MythTickle by Justin Thompson for May 07, 2010

And the dead too shall laugh. Though I’m not so sure about that mummy over there.

I get it.

S eptic T ank

Very good Joe M

Imhotep–the first named artistic genius (Dyn. III), who became a god! Anubis is so easily amused!

I’m glad I figured out the sign myself before scrolling down to see Joe Minotaur’s revelation. Just for the record.

I seem to be the first one, though, to note the ankh combined with the Mars symbol on the uni-whatever outhouse. :P

That is just male and female which indicates unisex facilities

The sign at the bottom right, 4th panel. S eptic T ankh.

That’s where you leave your ka-ka.

Jo Jo said, 20 minutes ago

That’s where you leave your ka-ka.

Ba-ad.

Check the symbol on the door again.

It’s the ankh and Mars/male symbols superimposed. Symbols for Venus/Female has the cross bar lower and not touching the circle.

Phew! It smells like something died in there!

Im-Hotep is one really Charmin’ guy…

Baslim I saw the Wiki article too, but I don’t remember the Ankh ever being used to represent Venus/Female. I don’t think the Egyptians used it that way.

Would I be wrong in inferring that J.T. is showing some influence from Vaughn Bode? There’s something very Cheech Wizard-ish about the way Boody and Anubis are walking.

Joe Minotaur said, about 7 hours ago

Baslim I saw the Wiki article too, but I don’t remember the Ankh ever being used to represent Venus/Female. I don’t think the Egyptians used it that way.

The Ankh is a symbol of life, and yes, it was also occasionally used to symbolize woman as the giver of life.

Re: Door sign. I think we need a ruling from Justin on this one. Until then, I bow to those with knowledge greater than my own.

runar–though I can’t recall Justin ever making an explicit statement, it seems fairly obvious from the strip that he’s been influenced by Bode’s work. There were a couple strips back a few months ago in which we saw the studio of “Cartoonista El Jefe” (the artist, in other words), and there was a stuffed Cheech Wizard on the shelf in the background. Some of the other characters (particularly Dziva) also show a similarity to the Bode style.

However, as you can see from the first panel’s background detail (and other details that appear throughout the strip), there are a lot of other influences operating in this strip.

Hey, it’s art. Everybody influences everybody else, and it’s all good in the end…

Yeah. I remember, though, that that uplifted-foot walking style was very characteristic. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Bode is someone worth emulating.

I’ve said it many times, Vaughn Bode is my favorite cartoonist of all time, his work made me want to be a cartoonist back when I first saw it- I must have been about 12 years old. Now I know his son Mark and have even palled around with him. I try not to be too Bode’-y but some things just come out. The Ankh thing: It’s just an ankh on the door of the restroom. The little arrow makes it a male symbol on top of the Ankh staff. It’s just supposed to denote “men’s room”. Nothing major, just a silly little gag.

But effective. :)

Sysiphos–Imhotep is also the architect/engineer to be named in history (he designed and built the first pyramids). This, too, had something to do with his promotion…

That’s what I thought, Justin–but I had some doubts about it being unisex…