Comics I Don’t Understand

A Tumbleweed Connection? (or: Tats of Thunder)

Cidu Bill on Jul 16th 2008

Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Days of Thunder, Robert Lovely, comic strips, comics, humor, tattoos | 18 responses so far

18 Responses to “A Tumbleweed Connection? (or: Tats of Thunder)”

That's Me Jul 16th 2008 at 01:12 am 1

When I google “Twombly” I get an artist by the name of Cy Twombly who seems to paint abstract art that looks a lot like random splatters of paint on canvas to me. Not like Jackson Pollock, being both messier and more organized all at the same time.

q.v. http://images.google.com/images?q=Cy+Twombly&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
Sari Everna Jul 16th 2008 at 02:47 am 2

Well, if that’s the reference, then that would be what the tattoo parlor is closed, and I suppose that’s the joke. Could’ve used someone more widely known, though.

Looking at some of the images that come up on that search, a few scribbly ones do kind of resemble a tumbleweed. I’m pretty sure it’s just meant as shorthand for “abandoned”, though, and not as another level to the joke.

I actually kind of liked the last one in the first row of that search; silvery scribbles on a dark blue background. I probably wouldn’t like it as much up close, but as “background art”(if that phrase actually means anything), it’s kind of nice.

Didn’t like most of them, though, and that’s pretty much par for the course with me and abstract art. I think I know why, too; if you’re going to call it art, it better at least look like you put effort into creating it, and paint splatters just don’t give me that vibe.
Suzii Jul 16th 2008 at 05:22 am 3

There wasn’t anybody named Twombly in the strip, was there? Deputy Knuckles (his name was Knuckles, wasn’t it?) used to call Our Hero “Tumblyweeds,” and the gravedigger was Wart Wimble, but that’s as close as I can come …

I went to school with a guy named Xander Twombly. He didn’t have any tats.
pepperjackcandy Jul 16th 2008 at 06:48 am 4

I figured that Twombly was the name of the town.
Cindi Jul 16th 2008 at 10:04 am 5

I think you have gone down the wrong path by misspelling the name - the comic reads “Twomely” not “Twombly”.

That being said, I don’t have a single clue about the meaning of this strip. all I can do to add the tumbleweeds to the sound of crickets in my head!
Its Justme Jul 16th 2008 at 10:33 am 6

Cindi, one of us needs to adjust our glasses.
John Jul 16th 2008 at 10:51 am 7

I’m not familiar with the name Twombly (I’m pretty sure that’s a B, not an E, Cindi), but is it by any chance pronounced “tumbly”?
Mark in Boston Jul 16th 2008 at 11:04 am 8

Well, the tattoo parlor is evidently out of business. The window is boarded up and there’s a lock and chain on the door. Does that help? (No.) Is it a ghost town and every store is out of business? Or is it a cowboy town and maybe cowboys don’t get tattoos? Maybe they brand each other with branding irons instead?
It looks like it has a modern glass door. Are we in the 1850’s or when?
BF Jul 16th 2008 at 11:42 am 9

Definitely TwomBly (sorry Cindi). I’m guessing #1&2 have it. If the artist was known for ’scribble scrabble’, as my kids put it, he wouldn’t last long as a tattoo artist. As for the tumbleweed? Who knows. Maybe compounding the problem is it’s a ‘western’ town, and everyone knows cowboys don’t appreciate real art?
Kevin Andresen Jul 16th 2008 at 03:11 pm 10

Once explained by #1, people here are still questioning the tumbleweeds. There seems to be a shift in cultural literacy in the new century.

Tumbleweeds were the universal symbol (in America) for areas no longer visited (be they in Manhattan or Antarctica). It’s similar to hearing crickets in Carnegie Hall when a performance falls flat.

Lovely has imagined an entire ghost town (the origin of the tumbleweed usage) as a sort of meta-image for the effect of such an absolute absence of market interest in Twombly-type tattoos.

And yet, BF’s last question made me laugh so loud it was practically a scream. So maybe I underestimate the appeal to urban youth.
Pinny Jul 16th 2008 at 03:29 pm 11

This is really for CIDU Bill…

I seem to recall reading somewhere on this site (I can’t seem to find it right now) that certain comics will not appear here as they purposely made to be obtuse and defy explanation — i.e., we were not meant to understand them. It is only the ones that would seem to have meaning that will show up here.

With that in mind, I would like to suggest that “Days of Thunder” be moved to that class because they ALL seem to be purposely drawn to defy explanation.

This is consistent with the blurb “About the Comic” page at comics.com:
http://www.comics.com/comics/thunder/html/about_comic.html
“Brain-twisting and often totally absurd, the real joy comes from the drawings. Says Lovely, ‘I’ve always thought there was room on the comics page for something that was just really fun to look at.’”

[Preparing to duck and run for cover…]
Cidu Bill Jul 16th 2008 at 03:35 pm 12

Good point, Pinny, though I don’t think Lovely means he intends his comics to be entirely arbitrary — because almost all of them HAVE been explained here. I’ll consider this before putting more Days of Thunder strips online, though.

The comment you recall refers to strips like Zippy that strive to be “cool” rather than funny: I’m not going to try finding a joke when I know the artist didn’t even try to put one there.
Cindi Jul 16th 2008 at 03:51 pm 13

oopps!

My Bad!

after cleaning my glasses and computer screen - I can now see that the letter is indeed “B” !

So sorry for adding to the ????? of this strip.

~C
JohnRoy Jul 16th 2008 at 04:13 pm 14

How can a publication pay for material like this ???

Did anyone write to Robert Lovely and asked him what the heck he meant by this.

Not only I don’t understand it but it makes me mad LOL
Ollabelle Jul 16th 2008 at 06:02 pm 15

I tried the obvious, and went to robertlovely.com as noted on the comic. To my dismay, it’s not a functional website and is “available.” Anyone have a different result?
Cindi Jul 16th 2008 at 06:53 pm 16

I found him here:

http://rl.joshuadarden.com/

his bio is here:
http://rl.joshuadarden.com/documentation.php

This page hold lots of his art work with links to Days of Thunder and his New Yorker cartoons.

also listed was www.roblovely.com ( also a dead-zone)
Dan Jul 17th 2008 at 08:13 am 17

That’s interesting, Cindi… so basically he’s advertising a site that doesn’t exist, when he actually DOES have another site? Why doesn’t he put that one in his strips? Like his comics, his motives are imperceptible..
bAT L. Jul 17th 2008 at 11:02 pm 18

Strange, he’s had that website after his signature for quite some time. Maybe it’s part of his legal signature like the face in the middle of mine?

I also noticed, in this comic, a bit of assonance (the sounding alike definition, not the one about vowel sounds) between “Twombly” and the word “tumbleweed”. Maybe it’s a comment on how the name and word sound alike, and a situation where they both would show up, which the first and second comments have already come up with.