[Hi and Lois, August 14, 2010.]
Two years ago, the sight of the Flagston family heading off on vacation with baby Trixie in the front seat of the car turned me into a close reader of Hi and Lois. (Way too close.)
This year Trixie’s been stashed with the tennis racket and football. And the door handles. And the apostrophe. I think Hi means “Lois’ family’s cottage.”
Related reading
All Hi and Lois posts
[Post title with apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney.]
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Baby’s in back
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comments: 9
Hmmmmm . . . I'm not so sure about this -- the apostrophe, that is. While your way would certainly be proper, isn't there an argument to be made that it's OK as it is -- that "family cottage" is a compound noun? (A Google search yields thousands -- no, millions -- of hits.)
I suppose, but it seems odd to me to think of the cottage as belonging to Lois. “Lois’ family cottage” sounds odd to me. But “Lois’ family tree” sounds okay.
(If the execs at Hi-Lo Amalgamated are watching, they must be amused.)
No seat belts. No windshield wipers. No license plate. No hubcaps. No rear view mirror. Do they also drive at night without their lights on?
What timing!
There’s also the strange white plane behind the bicycles. Are they bringing a whiteboard with them? For story ideas?
Are they bringing a whiteboard with them on vacation?
Doesn't everybody?
Oh no! The people only have four fingers on each hand! Cartoons are simplified stylized drawings. They're not trying to teach you waht a car looks like, but evoke a car. In as few lines as possible, because among other reasons newspapers are printing them smaller and smaller.
Yes, and a strip like, say, Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy is beautifully minimalist. The carelessness in 21st-century Hi and Lois makes it easy to go overboard (in fun).
I actually laughed aloud at that "Way too close"! It's true that cartoons visuals are a shorthand; but H&L is downright sloppy. Making it, at last, funny in some way.
I’m convinced that there are several artists ( or “artists”) at work. The Sunday strips, especially the ones that depict the seasons, are sometimes quite beautiful. The daily strips are another matter.
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