red in uniform over on the fan page was used to secure this gig, Bach-Mann is contractually obliged to show us the skirt at the exact same length in the actual comic. If he fails to do so, he will open himself up to a class-action lawsuit in which we can demand he give us all a full-refund of the money we have spent to read it. At least that is what I understand of law from that one episode of The Good Wife I watched that one time.
Since Bach-Mann is totally chill with showing urine running down Red’s legs, I don’t think he is too prudish to ever show us Red in a short skirt. Given that Red is about to walk into a tournament of geeks wearing a heart-stoppingly short skirt, maybe he is saving the full reveal for a shot with a reaction.
Alternately, it could turn out that the placement of the backpack is vital to the rest of the narrative. Using his artistic wiliness, he decided to place it one place where much of the audience’s eyes would be drawn.
Actually, if you look close, it seems like you can see the front hem of the skirt. It seems to be rising up a bit at the right front as if Red is striding forward determinedly with the right leg. The area between the hem and the backpack seems to be pure white though, which is odd. Is she wearing white tights? Did that area just get missed during coloring. I don’t know. Maybe Monday will bring answers.
I’d like to dedicate this comment to Brandi, who was amazed last week at the sheer amount analysis going on. This comment is for you.
I just want to add I object to being called evil, I don’t know why everyone I spend time with decides I’m evil and have thousands of plots bubbling away apparently doing nothing leading to world domination but I assure you I’m note evil.
Auto-Correct sucks. I think the one in I-Phones was programmed by a perverted bastard. I’m basing that on the meme of conversations online as well as some of the ones my sister sent me that are comedy gold – substituting suck for such, as one example. Ah, the memories.
:p
Looks like Red is still having a hard time adjusting to her new life. Girls can be very cruel to each other. Lots of snide remarks and rumor mongering. I have female friends that prefer the company of guys; less drama and we tend to say exactly what we mean. This conversation can go on for a long time. Simply stated, women are complicated, men aren’t.
Red: hot. Blue: cool. [What? No! Get that blackbody away from me, nerdboy!]
They’re the perfect complement for each other.
I wonder if Clarance would have blown past a gaming discussion the way Red does here. And if the boys would have ignored the Drama if he had walked in complaining about girls.
Not remotely out of my mind–but I also know a crush is not a romance. I also mind myself that Red’s a girl so as to give Blue practice talking to and kissing girls. And that Red’s just a little out of Blue’s league.
There’s a lot of ways to play this. I’m happy to see whatever tack you take.
(It’s not irrelevant that when Red challenged Blue entering his own room without knocking, Blue didn’t back down.)
It true that Melvin already has a crush on a girl, but it a girl he not going to be able to date.
Red definitely out classes both BJ and Melvin for a girlfriend for either. So I expect BJ to be the first one to take after her in the not too distant future.
I expect the popular guys of the school and/or the football players to be chasing Red first, especially after her modelling job hit’ the sense.
Although I’m certainly looking forward to the scene where Red finds herself approached by a guy a year or two older than she is, someone who isn’t dazzled by her, someone who knows what he wants, and knows what she wants before she does.
Not so sure on that point from what I’ve seen their warped judgement revolves around wanting her as a daughter so they might actually be on the overprotective side of things.
The fact they didn’t allow Red’s drama to entirely interrupt the discussion they were having makes me wonder about whether either of them are really seeing Red as a girl, and if so, whether there is any romantic interest for either of them, directed toward her.
Please, would you add “aka Tiffany, formerly Clarence” or somesuch to Red’s cast profile? (Unless you have specific reasons for not doing so, of course.)
And maybe add Melvin’s “Blue Wizard” nom de guerre as well?
I have updated the cast description but only Melvin thinks himself the Blue Wizard so that is not a part of his name like Red, who wishes to be called Red.
If this is the thread for requests, it would be interesting to have a flashback, maybe no more than a frame, where we actually get to see Red as Clarence. Yeah, we got to see Clarence in Jeannie Bottle, but he was barely a character then, and more crucially, it wasn’t in your comic style. It would just make the fact of Red’s change a little more concrete to me.
I think Red would be referring to how girls treat other when boys aren’t watching. I can’t speak from experience there (though it has to be a trope) but as a survivor of an all-boys Catholic high school, and then several hitches in Uncle Sam’s Canoe club before women went to sea, boys don’t do nearly as well without any girls around.
——
On a completely different subject, I have a couple of suggestions when (or if) Melvin or Evil Liam get last names.
“Kurtzman” would be a good name for Melvin, because Mad Magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman used that name a lot in the early Mads (Melvin!; Melvin of the Apes, et al.)
As for Evil Liam, how about “Canasta?” Steal an image of Nasty Canasta (the Warner Brothers cartoon, not the stripper–although the latter has possiblities of its own–and put it in the background of some frame with Liam. Hey, if C.D. can steal the bypass capacitor from Back to the Future…
Red will probably wind up with BJ, but it’s a dead cert that Evil Liam will develop an instant crush on her. It would be entirely appropriate if Evil Liam turns out to be the the guy in the first panel of Jeanie Bottle 149 who tries to pick up Red at the dance. It’s the Kuno factor.
Leave us the mystery! I love your strip, but I also love the banter back and forth. I like finding out the answers as they are revealed through posts. I love the art and I’m really enjoying the story. Great job!
Oh, believe me, there have been many times this month where I wanted to say something contained in an upcoming strip, and there still are. But saying who Liam is not is not a spoiler in my opinion. I won’t mention any more about him, but you will all see him very soon.
It must be difficult to be omnipotent with the ability and will to interact. I enjoy the surprises. The biggest spoiler for me was the Kazom vision. Sometimes, there are many directions in which something can go and if those things are confirmed right off the bat by the Gods, it’s stifling to readers imaginations. Thanks for all the work your team had contributed to keep this coming!
Actually, I’m pretty proud of myself for thinking it up. I was in bed trying to fall asleep and trying to think up a clever gaming store name when it just came to me. I don’t know why I was thinking of the song “House of the Rising Sun”. I like the song and I like classic rock but I’m more of an 80s girl. Then following the lyrics I quickly realized it would be perfect on many levels. Then came the part of coming up with the owner of such a store. You’ll soon see what we came up with. 🙂
Red’s condition could be useful in this tournament. Wear something distracting from the clothes her mom got her. Flash some leg, pick something up off the floor…with the right timing their competitors wont remember a thing they planned.
Yeah, I sound like a pig, but they should use the tools they’re given.
Of course that wont help if they’re against a female team. (I don’t know the demographics of this fictional game)
I think it’s way to early for Red to be so calculating in using her charms as a weapon. Calculation aside, she hardly needs to raid the clothes her mom got her. Go to the fan art page, look at her uniform, then tell me she isn’t already wearing something distracting. It’s impossible not to flash leg in that outfit.
Love the artwork so far. Sort of reminds me of Fred Perry’s work. A couple questions:
1) if this is the chronicles of Melven, why is the black haired guy the face in the name?
2) how much, if any, influence does CD Rudd have on the comic?
The face in the M is Melvin.
CD consults about the cannon of the I Dream of a Jeanie Bottle world. Other than that we have free reign with the characters, stories, and settings.
You can tell it’s Melvin because of the squarish glasses. I assume the black is a mask or cap, something along the lines of that worn by the Dread Pirate Roberts.
The “House” really calls to mind (at least in my mind) a game store in Tacoma, Washington. I remember it was in a nondescript, far-from-new building in a neighborhood which wasn’t exactly a slum yet but definitely could be described as “low-rent.” I bought my very first roleplaying set there–Traveller, not D&D. And in a single-screen theater two blocks away, I saw Star Wars again. And again. And again.
It had been playing there for a year. This was 1978, boys and girls.
So, is it just me or is the shirt design on Melvin deliberately reminiscent of Charlie Brown?
Also, on a separate issue. Some of you guys really worry me with the pervy comments on the Red character. She’s supposed to be a middle school age girl. I know the schoolgirl uniform thing is a trope, but I really can’t get excited over that on such a young girl. It’s creepy, even if she is a cartoon character. I promise I won’t keep harping on this, but seriously guys, get a grip . . .
I, too, thought of Charlie Brown–but I think Melvin is a whole lot more interesting. As much as I enjoyed Peanuts in its heyday, I’ve since come to realize that Charlie Brown was a complete loser. He deserved every breath of Lucy’s scorn. Linus was manlier than he.
Oh, no doubt Charlie Brown was always a loser. That’s sort of why I asked if the visual reference was deliberate. Admittedly, Melvin is a bit less of a schlub than CB. He still may be a bit self-defeating, we’ll see . . .
Melvin’s cast bio identifies him as the informal leader of his gaming group. I am unable to imagine CB as being either a gamer or a leader. He lacked even the imagination to think of himself as a wizard.
We’ll have to wait for BACH-MANN to weigh in, but my guess is no, Melvin’s shirt is not a Charlie Brown homage. CB’s was a single black zig-zag across a yellow shirt. Melvin’s blue on top, red on the bottom, with a zig-zag boundary. It’s more colorful, at least.
As a side point, I hope the kids in this comic change clothes now and again. The character designs are different enough that constant clothing is not necessary to distinguish them.
Once again, B-M’s art is good enough to make yet another anime art trope irrelevant.
The kids in this comic have mothers who make them change their clothes. Adult nerds like Neil who don’t live with their moms wear the same clothes unless and until they get a wife or a girlfriend who throws out the old clothes while the nerds aren’t looking.
Sooo…bad day at school? Looking forward to hearing this story!
She probably just found out first hand that girls tend to be more of the bitch, spread rumours and badmouth you than beat you up style of bullying.
I can think of a thousand ways she could mean that…
Sol, I don’t know who is the more disgusting pervert, you or 50srefugee. All I know is that I am glad you both comment here.
Hey this is my polite stuff. Lord knows what goes on in my mind. ^^ I’ll let you try and imagine the darkness in their….
Me too. After the last strip, I was wondering if it was leading into one with Red at school. Not that I mind that it didn’t. I’ve just been curious about Red’s life in girlworld since the Jeanie strip where she complains about how much mocking goes on at girls school. Even hearing her relay details about her day to Melvin and BJ would be interesting.
Doggone that backpack! I wanna see Red’s skirt!
You will never see that skirt it’ll be obscured by something for the entire comic run.
Just because 50 is longing to see it.
Actually I’m thinking its a standard trope in a lot of shows where there’s something always concealed like Penny’s last name in the big bang theory.
Just to be clear I want to see here in that uniform to it just seemed a handy subject to make a joke about maybe I should have said we and included a big grin emoticon?
Except her last name is legally Hoffstedder now iirc and yes I did forget how to spell Leonard’s last name so I sounded it out.
Seriously!
If I understand contract law, since the picture of Red in uniform over on the fan page was used to secure this gig, Bach-Mann is contractually obliged to show us the skirt at the exact same length in the actual comic. If he fails to do so, he will open himself up to a class-action lawsuit in which we can demand he give us all a full-refund of the money we have spent to read it. At least that is what I understand of law from that one episode of The Good Wife I watched that one time.
Since Bach-Mann is totally chill with showing urine running down Red’s legs, I don’t think he is too prudish to ever show us Red in a short skirt. Given that Red is about to walk into a tournament of geeks wearing a heart-stoppingly short skirt, maybe he is saving the full reveal for a shot with a reaction.
Alternately, it could turn out that the placement of the backpack is vital to the rest of the narrative. Using his artistic wiliness, he decided to place it one place where much of the audience’s eyes would be drawn.
Actually, if you look close, it seems like you can see the front hem of the skirt. It seems to be rising up a bit at the right front as if Red is striding forward determinedly with the right leg. The area between the hem and the backpack seems to be pure white though, which is odd. Is she wearing white tights? Did that area just get missed during coloring. I don’t know. Maybe Monday will bring answers.
I’d like to dedicate this comment to Brandi, who was amazed last week at the sheer amount analysis going on. This comment is for you.
Or because everyone wants to see it he;s being a huge tease.
Sometimes teenage boys hope girls do suck…
Not gonna touch that with a smoking ten foot–never mind.
Hahahahaha!
I’ve got a 4 meter one of those things.
Yeah, but Red’s not a teenage boy any more :p
Thats ok, I’m pretty sure we can work something out…
I just want to add I object to being called evil, I don’t know why everyone I spend time with decides I’m evil and have thousands of plots bubbling away apparently doing nothing leading to world domination but I assure you I’m note evil.
Noted.
Curse you autocorrect of all the words it changes on me it picks the one that changes the entire meaning of the post.
Auto-Correct sucks. I think the one in I-Phones was programmed by a perverted bastard. I’m basing that on the meme of conversations online as well as some of the ones my sister sent me that are comedy gold – substituting suck for such, as one example. Ah, the memories.
:p
Looks like Red is still having a hard time adjusting to her new life. Girls can be very cruel to each other. Lots of snide remarks and rumor mongering. I have female friends that prefer the company of guys; less drama and we tend to say exactly what we mean. This conversation can go on for a long time. Simply stated, women are complicated, men aren’t.
Males are every bit as complicated as females–they just don’t expose the controls. Opsec.
The tricky thing about females is that some of the controls are deceptively labeled, or don’t do anything at all.
Why isn’t there an emoticon for, “No, I’m dead serious”?
Try 😐 or :-B and maybe 😕
[Ref suddenly remembers that Melvin calls himself the Blue Wizard.]
Fair notice: I’m gonna start calling Melvin “Blue”.
Red: hot. Blue: cool. [What? No! Get that blackbody away from me, nerdboy!]
They’re the perfect complement for each other.
I wonder if Clarance would have blown past a gaming discussion the way Red does here. And if the boys would have ignored the Drama if he had walked in complaining about girls.
Don’t forget Melvin already has a crush.
Not remotely out of my mind–but I also know a crush is not a romance. I also mind myself that Red’s a girl so as to give Blue practice talking to and kissing girls. And that Red’s just a little out of Blue’s league.
There’s a lot of ways to play this. I’m happy to see whatever tack you take.
(It’s not irrelevant that when Red challenged Blue entering his own room without knocking, Blue didn’t back down.)
It true that Melvin already has a crush on a girl, but it a girl he not going to be able to date.
Red definitely out classes both BJ and Melvin for a girlfriend for either. So I expect BJ to be the first one to take after her in the not too distant future.
I expect the popular guys of the school and/or the football players to be chasing Red first, especially after her modelling job hit’ the sense.
Except Red goes to a girl’s school. That may actually give her some protection while she adjusts.
Although I’m certainly looking forward to the scene where Red finds herself approached by a guy a year or two older than she is, someone who isn’t dazzled by her, someone who knows what he wants, and knows what she wants before she does.
“That’ll be an interesting day.”
“knows what she wants before she does” that sounds kinda dangerous. (Red, watch your drink!)
Dangerous indeed–but that’s why you let your parents pick an honorable man for you.
Or at least approve of the one you picked.
Yeah but given what Red’s parents have done so far… Not sure I trust either side on that issue..
Not so sure on that point from what I’ve seen their warped judgement revolves around wanting her as a daughter so they might actually be on the overprotective side of things.
The fact they didn’t allow Red’s drama to entirely interrupt the discussion they were having makes me wonder about whether either of them are really seeing Red as a girl, and if so, whether there is any romantic interest for either of them, directed toward her.
I also wonder if they’re still not quite mature enough to be distracted even by a girl like Red. Stopping Liam is important to them.
Think it could be if they did, their worried she might take it the wrong way and kick their butts?
@BACH-MANN or Luna:
Please, would you add “aka Tiffany, formerly Clarence” or somesuch to Red’s cast profile? (Unless you have specific reasons for not doing so, of course.)
And maybe add Melvin’s “Blue Wizard” nom de guerre as well?
A sound request.
I have updated the cast description but only Melvin thinks himself the Blue Wizard so that is not a part of his name like Red, who wishes to be called Red.
If this is the thread for requests, it would be interesting to have a flashback, maybe no more than a frame, where we actually get to see Red as Clarence. Yeah, we got to see Clarence in Jeannie Bottle, but he was barely a character then, and more crucially, it wasn’t in your comic style. It would just make the fact of Red’s change a little more concrete to me.
I think Red would be referring to how girls treat other when boys aren’t watching. I can’t speak from experience there (though it has to be a trope) but as a survivor of an all-boys Catholic high school, and then several hitches in Uncle Sam’s Canoe club before women went to sea, boys don’t do nearly as well without any girls around.
——
On a completely different subject, I have a couple of suggestions when (or if) Melvin or Evil Liam get last names.
“Kurtzman” would be a good name for Melvin, because Mad Magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman used that name a lot in the early Mads (Melvin!; Melvin of the Apes, et al.)
As for Evil Liam, how about “Canasta?” Steal an image of Nasty Canasta (the Warner Brothers cartoon, not the stripper–although the latter has possiblities of its own–and put it in the background of some frame with Liam. Hey, if C.D. can steal the bypass capacitor from Back to the Future…
All of the main characters have last names. Melvin’s is Clark.
I repeat I am not evil, however I’d be interested in seeing if you can get my middle names in addition to my first and last one.
Make that “how girls treat each other.”
Red will probably wind up with BJ, but it’s a dead cert that Evil Liam will develop an instant crush on her. It would be entirely appropriate if Evil Liam turns out to be the the guy in the first panel of Jeanie Bottle 149 who tries to pick up Red at the dance. It’s the Kuno factor.
No, Liam is not the guy at the dance. Liam is a nerd, like the gang, and that guy beat Red up just the week before.
Leave us the mystery! I love your strip, but I also love the banter back and forth. I like finding out the answers as they are revealed through posts. I love the art and I’m really enjoying the story. Great job!
Mordu, you’re a bad bear…but I like what you say. I have felt the same a couple or three times.
Oh, believe me, there have been many times this month where I wanted to say something contained in an upcoming strip, and there still are. But saying who Liam is not is not a spoiler in my opinion. I won’t mention any more about him, but you will all see him very soon.
It must be difficult to be omnipotent with the ability and will to interact. I enjoy the surprises. The biggest spoiler for me was the Kazom vision. Sometimes, there are many directions in which something can go and if those things are confirmed right off the bat by the Gods, it’s stifling to readers imaginations. Thanks for all the work your team had contributed to keep this coming!
House of the Rising Fun, huh. I’ve heard it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy.
You don’t say. 😉
Actually, I’m pretty proud of myself for thinking it up. I was in bed trying to fall asleep and trying to think up a clever gaming store name when it just came to me. I don’t know why I was thinking of the song “House of the Rising Sun”. I like the song and I like classic rock but I’m more of an 80s girl. Then following the lyrics I quickly realized it would be perfect on many levels. Then came the part of coming up with the owner of such a store. You’ll soon see what we came up with. 🙂
I can’t believe I missed this.
I love the name House of the Rising Fun, noticed it right away. But, I wasn’t as fixated on Red’s skirt.
Red’s condition could be useful in this tournament. Wear something distracting from the clothes her mom got her. Flash some leg, pick something up off the floor…with the right timing their competitors wont remember a thing they planned.
Yeah, I sound like a pig, but they should use the tools they’re given.
Of course that wont help if they’re against a female team. (I don’t know the demographics of this fictional game)
I think it’s way to early for Red to be so calculating in using her charms as a weapon. Calculation aside, she hardly needs to raid the clothes her mom got her. Go to the fan art page, look at her uniform, then tell me she isn’t already wearing something distracting. It’s impossible not to flash leg in that outfit.
How many layers of joke are in the name of that gaming place? I count several, including some innuendos.
Add that hammer logo & you’ve got a few more, including a whack-a-mole ref.
Love the artwork so far. Sort of reminds me of Fred Perry’s work. A couple questions:
1) if this is the chronicles of Melven, why is the black haired guy the face in the name?
2) how much, if any, influence does CD Rudd have on the comic?
The face in the M is Melvin.
CD consults about the cannon of the I Dream of a Jeanie Bottle world. Other than that we have free reign with the characters, stories, and settings.
You can tell it’s Melvin because of the squarish glasses. I assume the black is a mask or cap, something along the lines of that worn by the Dread Pirate Roberts.
The “House” really calls to mind (at least in my mind) a game store in Tacoma, Washington. I remember it was in a nondescript, far-from-new building in a neighborhood which wasn’t exactly a slum yet but definitely could be described as “low-rent.” I bought my very first roleplaying set there–Traveller, not D&D. And in a single-screen theater two blocks away, I saw Star Wars again. And again. And again.
It had been playing there for a year. This was 1978, boys and girls.
So, is it just me or is the shirt design on Melvin deliberately reminiscent of Charlie Brown?
Also, on a separate issue. Some of you guys really worry me with the pervy comments on the Red character. She’s supposed to be a middle school age girl. I know the schoolgirl uniform thing is a trope, but I really can’t get excited over that on such a young girl. It’s creepy, even if she is a cartoon character. I promise I won’t keep harping on this, but seriously guys, get a grip . . .
I, too, thought of Charlie Brown–but I think Melvin is a whole lot more interesting. As much as I enjoyed Peanuts in its heyday, I’ve since come to realize that Charlie Brown was a complete loser. He deserved every breath of Lucy’s scorn. Linus was manlier than he.
Oh, no doubt Charlie Brown was always a loser. That’s sort of why I asked if the visual reference was deliberate. Admittedly, Melvin is a bit less of a schlub than CB. He still may be a bit self-defeating, we’ll see . . .
Melvin’s cast bio identifies him as the informal leader of his gaming group. I am unable to imagine CB as being either a gamer or a leader. He lacked even the imagination to think of himself as a wizard.
We’ll have to wait for BACH-MANN to weigh in, but my guess is no, Melvin’s shirt is not a Charlie Brown homage. CB’s was a single black zig-zag across a yellow shirt. Melvin’s blue on top, red on the bottom, with a zig-zag boundary. It’s more colorful, at least.
As a side point, I hope the kids in this comic change clothes now and again. The character designs are different enough that constant clothing is not necessary to distinguish them.
Once again, B-M’s art is good enough to make yet another anime art trope irrelevant.
The kids in this comic have mothers who make them change their clothes. Adult nerds like Neil who don’t live with their moms wear the same clothes unless and until they get a wife or a girlfriend who throws out the old clothes while the nerds aren’t looking.
If tv had taught me anything sometimes it’s until the clothes get up and walk out on their own.
The question isn’t why do they suck. The question is what do they suck. Ok, I had to say it.