036: A Farewell to Arms
April 24, 2023
The first pop culture reference of course had to be the King of Pop. I actually laboured over doing any kind of pop culture references any all. Some of my favourite comics do (Bloom County) and some of my favourite comics don’t (Calvin & Hobbs). But I feel like it’s a conscious choice on the part of the writer.
I don’t like the idea of the comics becoming dated over time. I think the best jokes don’t need a Game of Thrones reference. Good humour is supposed to be (mostly) universal. But there are cases where topical comics work quite well for the audience, especially as a daily comic strip. I find re-reading old comics with references to George Bush kind of quaint now.
I feel like I will use references that are either of a certain period (depending on the character…), or ubiquitous. Everyone knows Michael Jackson. If you’re super keen you will notice the Goonies reference hidden in that reference! META-references!
