Pibgorn by Brooke McEldowney

Tags: Bye bye, Tommy boy., Come on Tom - give Dru a great big hug., He might ENJOY pure hell!, Mount Saint Drusilla - kaBOOM, what happens when you DONT throw a virign into the volcano. Add Tags

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fear-ciuil said, 9 months ago

If you would like to

‘favorite’ the strip,

(and maybe the sketch, too), simply log in and click on the ‘Favorite’ star directly above the strip. Mr. McEldowney very kindly asked for us what purpose is served by favoriting, and this was the answer:
I asked my editor at Gocomics about the purpose of “favoriting” a strip. Her answer was this: “‘Favoriting’ allows people following you to see what comics you like. ‘Favorited’ comics also show up under your profile, and allow us to see what comics people are enjoying.”
Basically, I think it provides a method for spreading the word.
Brooke

ccdesan has been kind enough to provide several resources:
Pibgorn in-depth background info, strip history, synopsis of story arcs, etc.
• http://home.comcast.net/~ccdesan/Pibgorn/Pibgorn.html

9 Chickweed Lane in-depth background info, strip history, synopsis of story arcs, etc.
• http://home.comcast.net/~ccdesan/Chickweed/Chickweed.html

GoComics comments posting guide to special formatting: italic, bold, indents, large fonts, etc.
• http://home.comcast.net/~ccdesan/Pibgorn/StyleGuide.html

fairportfan has samples and a guide for converting 2D comics to 3D and for “flicker” comparisons:
3D conversions of a couple of Pibgorn panels, go to:
• http://electronictiger.net/stereo/dru.htm
How to Commit 3D - quick-and-dirty guide for stereo images:
• http://electronictiger.net/stereo/demo.htm
Index of “flicker” images:
• http://electronictiger.net/avail/flick/
Flicker Picture Tutorial:
• http://electronictiger.net/avail/how2

Joe_Minotaur has a number of fan fictions based upon Pibgorn and TV police dramas:
• http://home.earthlink.net/~joeminotaur (start reading at the bottom of the page!)

Free registration to participate in a forum dedicated to Brooke McEldowny’s work:
• http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=568 [link to forum]
• http://marmoe.livejournal.com/34590.html [for registration assistance]

Brooke McEldowney info at:
• http://officialpibgorn.livejournal.com/ [Brooke’s Pibgorn blog]
• http://chickweedcafe.blogspot.com/ [Brooke’s Chickweed blog]
• http://www.wuky.org/tonicarchivesvisual [WUKY NPR interview (audio)]
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_McEldowney

Come one and come all, de-lurk and join in!
Add your own voice to our great, joyous din!
Just one bit of wisdom ere joining our game:
Read the comments! All of them! Or you’ll miss something! (Shame!)
(No trolls need apply.)

Today’s 9 Chickweed Lane can be found at:
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2009%2F1%2F30&name=9_Chickweed_Lane
An index of old 9 Chickweed Lane strips, 2001-present, can be found at:
http://www.comicstriparchive.com/9_Chickweed_Lane/
Margueritem said, 9 months ago

Tom T. is getting his just punishment. Hooray! Any thoughts on the third panel? Looks like the side of a volcano exploding to me.
fear-ciuil said, 9 months ago

Tom at least has the sense to look scared.
debra4life50 said, 9 months ago

But, you know what…just like a bad penny, Tom will be back again to cause pain and suffering to DruPib Inc. You just can’t keep him down.
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago

comment #1:
Sketch, but no finished art yet.
Gentle? Gentle as a train wreck!
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago

Comment#2:
Sh-h-h Tom, don’t talk. It will all be over soon.
The Old Wolf said, 9 months ago

Repost from yastiddy:

Splut!

OK, Tom’s been paid for this round. But I’m sure we’ll see him again in another exciting adventure.

Meanwhile, you heart-stoppingly gorgeous hunk of obsidian and garnet, go get Pib!
debra4life50 said, 9 months ago

Looks like Dru punched through the floor of the gameshow set and plunged Tommy boy into a bath of lava.
Sisyphos said, 9 months ago

TomT torn to shreds by Dru’s mighty wrath, and the gory bits ejected!
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago

Comment #3:
Are the servers fixed?
johndrake said, 9 months ago

his suit did look like it needed to be pressed.
wndrwrthg said, 9 months ago

Be gentle? It’s not like it’s his first time.
The Old Wolf said, 9 months ago

Special treat for the late-night chatters: Madeleines authentiques, made in genuine moulds from France, with a special receipe from Normandie, and a piping-hot pot of tea.

In search of lost time…
Mikkail said, 9 months ago

At least Tom’s shirt is scared white…
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago
Comment #5:
Off to bed.
9CWL: Why would Amos be holding onto that? In his suit?
Is it this one?
- Humour-in-Dutch-Culture-of-the-Golden-Age-by-Rudolf M. Dekker?
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago

Comment #4:
Now, I have the art!
Hell has a new window onto the world.
ejcapulet said, 9 months ago

Asking a succubus if she’s going to be gentle is like asking a shark if it likes to swim.
ejcapulet said, 9 months ago

Apparently, there IS such thing as a stupid question.
fear-ciuil said, 9 months ago

Joe’s link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Humour-in-Dutch-Culture-of-the-Golden-Age-by-Rudolf_W0QQitemZ220342220861QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item220342220861&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
Gweedo Murray said, 9 months ago

I can hardly take delight in Tommy boy’s destruction knowing that he’ll be back for the centillionth (European) episode of whatever that .crappy show with the contract he can’t get out of is. Can’t she do this guy once and for good ?! Maybe she needs to eats her spinichk.
TheSkulker said, 9 months ago

Here’s another view of the Washington Mall - very zoomable

http://tinyurl.com/WashMall

Re the gigapan view, anybody else notice that you can read the notes on the band’s sheet music?

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c
Sisyphos said, 9 months ago

9CWL: I’m assuming part of the gag is the size of the BIG Book of Dutch Humour (obviously not a US edition, by the way, judging by the British u in humo[u]r). So, the Dutch are rather humorless? (rhetorical question, not my experience)
TheSkulker said, 9 months ago

ccdesan and *Joe_M
More questions for Brooke:

Is he or will he replace the 9CWL strips from Sep 15 thru Oct 25, 2008
   with the original B&Ws? (They are still colored on comics.com)
Can he and will he replace the missing archive 9CWL strips (mostly 2006
   but a few missing in other years - see Jan 21 pg 3 post for details)?

Questions for The Snark:

Her style is quite similar to that of Dave Barry’s.
   Does she read Dave Barry?
   Has he been an influence in her writing?
   Does she talk in the same way she writes?
   Will she continue to blog after she graduates?

On a more personal note:
   What was it like growing up with her father?
   Did she get her vocabulary & love of words from him?
   Does she like to draw?
   Did she ever think about drawing a comic?
   Did/does Brooke ever discuss plot lines with her?
   In what ways did Brooke influence her career?

ccdesan I posted some questions to you yesterday on page 3 re your avatar.
Did you see them?
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago
Sorry for the delay:
- The Questions for Brooke McEldowney
Background/General:
What was your profession before you started drawing your comic strips?
Did you have any formal training as an illustrator?
Do you use a computer program to draw, letter or color your strips? Have you had problems keeping up with advances in technology(Software/Hardware)?
Do you put yourself or The Snark into your comics?
Do you use models(live, dolls, dogs, cats, friends, relatives)?
Are any of your characters based on anyone you know?
How much time do you set aside each day/week to draw the strips?
How much lead time is there between the deadline for submitting the strips and publication(9 Chickweed Lane/Pibgorn)?
Did you teach music? Do you listen to music when you are drawing? If so, what kind?
Was Wahoo Terminal your first attempt at a syndicated comic strip?
What was the idea behind it? What was it’s storyline/plot?
Do you think that it is important for your characters to develop both physically and emotionally?
Do you think the strips are more popular now than they were in the past?
Do you think that comic strip forums and comment sections have any influence on your strips? Do you read them or try to avoid them to keep them from influencing your work?
Are you familiar with the stories, jokes and song parodies that have been posted to the comments sight?
Do you follow any daily strips or online comics? Who is/was your favorite artist?
Will we see posters of the original art for sale? Other character goods?
Will there be more books released? Offered as .pdf?
Is a movie or TV series(live or animated) based on Pibgorn or 9 Chickweed Lane on the horizon?

9 Chickweed Lane:
Will we see the strips that predate those on comics.com? Houston Chronicle?
Was it always the plan to have Amos and Edda get married, or was another male character originally destined to become Edda’s husband?
Are Elliot and Juliette legally married(as far as being comic strip characters go)?
Seth and Mark both seem to be easily accepted for their being openly gay by Edda and Amos. Is this an important issue for you?
It appears that Amos and Edda won the Concours Forrestier International competition together. Is it normal that accompanists do not share the prize won by the lead musician?
Is Ms Yuan based on a Chinese cellist that you know or have heard play?
Have you competed as an amature/professional musician?

Pibgorn:
As you stated, your fairies and demons can be found wearing nothing but their natural coloring. You do not, however, draw your characters to be anatomically correct. Do you find that censorship, whether self-inposed or enforced by a syndicate editor, has an effect on the finished drawing?
Are all strips submitted for approval prior to publishing?
Have you been surprised by what has been approved/denied for publication?
Have we seen the end of Spitcock? Satori? Henmellyn?
Will there be another crossover story between 9 Chickweed Lane and Pibgorn?
It appears that the current story arc: Lena the Terrible, takes place in a very short time span. Is Roger and Lena’s mom still making supper?

Questions from TAC:
What type of tools do you use to create his strips (what type of pens, what programs, etc.)
Do you have a favorite recipe for the couch that you’d like to share?
How much of a story arc do you have plotted out ahead of time? Do some of the sudden twists hit you in mid-arc and run things out longer? Have you ever had a major change in a plot in the middle of an arc?
Do you ever use models for your sketches? If so, are they actual people or other artwork?
Is your wife jealous of Dru?

The next two are similar but different…
With which character do you share the most similarities? The highly intelligent, artistic, sassy and multi-talented, yet subtly egotistical and flawed Edda, or Amos, the questioning, logical, extremely intelligent musician, his excellence fueled by his passion, emotion and purity of spirit?
Which characters do you identify with the most? Which personality aspects do you identify with, and in what ways? Are there character traits that you wish upon your characters from yourself, and what sort of traits do your characters have that you use as examples to live up to?
How did the concept of Pib & Co come to be - i mean, we’ve seen how it developed - but where did it come from?
How do you come up with all those big words that you use?
What and When will be the next release from PibPress?
When will be begin to see book releases of 9CWL?
Another 9CWL question – will Amos and Edda send their children to the same Catholic school they went to?
Will their first daughter also fantasize about being a super hero?
Didn’t Amos get kissed and full body hugged by Pibgorn in an early panel? Might be a nice crossover story arc if, like Peter Pan coming to visit Wendy’s children, Pibgorn showed up to visit their children.
From the Confusion Couch:
Do you have any special messages for the fans at the Pibgorn/9 Chickweed Lane comment sights?
Has MrMcE ever gotten a story idea that he started, got partway through and didn’t know how to finish? Ever had a story that sounded good in his head, but looked awful once drawn? If so, did they make it to the page (and if so would he share with us which ones they are?) If not, does he keep ‘em in a file or something hoping to “fix” em sooner or later?
AKHenderson said, 9 months ago

And now, the Final Jeopardy round.
Joe Minotaur said, 9 months ago

Got your questions, Skulker.
ejcapulet said, 9 months ago

Oopsie! I meant to say “Asking a succubus if she’s going to be gentle is like asking a shark if it likes to FLY” - ugh! I’m having a low salt, low fat, low brains kind of day.
GrumpyOldbear said, 9 months ago

Safe trip Joe & cc.
.
Night all
Margueritem said, 9 months ago

Yes, Safe trip to the both of you. Can’t wait to see the visual record.
Adrienne Gormley said, 9 months ago

You do see that Dru is landing with one knee leading the way. If I were Tom, I’d be screaming in pain BEFORE she made contact.
fear-ciuil said, 9 months ago

TheSkulker said:
Here’s another view of the Washington Mall - very zoomable
http://tinyurl.com/WashMall

Ooh … and if you drag the little guy in the upper left corner to a street, you can “walk around” inside the map! Very cool!
Sisyphos said, 9 months ago

But, Adrienne, looking at the orientation of that delightful little cabbage that is Tom’s embedded head in panel 2, it seems to me that her knee isn’t coming down into his tender bits, much as we might like it to be. She appears to be touching down to the cracked ground beside where Tom has been planted, the better to leverage fierce blows with her fists….
LLeRay said, 9 months ago

I guess this color scheme is more or less permanent for Dru.

johndrake mentioned that “his suit did look like it needed to be pressed.” I don’t think Dru will be using too much starch.
Gweedo Murray said, 9 months ago

Tom Toles is doing the ring thing too…but with different results.
http://tinyurl.com/c7cje4
Sisyphos said, 9 months ago

Belated thanks to bmonk for linking TheScreamOnline, which I bookmarked, inasmuch as it looks interesting.

Bon voyage/kalo taxidi to ccdesan and Joe_Minotaur, our reps at NYComCon and envoys to Honorable Master!
Fairportfan said, 9 months ago

Does anyone else feel as if Brooke might have forgotten toink and colour a teeny little something?
baslim_the_begger said, 9 months ago

Mikkail: good call on the shirt.
The manufacturer must have used one of those colors that run…
Fly Guy said, 9 months ago

@Joe M. & CC,
That list of questions could easily take a day to cover. Some of those seemingly easy ‘yes/no’
?’s could take paragraphs to answer. The list may have to be pared down 50% (or 90%) to be
handled in a hour and half.
Now my additional ?’s for B & N McE.
Have you ever met the Bushes. (they appear to live a few miles from Kennebunkport, ME.)
Nicola, Do you plan to study in Europe eventually? Do you have ANY musical talent?
Brooke, you handled the latest deadline crisis very well. Do you anticipate a sabbatical for while
to relieve the pressures of a deadline? Or, do you relish working with (or against) the syndicate?
*
Good Luck in NYC and safe returns
Fly Guy said, 9 months ago

9CWL, If that’s an original edition, it may be very valuable.
Now, where did Amos get it?
BJamesB86 said, 9 months ago

He’s been asking for it.
WoodGracie said, 9 months ago

JOe- Questions: What does Mr McE think about our couch of confusion? Does he enjoy our discussions? Off topic and /or on topic?
Are there any times when Brooke just likes to be silly?

Have a great trip and visit to both of you! Thanks for all the effort!

Just for fun I wonder if you would be able to get a shot of him on a couch! Of course he would have to be eating or drinking something! Holding a towel maybe??
SirMirom said, 9 months ago

The only question I can think of is for The Snark… Namely, “Does it creep you out that your dad draws and writes about nekked demons who are the epitome of male fantasies (something you don’t like to think of YOUR DAD being into)?”
TheSkulker said, 9 months ago

Joe_Minotaur says:
Got your questions, Skulker.

Thanks - here’s a couple more:

What does Brooke think of the software that is used to create the manga style strips
such as Dreamland Chronicles, Challenges of Zona or Phoenix Requiem?
   http://www.soulgeek.com/comics/zona/
   http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com
   http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php

Has he/will he ever planned on using that type of software himself? (I hope not - his art is so much better.)

Both of you - have a good trip, have fun and don’t get caught! See the Guggenheim Museum and see some theater. There ought to be some good seats available in some good shows.
TheSkulker said, 9 months ago

fearciuil says:
   TheSkulker said:
   Here’s another view of the Washington Mall - very zoomable
   http://tinyurl.com/WashMall
Ooh … and if you drag the little guy in the upper left corner to a street, you can “walk
around” inside the map! Very cool!

Wow. So I tool a “walk” down Independence Ave and identified the building
in the gigapan view with the people on top. This time I noticed the man in the
upper window wearing a white shirt and tie - no jacket. A 1/4 mile away!
(It’s the Rayburn House Office Building)

BTW Here’s the Map of the Capitol Complex: http://www.aoc.gov/cc/cc_map.cfm
Gunnr said, 9 months ago

I would bet that the bent knee in question is indeed aimed squarely at “that certain part of the male anatomy” (to coin a phrase). If I was Dru, and as angry as she likely is, that’s where I’d aim. I think the perspective/angle in that center panel is deliberately a little cattywompus in order to slide it under the censorial radar. As for Dru deliberately missing an opportunity to inflict GBH on Terrible Tom? Yeah, like that’ll happen.
The Old Wolf said, 9 months ago

@Skulker: Sorry! Missed your questions from Wednesday, I’m glad you rattled my chain.

>But why is it not signed? Surely such a skilled artist should sign his/her work!
The sketch is a study for a paid commission which - due to the vicissitudes and vagaries of life in Finland - has yet to be completed. But I’m patient.
>You have at least three wonderful drawings created for you by skilled artists. It speaks well of you that these artists would create such works of art for you. Are they all on your web site?
Well, they weren’t… but they are now.

http://tinyurl.com/OldWolfArt

The snarling wolf avatar is from a painting by DarkNatasha, which is beautiful but comes from a generic print which was purchased for me by a friend.
Fairportfan said, 9 months ago

baslimthebegger says:

“Mikkail: good call on the shirt.
“The manufacturer must have used one of those colors that run…”

I’d run, too, if i saw something like that coming at me.
pibfanbrux said, 9 months ago

Sysyphos: Having been married to a Dutchman for 10 years now I think I can say that they are not humorless, it’s just that their sense of humor is rather unique! ;-)
Story Teller said, 9 months ago

johndrake says: “his suit did look like it needed to be pressed.”

It got pressed.

(Love the handle & avatar, BTW)
TiggerLeBounce said, 9 months ago

Woo! Don’t make Dru Angry! You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry!

Go Get’em!