Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sad Sack, Misreading, and The Anxiety of Influence

After reading Derf's swell Punk Rock and Trailer Parks (here's a link to my post, and another link to a nice interview), I started thinking about why I was drawn to his work. I mentioned the Don Martin vibe, but the more I thought, the more I found myself thinking about the Sad Sack work of Fred Rhoads and George Baker. Derf's work definitely has a 'Sack vibe, and so I got to thinking about how much I loved those Sad Sack comics in the 70's. I haven's seen any since then, as they don't seem to have gotten the glamorous retro love as of yet. I will posit Sad Sack as an eery harbinger of Arms and Ether. Weird military types, and lots of beat-downs. Compare the above strip by Fred Rhoads with my 21st century effort. (I know, Rhoads kicks my ass.)
Anyhow, hooray, and here's a link to a blog that gets into some of the deeper nuances of Sad Sack. Okay, back to work.

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