Count Curly Wee
It's a two page comic called Count Curly Wee which will be in issue 3 of The Shiznit. It's based on a comic called Count Curly Wee (I'm not changing the name, who's going to sue?Nobody, that's who). Count Curly Wee has been in the Irish Independent for decades and it's weird. Truely cryptic. I bought the Indo 3 days in a row to try get a handle on the characters but it just confused me, still don't know which one is Curly Wee or what's going on. There's no way they're printed in order.The one common thread was a goat in a night gown and the mention of somebody called Gussie Gander, other than that each installment is off on a tangent. I have alot of memories of Count Curly Wee from my childhood, all of them ending in dissapointment.
Up in Brian's house a few months ago and we were discussing plans for issue 3. He has this massive book of the history of comics which he stroked from Blanchardstown Library and there's some gold in it. The old timey comics were so nutty. There was one called 'The Teenie
Weenies boil an egg' where it's just one illustration of all these little dudes boiling an egg. That's it. I found this hilarious and we decided to do an old timey for issue 3. Soon after I found this on Fustar (loads of background info in the comments) and it was decided.
Below is the comic, written by Brian and drawn by me. We are torn on the ending, I'll include his idea and mine, but if YOU (all caps and bold there, so I mean it) can top it please drop me a line.
Fire crackers, fried rice and gambling games,
They arrive over here and take Irish names.
With the amount of refreshment this one yields,
I think I shall call him Paddy Fields.
Here come those chaps; Ahmed and Pedro,
Flogging the Herald AM and The Metro.
Circulation is 55,006,
But is that the papers or the Darkies and Spicks?
Look in that call shop, you see those Blacks?
Dispensers of perfume and towels in the Jacks
I'm sorry ol bean, but you're too late,
That one was already done by The Slate
Look over yonder to that building site,
And feast your eyes on the Turkish “delight”
80 hours of hod and hammer,
2.20 an hour, 300 million for GAMA
Lets rent out a row boat from Row-Land,
That’s sailed by that fellow from Poland.
Rothwell the Pirate skips down to the bank,
Whilst Paddies and Poles alike walked the plank.
--------------------------------------------------
There'll be two more panels, the resolution/punchline. I've done one and Brians done one. This is mine:
But someday this dear celtic tiger wont roar
And hoards of us spongers will again flee the shores
Who’ll then be Our bosses?Yes. You guessed right
We’ll build Polish houses and shovel THEIR shite
And Brian's:
"With jokes about wife beating, voilence and liquor
The count's new work chums tease and snigger,
It took all this time for him to figure,
That he's a green, white and orange nigger!"
If I wasn't responsible for publishing and answering emails/ letterbombs I'd go with the nigger one. But the rest of the story is so racist that I honestly think alot of twits would freak. What to do? The ending should teach the characters a lesson, teach the reader a lesson, make them laugh and absolve us from chrages of inciting racial hatred. You know the drill.
_______________________________________
19 Comments:
I'd say go with the first one. The N word is guaranteed to start a wave of hate, regardless of its intention.
I'd lead it up rhyming with nigger, "snigger, liquor, bigger" but don't use nigger. Am i making sense? Count Curly wee is a horrible waste of newsprint
N-word argument aside, i'd still go for the 1st. I like the full-circle, 'we'll end up doin the same' idea.
Niggers.
Ken o' Brien sez.....I like Brian Kenny's one better!
"But of course this imported servitude can't last,
soon money is gone and its a return to the past,
what's left to to but to catch first flight,
to a toilet in nigeria to provide lollies while they shite."
Just thought I'd have a go, but the first one was the best
Bob sez: Bren you magnificent gent, that verse is deadly and may well be
used. Thanks man! Oh yeah, I forgot to
say above, this comic was all wacom, no ink at all.
If you could make the second one scan better that's the one, no question.
"Oh man, if we could just sneak the lot across the border,
Substitute religious hate with race disorder,
Norn'iron antics would be dead and gone,
They'd be with O'Liziuzayani in the grave!"
The first one gets my vote.
John
Bob sez: Thanks lads. I like the change in that last one but what the fuck is lizizizizlauni?
I think I'd go with the first one too. I don't really have any problem with using the word nigger (in the right place that is) but I think the first one just reads better... great work by the way. Really excellent.
I prefer the nigger ending. Yes it'll make half the readers scream in outrage, but Ireland is so full of politically correct retards who can't tell the difference between humour/satire/reality that I have little pity! And it's funny to see people angry because they can't understand something...
I'd go for the first one, defo.
There are too many idiots out there, some will be agast at the racial slurr and cause no end of hassle, but unfortunatley many will just see the n word and find humour there alone.
I just spent 3 weeks on a poxy builing site, the foreman was a terrible arsehole and also the owner's father. For the first week meself and Andy had to put up with 'bloody foreigners... send them all back' , etc.
Then the dope comes out with 'I couldn't live here all year round any more, not with all these --- (insert racial slurr here)'
I asked where he spends 9 months of the year only to find out the prick has a villa in France and had no idea that to the whole french nation he was merely a Paddy.
Gar (bro)
Bob check your mails, an early response I'll give it more thought later
MK
Great work. I prefer the first ending because it reminds people that just over a decade ago we were rushing over to Germany, England & the U.S. to work in crap jobs and didn't know a latte from liposuction. Has everyone forgotten this?
I have no issues with using the word nigger in the second one, just think first one ties the story up in a better way.
Bob sez: Very poingant Gar. Every one's somebody else's N word. Except the Japanese. Man, Keep all these comments coming,it's really appreciated. I'm considering adding another page to it now.
The first one works lovely. The second is clumsy.
Overall, it's great.
ahh my folks were a reader of the 'indo' or as they quaintly referred to it, 'the paper' and I remeber that count curly wee section with the likes of mandrake, james bond and dennis the menace strips, it's a wonder us Irish folks got into comics at all with that sort of guff, still at least it wasn't as bad as the so-called comics in Ireland's
Own!
great post dude!
The Second ending suggested doesn't really have direct relevance to the rest of the piece, I think if you take yourself out of your Clamnuts guy boots and into the eyes of a total stranger/idiot you'll find that the gut splittingly funny injoke just wont travel well.
I think the first ending is probably about as good a two panel ending as you could have.
It's a tightrope walk either way.
Bob sez: There were comics in ireland's own? Lorcy you're thinking of the Herald, they have mandrake etc, the Independant just has Curly Wee and looks like it always will. Thanks MK too, tis a tightrope alright
Post a Comment
<< Home