This week's panel suggested by David Bedno and Lee K. Seitz.


"...not the sharpest pencil in the box." --David Leonard

Not much to say this week except: Good job! I like this string.

FYI, Anonymous' Lazy-Boy panel was a close runner-up this week.

As always, suggestions are listed in the order they were received. Thanks for playing and please join us again next Sunday!

--Scott
Sunday 05/02/1999



frank episale

  • repeat panel, only without dialogue bubble.

    :-)


Greg Lam

    This week's winner was hilarious.

  • Carl, breaks character and looks directly at us, the audience. Says: "Kids, don't try this at home."
  • Carl walks away from a car that is crashed into a tree. "Guess that wasn't the brightest idea."
  • A hazy, blurred, point of view shot. Carl is seeing double images, either of him trying to find his car, or him driving and seeing the road double. Thought bubble: "Uh oh."
  • Carl, in bed, with a hangover. "What happened to me last night?" You can't see the whole bed yet.
  • Carl swerving through traffic. "I don't know what mom was worried about!"
  • Carl hitchhikes, carrying what's left of a six pack.
  • Carl walks past a car that is crashed into a tree. Says: "Glad that wasn't me."
  • A car crashes into a tree.


Alex Heggie

  • Well, that's all the drinks, I guess I can drive now!


Bill Schlimme

  • Carl (drunk): "Y'know, I love Daisy. I think *hic* I'll go ask her to marry me!"
  • Carl (drunk): "Y'know, I never seriously considered the *hic* French Foreign Legion as a viable career option before!"
  • Carl (drunk): "Well, done drinking: *hic* letsh DRIVE!"
  • Carl (drunk), attacked by a nasty little bat, in an homage to Billy Wilder's classic, "The Lost Weekend".
  • Caption: "Later..." Carl (drunk), outside Daisy's window, screaming at the top of his lungs: "STELLA!"

    And I swear, if the ENTER: THOR "jokes" don't ease up soon, someone's going to pay! IN SPADES!!


Anonymous

  • Carl stumbles drunkly to his car and sez: "Deshishon'z ashide letsh jusht git a move ohn..."
  • "Mom, I've decided to hang around here and get smockered all evening, is that okay?
  • Carl looks at the can he's drinking and says- "Hey, what is this I'm dr- OH MY GOD!!" The can reads "Ye Olde Prairie Oyster Brew" This is funny if you know what a prairie oyster is...
  • There hasn't been a mainly visual panel in a long time, so why not put a picture of a drunken Carl sitting on a lazy-boy while staring into space, mabey put a clock by him going "tic tic tic tic..."
  • Or how about a panel with only words in it! This sounds weird but its half-way original. Have it read: "Needless to say, Carl sat at his Mom's all night getting drunk and watching T.V...."

    Drunk-talk is fun to write... try it some time...


Kevin Pease

  • Carl has finished his can of beer, and he is standing in front of his open refrigerator, which is almost completely empty and markedly lacking in beer. "I'm not drunk enough to decide. I'll have to go out and buy more beer."


Doug Sheppard

  • "Now I'm as loaded as *this gun*!" says Carl, as he caresses the barrel of a .38.
  • Carl spits out the beer. "Ew! Budweiser!"
  • Carl looks around, and we see that the round edge with the three circles in the previous panel is the mouthpiece of a giant telephone receiver.


Barney Sheehan

  • Carl (tipsy) throws keys over shoulder. carl: Maybe I'll just cruise the internet instead.
  • Carl tossing empty can away. carl: hmmm out of beer. I know I'll go to the store for more.
  • Mom knocks carl over the head with a broom Mom: Don't drink in the house.
  • Carl tosses empty can over his shoulder. carl: well time to go.
  • Mom: never mind I'll drive you.
  • Carl in car speeding along. carl: I still can't decide maybe another beer will help.


Lee K. Seitz

    I should start paying attention as to whether you tend to pick suggestions that are part of a large set of submissions or those with only one or two suggestions. Then maybe I can increase my chances of winning! 8) But I liked Doug Waldron's before I even saw the actual submisssion. Good choice.

  • Now what was I trying to decide again?
  • Now I'll take a little drive to clear my head so I can make that decision.
  • Hmmm, not drunk yet. Better have another beer.
  • *Burp!* Okay, I think I'll drive instead of drink.
  • Drunk Carl looking around: Now where'd I put my keysh? (They're still in his hand!)

    Scott, Do you draw CYOC by hand on on computer? If the latter, what font do you use for the balloons? (I have no idea why I want to know this.)


[For now I'm just doing a sloppy pastiche of Bob Lappan's original lettering. If I ever do a poster of CYOC or if hi-res monitors become standard, maybe I'll use a font or ask Bob himself if he'd like to do the job. --Scott]

Travis Pelkie

    Let's get silly!

  • Ok, third time for this. Carl, reading a book upside down while drinking, thinking, "hmm, starting to make sense" this time the book being on continuous narrative in the Renaissance.
  • Drunk, walking in the woods, Carl finds the walking stick with runes, that Carl can read (super hyper turbo drunk powers) that sez TAP ME, so... he taps it.
  • All of the sudden, here comes DRUNKCARL2000, the super drunk robot. All sorts of silly hijinks ensue.
  • Carl gets drunk, becomes a stick figure, sez where's Matt Feazal when ya need him. (Hope I spelled Matt's name right)
  • Goats and monkeys are funny.
  • Nancy comes in to save the day. (YA know, the comic strip Nancy...)
  • Last one here: Carl gets so drunk, he thinks it would be a good idea to go wait in line for the Phantom Menace right now. Mistakenly, however, he gets on the wrong line, and ends up going to see the latest teenybopper horror flick. Decides to drink himself to death.

    Oh, the silliness. Unfortunately, my suggestions seem to be too out there for Carl. Maybe I'm just too... oh, what's the word... silly. (or maybe they're bad suggestions, I dunno.)


Dark Artist

  • "Uh, I don't think I'll drive now... I can't see where I parked the car..." (Carl is in a surrealistic alcoholic haze)


dan wheeler

  • carl spits out the beer in disgust. carl: "BLEEARGH! MOUSSY!" (alternate: "BLEEARGH! O'DOUL'S!")
  • carl eyes his can of bud distainfully. carl: "i'll never get drunk on this!" then whips out a bottle of night train. (alternate: then whips out a bottle of crazy horse.)
  • carl's eyes droop & his head in encircled by drunken little swirlies. carl: "desishun? *hic* what desishun?"

    thank you, Howard Ian Schiller, i L-O-V-E love hampsterdance.com


David Bedno

    Hrm...this calls for a suggestion that leads to many different obvious choices for the next panel. Just to make everyone's life more difficult.

  • Carl looks woozy, saying "Ohh...I don't feel so good."
  • Carl is passed out on the lawn, surrounded by beer cans, thinking, "Mmm...drinking."
  • Carl, with keys in hand, saying "Oh my God, I've lost my keys."
  • Daisy shows up, glaring at Carl with a look of stern disapproval, as Carl continues to drink. (No dialog...I'm in a subtle mood here.)
  • Daisy shows up, glares at Carl (who is still drinking), and says "Started drinking without me, huh?"
  • Carl is crushing a beer can with his hand, emphatically saying "Bullets can't hurt me - I'm Superman!(tm)"
  • Daisy shows up and says "So, I suppose I'm driving again."
  • Carl says "Now I'm ready for some serious cow-tipping".
  • A car pulls up to a drinking Carl, asking "Hey buddy...need a lift somewhere?"
  • Carl throws up ON Dean Wermer. Whoops...that's for later.

    None of these suggestions come from real life, btw. Should I win, my web pages can be found at http://www.evolve.com/~drseuss


[And you did win so, the plug stays!! Remember, that's winner's only... 'cause we all know what would happen otherwise! --Scott]


James Langdell

  • Carl: Oh No! The can is stuck to my nose ...and it's sucking me inside!
  • Carl: To make a really good decision, I'll need to pick up a few more six-packs.


W. Skrause

  • long shot of charicter lookig at a shiney sports car. "wow! Thisssh car looks great!"
  • Long shot of car. Carl in forground,"I didn't know ma's car looked so good!"
  • Carl sprawled on the lawn among a litter of cans. A shadowy figure enterrs panel.
  • "Oh no ya don't buddy." Carls fat slavenly neibour pulls him bodily out of the car.
  • Carl passes out on the horn.
  • Carl very drunk amidst a large pile of cans. holding a can of oil, "Where's the pull tab?" Put those little bubbles in front of his eyes.
  • Carl drunk out of his gourd slurs, "On the other hand, There's still more beer in the trunk."
  • Carl cross eyed- "Hmmmm, I'm still not quite thinking good yet.
  • Carl starts the car and drives it from the passenger side.
  • Carl, walking, swerving all over the sidewalk. Apparently thinking hard about a perplexing problem. Passes a beat cop.

    Gets up off the living room sofa, not drunk yet, forgets his keys on coffee table.


Skrause

    Skrause is determined to win space in the comic, but fears perpetuated obscurity.

  • Carl thinking, "Needs ice" stops at a convenience store to buy a bag.
  • Carl, weighed down by his own sinfulness puts an old Hank Williams record on the turntable.
  • Carl crushes empty can and says, "That was good for a warm up. Now for the real wheel grease. Pulls out bottle of hard liquer.
  • Carl watches Sesame Street while drinking. Because it helps him think.
  • Carl goes to his fridge looking for more beer. Inside his cat has already finished the last bottle.
  • Carl, suddenly lonely, calls his dog.
  • Carl staggers into his car, but drops his keys. Thinking that wasn't so hard a decision after all." long shot from behind driver's side.
  • Carl wakes up on the sofa at 3 AM. amongst a large pile of beer cans. "What was I thinking about again?"
  • complete black panel.
  • Panel fades out. Carl wonders what the light switch is doing.

    Skrause wants to touch infamy but fears its lofty accolades.


Matt Ryan

    Another branch here. How long does Scott want to keep up the current straight-faced streak? Let's see...

  • Carl is toasted. "So what'll it be? Drinking or -hic- driving?"
  • Carl is toasted, and behind the wheel. "Maybe DAISY can help me decide!"
  • Carl is slightly tipsy. He looks at the beer can and HAS AN IDEA! (Light bulb over his head?)
  • Carl holds out the can and says, "Hey!" The can is *still* going "GLUG GLUG", and starting to shake!
  • Carl cringes as the spectre of Death appears and points at him. From Death's hood emerges a word-baloon in which we see a picture of the "RIP Carl" end panel.
  • Carl is toasted. He looks at the keys in his hand, and in a thought-baloon we see the "promise me" scene. (Is he about to DO THE RIGHT THING?!?)


Doug Shaw

  • Box in upper left hand corner: "Later" Carl: Here I am, drunk again. Is this it? Is this all there is to life?


Morgan Doninger

    I'm lucky if I can think of a panel, much less a comment.

  • Carl totally blasted shouts out "Regicide! Of course!"

    My girlfriend hates this one. She read it and muttered something about freedom of speech...


Al B. Moore

  • Carl thinks "Now what was I supposed to be deciding?"


Patric Lewandowski

  • carl looks at empty can and says, "Nope, not drunk enough yet for a decent decision.
  • carl looks at can and says, "GAH! This is non-alcoholic!

    My first time doing this, and boy are my two suggstions lame.


Thom Marrion

  • Carl crys out Daisy's name as he is about to run her over,


Patric Lewandowski

  • Perhaps you could get permission from Pete at Sluggy Freelance to get Bun-Bun to make a cameo and say something like, "Gimme the beer, nerd-boy"
  • enter: bun-bun
  • Hey, look, it's aylee!
  • SLUGGY CROSSOVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • I'M BEGGING YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

    hey, how about doing something with Sluggy freelance?


[Hmm... I may have to add "Enter: Sluggy" to the forbidden list. Seriously, though, Carl's a bit of a loner. I don't see a lot of team-ups in his future. Best wishes to Pete Abrams and Sluggy though.--Scott]

Howard Ian Schiller

    Only time for one suggestion this week... but it made me laugh!

  • Carl is big and bloated (think Bouncing Boy from the LSH) trying to get through the car door (or house door) saying "Now what?"... Now what indeed?


Paul Winkler

  • (CAPTION: "Later...") CARL: (obviously drunk, getting into his car) "I'm outta beer! Guessh I'll go buy s'more."


Timothy J Miller

  • Carl, half-lidded, slumped, and not at all sure footed, finger poked upward in revelation, says, "With all due conshideration (hic) I believe I will drive!"


Tom Dougherty

    Help! I've burst into flame!

  • Carl: "I guess I'll drive."


Chris Shumway

  • up-up-and-awaying into the night sky, Carl: "I never said I wouldn't drink and FLY!"
  • hopping onto his faithful camel, Carl: "I never said I wouldn't drink and RIDE!"
  • picture of the beer can, talking to Carl "don't worry Carl, I'll drive"


Wahl

    For most of these: Carl, slightly drunk, meets someone he didn't expect. Caption in the suggestions.

  • My sixth grade math teacher? What are YOU doing here?
  • My evil twin, Joseph? What are YOU doing here?
  • Dad? What are YOU doing here? His father, looking tired: "Hello, son. Drunk again?"
  • Or, a Good Carl/Bad Carl, saying "Remember, Carl: Don't drive now!" and "This place is dull. Let's drive to a party!"
  • Return of the horrible metajoke: "Scott McCloud? What are YOU doing here?"
  • Carl, looking VERY drunk: "Hey! What was in that thing?"
  • An obvious one: boored Carl, saying "Well... Now what?"

    (OK, so I felt a little silly.)


Claudia

    Hey! Been following along for a while since a friend pointed me to the obsession with chess story (which I reread at irregular intervals now). I love the whole site. Lots of freedom this week. Hm.

  • Since there's so much leeway in the layout, I'd like a hallucinatory change of pace. Carl's keys dancing around him a la "Pink Elephants on Parade", perhaps?
  • Or... the classic little Carl-angel and Carl-devil perched on Carl's shoulders, both markedly tipsy.

    Whaddya got against Thor, anyway?


[It's not so much Thor, personally. Just Norse Thunder Gods in general. --Scott]


Stewart Tame

    High time we had a change of scenery.

  • Carl says, "I know: I'll go snorkeling instead!"
  • Spelunking
  • Rock climbing
  • Flagpole-sitting
  • Bicycling
  • Stilt walking
  • Jet-skiing
  • Surfing
  • snowboarding
  • hang-gliding

    After all, where is it written that Carl's fate must be bound up with an automobile?


James Brophy

    The comics journal article is interesting. I havent got through it yet.

  • Carl looks ill and says "Ugh.. Alkeholl poisioning!"
  • Carl spit's out the liquid fromn the can and says "This is Lite beer! What's the point?"


[Just a reminder that Comics Journal #211 is now out with over 50 pages of critical reactions to Understanding Comics. I've posted my responses on the site, get the issue and find out where! --Scott]


Jef Clkear

  • Carl- "It'll be safer to ride my bike." Show Carl riding his bike.
  • Carl, examining keys,- "Hey, these aren't my car keys! What are they to?"
  • Carl belches after slamming beer. (This would be a great time to add sound!)

    12 more wins for the Stanley Cup!!! Go Red Wings!!!


Jeff

  • a drunk Carl is standing there thinking "So what'll it be, drinking or driving"
  • Carl: "Well, i guess I made that decision pretty easily"
  • "I'll walk over to Daisy's house!" as you see Carl stumbling out the door
  • Carl heads toward his car thinking "I haven't had that much" or "I'm not that drunk"
  • Carl's mother shows up and starts exploding at Carl for drinking
  • Carl's mother shows up and says "I'll drive you where ever you want so you don't have to drive"
  • Some friends show up and yell to Carl if he wants to go to a party
  • Carl, with 6-pack in hand, is approaching a lake. He says "I want to watch the ducks!"
  • Carl says "I want to visit the Zoo!"


Steven Marsh

  • "Darn! I dropped my keys."
  • Carl: "There's a five-cent deposit in this state!"
  • [Header] Later... [Carl, w/beer belly] Carl: "When did I get so big?"
  • HEADER: "Carl's blood reacts" [extreme close up; blood cells that look like Carl; some have little "x"-s over their eyes]


Slurpee_E

  • Carl is surrounded by a pile empty cans. He looks confused. He yells, "Why am I still sober?"
  • Carl staggers into his car. "What did mom say?"
  • Mom catches Carl drinking. Mom begins to transform into Momster. She says, "You've disobeyed me for the last time, Carl."
  • Mom says, "Wait, Carl. That's not beer!" Carl does a spit take.


John Heaton

  • Carl looks in disgust at the can: "Wait a sec! This is non-alcoholic beer!"
  • Carol downs some pills, or perhaps holds up a joint: "Getting stoned will help too!"
  • Carl looks sleepy: "All this beer is making me sleepy!


    zoom out