I first saw Ruben's work in the late 90s when the Washington Post Weekend section started running his weekly strip, Tom the Dancing Bug. And I didn't get it at all. The first strip the Post ran baffled me (I don't remember what it was). But the second strip to run knocked me over and made me laugh out loud, something cartoons rarely do (I don't remember what it was either). Tom the DB always seemed out of place in the Weekend section, a refugee from the alternative papers on the last page of the Post's goings-on-about-town section; its natural habitat would be in the DC City Paper between Shawn Belschwender and Lynda Barry. And not just for its wide-open format, but for its incredibly sharp sense of satire and parody. Tom the DB covers politics, economics, religion, sex, the law, pop culture, etc, etc, with devastating logic and, that rare thing, a truly funny sense of humor.
It's obvious to anyone looking at Ruben's work will notice right away that he's got a fondness for comics of almost any genre. From superhero to talking animal, he can parody them all, but none so well as the newspaper comic strip. So when he agreed to steer Cul de Sac for a week I worried: would Dinkle the Unlovable Loser show up and steal Dill's kidneys? But my fears are probably unfounded. Ruben can write for characters with irony and affection (go see his strips dealing with hapless, clueless middle-schooler Louis Maltby). I think Cul de Sac's in safe hands. And that Dill's-kidneys gag would work great as a Sunday page with Dill's brothers doing the stealing.
Here's one of Ruben's greatest hits from a few years ago, ironically not drawn by him-
5 comments:
Whew! I thought you had sprained your drawing hand. Everything's all better now.
I'm also a RB fan (especially the Louis strips) and he's doing a stunning job with C-d-S this week. It's fun to see other cartoonists views of your characters and I totally support Alice in her Nap Rebellion (Day Care Spring?).
I am by no means denigrating the other guest artists, but I find that so far I'm enjoying Mr. Bolling's take on Cul de Sac the most. He seems to get the whole "gestalt" of the strip on a deeper level perhaps. The Nap Rebellion is perfectly in character for Alice, and Miss Bliss would most definitely have wooly mints in her coat pocket .
Knew something was slightly off with the art! Agree that Alice is still Alice but I too was worried your style had changed and got to admit I'm addicted to the original. Bolling does a good job as a fill in and I would rather have him than a blank space in my comics page!
I immediately looked for your name on today's comic 'cause I knew you didn't draw it. Glad you aren't sick :)
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