Comments on: Buzzkill of the Month

By: John Forgetta

John Forgetta — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:01:50 +0000

First of all, I can’t believe how many people watched “Molly Dodd,” I thought I was one of a few. Secondly, you’re all definitely making a good point about Drew. I really like the idea of her feeling guilty because she was texting. I will pursue that story arc. Thanks, everyone, for the help!

By: Danny Boy (London Derriere)

Danny Boy (London Derriere) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:03:54 +0000

John, thanks for doing “Lila”, and for adding your positive-toned remarks to this discussion. There was actually a second branch to this recent commentary, at http://comicsidontunderstand.com/wordpress/2010/05/14/the-meanness-of-lila/#comments , though that got onto some odd tangents.

Lila the character reminds me of some particular real-life characters at offices I’ve worked in. I have to confess I have more sympathy for the fictional character than some of the real-life ones; but that’s mostly the narrative effect — you give us slices of her inner life and her time away from the bosses and rules and squares, that we may miss seeing in real life without the effort of projective imagination.

I agree with George P just above, and others earlier in the thread, that “Drew still needs to deal with her responsibility for the accident”. For me, that doesn’t mean she has to be upbraided, and in the current strips it’s good to see Lila being purely supportive. (While struggling with reporting on Tad.) But maybe Drew could on her own say something?

By: George P

George P — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:59:48 +0000

Of course we remember the show. When I first watched Fringe it took me a while to recognize Blair Brown, given the, um, passage of time, but I eventually did.

Drew still needs to deal with her responsibility for the accident.

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:32:43 +0000

Molly Dodd/ Blair Brown - very cool ladies and the show was wonderfully written. Loved that funky music in the opening. I’m not sure if I had a crush on Molly Dodd or wanted to be Molly Dodd, but the show was a joy to watch.

By: John Forgetta

John Forgetta — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:17:17 +0000

I can’t believe you know that show! Very cool

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:54:27 +0000

John - I, for one, thank you for your insights. I have occasionally read your blog and from what you have written I don’t feel you takes issues too lightly or burden readers with too much dreariness. You’re not a Winkerbean. I’m still interested in seeing where your strip is going and if you can approach some of the genius of “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” I’ll be happy.

By: John Forgetta

John Forgetta — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:38:11 +0000

Sorry I missed this discussion stream. In case anyone comes back to this, I thought I’d respond… I’m extremely impressed with what was said and appreciate the analysis, debate, and commentary. I definitely don’t want “Lila” to be a serious strip or a funny strip that sometimes tackles serious issues in a serious way. To me, there’s nothing worse than sitting down to watch a sitcom only to find that this time, it’s serious and sad. I want “Lila” to talk about real life issues and be about today’s world, but I always want it to be lighthearted and when possible, make people laugh. After all, even in the toughest times, humor is the best medicine. I’m frustrated by how dated so many cartoons are, how irrelevant they seem to real life, or just how silly they are, which is why I wrote Lila to hopefully be real and funny and now. I’m aware that the strip is not for everyone. My inspiration for the strip was “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “That Girl,” and “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” As you can see, these are all TV shows. Very few comic strips inspire me, which is why I started “Lila.” Thank you all for reading “Lila” at one time or another and for your great insights. I truly appreciate it and will do my best to keep current readers engaged and smiling. — John

By: todd

todd — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:53:22 +0000

According to a woman who wrote into Ann Landers or Dear Abby, the last thing a woman who just lost her unborn baby wants to hear is any kind of “you can still have another one” comments.

By: FeelinOld

FeelinOld — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:04:29 +0000

Elyrest: Agree, Lila is always a bit dark, and this isn’t really out of character, but I wish Drew would get a clue about Tad already.

Pagers: Hate ‘em one company I worked for used a couple of them that got rotated to whatever poor sucker was stuck on call. My company doesn’t use them, but the Docs we work with do as Cell phones seem to be blocked in the Hospitals. I quite often see a Doctor get paged then head for the glassed in walkway between wings and stand there using her cell phone because there is service.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:28:54 +0000

Bill, I appreciate your opinion, but these strips moved into seriousness while maintaining the irony of awful things happening to shallow people. I found it fairly witty, and, most of the time, straddling nicely the quotidian & the tragic.