Stone Soup by Jan Eliot

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  1. 4deerinmyyard

    4deerinmyyardGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Obviously she’s been reading the comments. [jumps up and down and waves] Hi, Jan! Will you please sign the inside of my screen?

  2. The_JAM

    The_JAM said, 3 months ago

    She does so on every strip :D :D :D

  3. wndrwrthg

    wndrwrthgGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    This is a pleasant surprise.

  4. Kate777

    Kate777 said, 3 months ago

    Hi Jan! love your work, thank you!

  5. treblemaker

    treblemaker said, 3 months ago

    Of course the comics are smaller. You need room for only three walls, now.

  6. freewaydog

    freewaydog said, 3 months ago

    I hope this isn’t the last Stone Soup strip, is it?

  7. hildigunnur

    hildigunnurGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Hi Jan, nice to see you :D Yours is one of my absolute favourite strips, thanks for all the fun!

  8. sarge112751

    sarge112751 said, 3 months ago

    Hi Jan! - The wife and I follow your family daily!! (I see SOOoo much of OUR kids in their escapades!)

    Keep ‘em laughing!!

  9. kcarstens

    kcarstensGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Hi Jan! I love Stone Soup and I too have loved comics since I was a kid. The only trouble with the comics is - I keep changing characters. I started out as one of the kids and now I’m the grandma. Keep up the good work and I love it when grandma acts up a little. I’m always seeing my family in your strip.

  10. eatteaphonenome

    eatteaphonenome said, 3 months ago

    Three rules about jokes

    1) They are suppose to be funny
    2) After the third telling, jokes cease to be funny and become annoying
    3) If you have to break the 4th wall, you’re failing at your art.

    The shrinking comics shtick and last week’s “Gotta love August” borefest both violated rule #1 and proved rule #2. Today you did #3, think about it, Jan.

  11. 3hourtour

    3hourtour said, 3 months ago

    …ask anyone on gocomics..comics are alive & well..the cartoonists on the other hand are eating saltines with water-tap water-unfiltered and the satines aren’t even name brand..and they’re stale..no crunch left..I read them for free so that the art will come first…crunchy saltines,the next thing you know the cartoonist will start doing repeats..that’s what happened to Calvin & Hobbes and The Boondocks and Foxtrot and Preteena and..well,let’s just say we should keep cartoonists on stale crackers and tap water for the good of all that’s comics…

  12. eternal

    eternalGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Nice to see a rendition of you Jan and I agree with your views on this issue. Comics are the best part of any paper and online versions are the first part of my morning. I hope someone on high heard you and might see it in their hearts to let comics go back to a larger size.

  13. Bob

    Bob said, 3 months ago

    Ooooh….Jan looks like she could be hot in real life. I dig the librarian look! :)

  14. Macushlalondra

    MacushlalondraGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Looks like Jan is writing Val to be a bit like herself. In fan fiction they call that a Mary Sue.

  15. pearlandpeach

    pearlandpeach said, 3 months ago

    wonderful comic…started reading it in the Seattle P-I; still do, read it twice.

    Jan keep doing what you do….ignore people like “eattea”, mean remarks not needed.

  16. Swisspineapple

    Swisspineapple said, 3 months ago

    i luv it!! i luv the comic you!
    ‘ve been enjoying your strips since grade school.
    they make my days! :)

    keep ‘em comin’!!
    xoxo

  17. camelsamba2

    camelsamba2 said, 3 months ago

    Maybe she does read the comments, but aren’t comic strips drawn and submitted something like 6 weeks in advance, to simplify the syndication logistics? That is, I doubt Jan’s comic-persona appearance in this strip is in response to comments that have appeared this week.

  18. PNmom06

    PNmom06 said, 3 months ago

    I thought it was fun to see Jan in the strip! and I thoroughly enjoy the “Ya Gotta love August” strips.

  19. James Riendeau

    James RiendeauGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Head on over to Jan’s blog to find pictures of her. You might have to scroll down a bit:

    http://www.stonesoupcartoons.com/

    You’ll also find out what inspired this series of cartoons.

  20. fritzoid

    fritzoid said, 3 months ago

    eatteaphonenome -

    Why is breaking the fourth wall indicative of failure? It’s a device that goes back at least to classical Greek theater, and has been used regularly in all sorts of media throughout history. The pinnacle of artistic achievement (in my opinion), Shakespeare’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy, is often presented as breaking the 4th wall, when/if the actor playing Hamlet delivers his lines directly to the audience.

    Besides, what we have here is not simply a 4th-wall gag, the term is called “author intrusion”, and it can be very effective. Michaelangelo painted himself as a flayed skin on his Judgment Day painting. Kurt Vonnegut wrote himself into “Breakfast of Champions” as the creator of the events being told (seriously freaking out Kilgore Trout). Comics strips in particular have OFTEN had visitations by their creators, going back to Winsor McKay.

  21. dapperdan61

    dapperdan61Genius_badge said, 3 months ago

    The 4th wall is broken quite frequently with Overboard, Pearls Before Swine & Piranha Club to name a few. I decided to join the Genius membership to help in a small way to keep the comics we all love to read. For those who read Rudy Park last week they literally went dark to say financially they may need to stop the strip after being around for a decade. There looking for ways to stay afloat as many newspapers including the Seattle P-I stop printing

  22. lightenup

    lightenup said, 3 months ago

    Yes, I LOVE your comic also, Jan!! You make our ordinary lives seem entertaining, and you know how to say what I struggle to put into words. Thank you!! I subscribe to our local newspaper only for the comics, and think that it’s a shame that print papers are going out of business (BTW, I’m under 40).

  23. nighthawks

    nighthawksGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    hey, this is not the place for your right wing rants

  24. Dry

    DryGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Thanks Jan, for all you do! Enjoyed “seeing” you today, and ignore the jerks who posted above!

  25. Burgundy2

    Burgundy2 said, 3 months ago

    Wonderful to meet you, Jan!

    Drystyha I second that!

    As mentioned before, Overboard often “breaks the 4th wall” and they are often the funniest strips!

    Strips like today’s give us more of a connection with the artist.

  26. Fairportfan

    Fairportfan said, 3 months ago

    eatteaphonenome said

    Three rules about jokes

    1) They are suppose to be funny
    *2) After the third telling, jokes cease to be funny and become annoying *
    3) If you have to break the 4th wall, you’re failing at your art.

    The shrinking comics shtick and last week’s “Gotta love August” borefest both violated rule #1 and proved rule #2. Today you did #3, think about it, Jan.

    Rule #1 has some validity, the others, like “Don’t split infinitives” and “Never use a preposition to end a sentence”, are hard prescriptives laid down by people with no imagination.

    Someone who has never watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or failed to take that film’s most important punchline to heart: “Only when it’s funny.”

    If you don’t find like the way this strip operates, why don’t you read Beetle Bailey - it only violates Rule #1.

    Macushlalondra said

    Looks like Jan is writing Val to be a bit like herself. In fan fiction they call that a Mary Sue.

    No, a Mary Sue is when the character who saves the day and wins the love of the Gallant Captain (or the Alien Science Officer) is based on the author. Basing the leads on yourself is something entirely different.

    camelsamba2 said

    Maybe she does read the comments, but aren’t comic strips drawn and submitted something like 6 weeks in advance, to simplify the syndication logistics?

    Two weeks to two months, i think, for print - it varies. There are exceptions and timing can vary. Apparently Brooke McEldowney submits the Sunday pages for 9 Chickweed Lane a month or moe in advance, but the dailies are only two weeks ahead. (He does Pibgorn the day before it runs, but it’s online only.)

    Foxtrot featured the first comic-strip reaction to 9/11 that i saw, on 9/24 {http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/ft/2001/ft010924.gif}, i think, which indicates a two-week lead-time there. (And, not knowing it was a 9/11 reference, what would you make of that strip?)

    The_JAM said

    Maybe the artists union should ask the Obamessiah for a bailout. Those seem to be rather popular as of late.

    Go peddle your papers on Fatso or Whiney Sean’s radio programs.

    What do you political trolls (and that includes far-Left types too) do, read all the comics to find ones you can, somehow, manage to relate (in your own heads) to your political obsessions?

    I have a friend here in Atlanta who writes movie reviews for a local publication. Every one he writes reveals how the movie in question is part of the Evil Hollywood Plot To Destroy The True America.

  27. Ajax4Hire

    Ajax4Hire said, 3 months ago

    Shinking comic strips don’t play well out here in the real world on the internet.

    You can deny the wave but it is still coming.
    You can only ride the wave of the future for so long before it rolls you under. Swim back up, get on your board and ride the next big on. Cowabunga, tubular and Rock-On.

  28. Doctor Toon

    Doctor ToonGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Good one today and good series.
    If the cartoonists don’t draw attention to the shrinking size and number of comics in the newspaper, who will?

  29. Tiphenie Montes

    Tiphenie MontesGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    Thanks Jan, it’s always good to “see” you.

  30. Ushindi

    UshindiGenius_badge said, 3 months ago

    James R: Thanks for the link- it was very informative, to say the least (Jan - “No Boobs On Sunday” - LOL). I knew, of course, the comics had been downsized, but hadn’t realized just how MUCH.

    Jan: I think you must realize how many dedicated fans you have, that read and appreciate Stone Soup every day. Thank you very much.

  31. lectrice

    lectrice said, 3 months ago

    Heh, I actually think this is funny. Breaking the 4th wall here isn’t done very often, and when it is done, I think it is done effectively. Jan is definitely protesting within the comic medium here.

    There is no Mary Suism going on here…Val is cracking jokes about Jan, here! Every writer uses themselves to some degree in creating characters. It’s when they start breaking the laws of human interaction in their favor that they start becoming Mary Sues.

  32. kab2rb

    kab2rb said, 3 months ago

    Our local paper does not carry Stone Soup. I only started this a year ago and find it really relates. Although my own mom is nothing like daughters mom on the strip.
    Also the paper started shrinking and has laid off editors and moved the comics strips. The economy has taken a major tole on everything. For customer service the ones who worked there where let go and India gained the contract.
    I am glad also the creator has got in on the scheem of downsizing.

  33. NoBrandName

    NoBrandName said, 3 months ago

    Don’t ya just hate it when you step into your created world in order to make a point but one of your fictional characters keeps interrupting your speech and your train of thought with their thought balloons?

  34. habamom

    habamom said, 3 months ago

    I wish I could buy a newspaper with JUST comics, and maybe the local ads (Target, Cub, etc).

  35. Calista

    Calista said, 3 months ago

    habamom, I agree, except I like Annie’s Mailbox too. It would have to have that.

    Stone Soup is my favorite. I buy all the books too, so I can read any strip again any time I want.

  36. RinaFarina

    RinaFarina said, 3 months ago

    Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! Glad to see you!! Yours is my MOST FAVOURITE comic strip! Keep it up!!!

  37. IncredibleWerekitty

    IncredibleWerekitty said, 3 months ago

    Hate to say it, Jam, but you pulled a RH.