This week's panel suggested by Jesse Rimler and dan wheeler
Attention: Carl Fans!
In case you missed it on the main page, you can now see the entire story-so-far on a single screen! You may want to even print from it and assemble your own map of the "big big picture"
(phrase ©Larry Marder -- okay, not really).
Let me know how it goes!
As always, suggestions are listed in the order they were received. Thanks for playing and please join us again next Sunday!
--Scott
Sunday 11/21/1999
Jesse Rimler
[Sorry it's been such a long time between updates. As I'm heading down the home stretch of Reinventing Comics (see my FAQ list in the Welcome section for details), they may continue to be infrequent. Next up is a few short one-screen comics, the first of which is already laid out and bears the title "Why I'm not Neil Gaiman." After that I'll want to finally get the Links section up.--Scott]
Michael Patrick
- The simple suggestion would be Carl careening down the highway and swerving all over the road. If you can fit it into the panel, then have some animals (squirrels, rabbits, chickens) trying to get out of his way. Maybe Carl is tossing a bottle out of the window.
Slurpee_E
- Carl, obviously drunk, sitting in the passenger's seat. A pink elephant is in the driver's seat. Carl says, "I have to keep my promise: you drive."
- Carl, drunk again and driving, says, "I'm such a liar."
- Carl is beamed up into a U.F.O.
DarkArtist
This is difficult, because you have to make it clear that Carl is intoxicated and driving all in one panel. Then again, you could just have him holding a bottle saying to himself, "man, how did I get so drunk?"
- "Man, how did I get so drunk?" Not very original, but it works. And a shot of him driving around drinking could lead anywhere. It's at least workable.
- Carl is clearly on the road driving drunk, and says to himelf, "Now how did my car keys get inside this beer bottle?" "Hic!"
- "Let's play a drinking game with these car keys I found!"
- "Well what do you know," says Carl, holding a beer bottle and obviously drunk, "I left my car keys in the keyhole! Ignition, I mean!" Actually, they were only there because he put them there one second ago. He's either lost consciousness temporarily or he's joking.
- Carl is drinking and driving, saying...no, singing... "Oh where, oh where have my car keys gone? Oh where, oh where can they be?" And a sound file of Carl singing off-key would be cool too. Make sure he looks as dazed as he does in the panel where he says "I've lost my keys!"
- Carl is seen walking out of a liquor store, showing that he has been getting drunk even further than usual, and as he leaves, he mutters... "Oh yeah, did I lose my car keys?"
- Carl is driving around in his car when he sees a sight that sobers him in a second, even though he's clearly been drinking while driving (beer bottle in hand?). As he says himself, "ACK! There's a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous blocking the road!"
- Carl is driving around in his car when he sees a sight that sobers him in a second, even though he's clearly been drinking while driving (beer bottle in hand?). Enter: Thor.
- Carl is seen drinking beer as he stumbles into his car staring at his car keys muttering... "You try soaking them out... scrubbing them out..." Where did you get that from, anyway?
- Carl is driving his car, headed for a steep cliff. A road sign up ahead clearly says, "Steep cliff ahead" as he drives up the mountain road.
I'm tired. And I like to pretend I have no life. That's why I spent so long on this, I have no better judgment. Common sense is no longer common, and the fools rule over all of us. Am I getting poetic yet? Ugh. Back to my homework.
Josiah Rowe
Scott, thanks for the links to previous sections... but #3 (at least) is broken! Also, do you realize that you are now *challenging* people to come up with 12,463-word suggestions?!? I think it's time for a new plot thread. So, without further ado...
- Caption: MEANWHILE... A Dr. Sivana/ Dr. Evil- type scientist/supervillain stands over a bubbling vat, or in a corridor lined with Carl clones. DR. NEMESIS: At last, my army of Carls is ready! Bwa-ha-ha! (I think CYOC *needs* a mad scientist, don't you?)
- Caption: MEANWHILE... A silhouetted figure looks at a monitor. On the monitor we see Carl struggling with the keys of his car. MYSTERY PERSON: Yes, Carl, drive on... into oblivion! I like the ambiguity of this one... the figure could be different people across or down.
- Caption: MEANWHILE, IN A PARALLEL DIMENSION... Carl points at his mother. CARL2: Promise me you won't drink and drive, Carl. MOM: I promise.
- Caption: MEANWHILE, HIGH IN ORBIT... Two aliens are watching Carl struggle with his keys (on a monitor). ALIEN: Are you sure this is an intelligent species?
- Caption: MEANWHILE... A handsome man stands behind Carl's mom, with his hands on her shoulders. Passion smoulders in their eyes. LOTHARIO: Are you sure that he'll go now? MOM: Oh, yes! I'm all yours!
- Carl sits in his car, holding his keys. CARL: Wait a minute... this isn't my car... it's a TIME MACHINE!
- Carl sits in his car, holding his keys. Behind him sits the MICROSOFT MONSTER. M. M.: Hi, Carl! Remember me? CARL: AAAUGH! (Future panels can reveal that the M. M. is hiding out at Carl's from Department of Justice officials.)
- Caption: LATER... A POLICEMAN is interviewing CARL'S MOM. He has a notepad and pencil out. CARL'S MOM has been crying. Policeman: "And that was the last time you saw him, ma'am?" (This is an old one of mine from way back in Section 2, but I still like it.)
- Caption: LATER... CARL lies on the ground, apparently dead. A MEDIC crouches beside his body. DAISY and CARL'S MOM stand by nervously. MEDIC: "I'm afraid that he's..." (Also one from the "oldie-but-a-goodie" files.)
- Hmmm... what would Kurt Busiek do?
[Thanks for the bug report, Josiah. Hopefully the links are functioning properly now. --Scott]
John S.
- Carl walks out then thinks "Wait a minute. I don't have a car."
- Carl walks into the video store thinking "Maybe Ed can help me."
- Carl gets into the wrong car.
- Mom stands outside the house saying "Carl! You never listen to me!"
- Carl drives into a liquor store thinking "What the heck. Maybe a booze will clear my mind."
- Carl takes a submarine instead.
- Carl finds a Budweiser Truck.
Don Campbell
Markus Gerwinski
- The car zigzags from sidewalk to sidewalk. Word balloon: "Laa-la-dee-da - HIC! -"
- Before Carl gets into the car, it is crashed by another car.
- Before Carl gets into the car, it transforms to a mech warrior.
- In the background, we see the car starting. (Original soundtrack "BRUM!" from UC) In the foreground, we see a policeman on a motorbike, hidden behind some bushes.
Tom Harris
- Picture of carl's car swerving all over the road.. with thought balloon "Hmm... where are those damn keys?"
- Carl with a bottle in his hand scratching his head with his keys thinking .. "maybe I should have a few more drinks before I look for my keys"
- Generic pic of Carl's car swerving around the road.
Mr. ?
Hey all!
- Carl swerving wildly in and out of traffic. Drunk Carl, head sticking out the window "Keys? Keys? Have you seen my keys?"
- Carl crashes into a tree.
- Carl sitting on the ground outside his smashed car (up in a tree) when his keys fall out of the ignition, bouncing off his head and into his hand. Drunk Carl, "KEYS! There you are! I missed you SO much!"
- Carl, "There you are, Keys!" As he sees a key-shaped island far below while he and his car are falling from a few thousand feet.
- Carl, "I bet that's where my keys are!" As he passes a 'Florida Keys, 500mi' sign.
- Drunken Carl, "I wonder where my keys are?" While driving and we can see a flying saucer in the rear window approaching.
- Satan appears in a poof of smoke. "I can find your keys, in exchange for your SOUL! Ha ha ha!"
- Carl drunkingly swerving in and out of traffic, "Hic.. Daisy... hic... she'll know where mah keees are! Hic."
Lee K. Seitz
Hmm, let's assume Carl got drunk between "I promise" and this week's panel for the purposes of that thread.
- Maybe I drank too much to drive. Nah!
- Daisy appears: "Carl, you're not going to drive in that condition are you?" Carl: "Not until I *hic* find my keys." The keys are still clearly seen in his hand.
- Carl thinking: Uh-oh, need keys to drive, but need to drive to find keys. Owch, brain hurts! [This was originally more verbose, but he's drunk and there isn't much room for word balloons.]
- Carl starts the car and thinks, "uh, where was I going again?"
- Carl in car: Well THERE they *hic* are!
- Caption: Later [Mainly to tie it in to the new "I promise" panel.] Carl, obviously drunk & driving, yells out the window: "Here keys!"
- Caption: Later. Carl has been pulled over and a cop is standing beside his car. Carl says, "I'm glad to shee you offisher. *Hic!* I lost my keysh!"
- Caption: Later. Carl's been arrested for DUI. He's handing over the contents of his pockets and finds his keys. "Hey, I found them!!!"
- Caption: Later. Carl in his car being chased by a cop. He says, "They'll never take me alive!" (And he's right, of course.)
- As Carl gets in his car, he's beamed aboard a flying saucer.
Wow, this is the most suggestions I've given in a week. BTW, the top of the page says "Section 4" instead of "5." Also, I like the little table to navigate between sections, but for some reason the link to section 4 isn't active.
[Thanks, Lee. Fixed that one too. --Scott]
James Dominguez
Wheeeee! Section Five! That string of starter panels is going to be fun!
- A boring one to start off: Close-up of Carl's face looking closely at the keys in the ignition (coming from the left panel he has just put them in and forgotten) saying: "Hey, the keys are already here. Spooky!"
- Carl sitting in the back seat of the car saying, "Where the hell has the steering wheel gone?" Alternatively, his face could be panicked, and he is shouting, "Someone stole my steering wheel!"
- Carl, sitting in the car, hooking an IV drip into his arm. The other end of the hose is an up-ended bottle with VODKA written on it. He could be silent, or say something like, "I like to relax when I am driving."
- Carl is standing up in his moving car, with his head stuck out of the sunroof, looking around and saying, "Where was I going again?"
- An action shot of Carl in the driver's seat, just slamming the door (sound effect, K-THUNK!, of course) viewed from the front of the car. What Carl cannot see is that the headlights and grille make up a stylised evil face, which is grinning.
- Carl is sitting in the driver's seat, and a guy in a suit pulls open the door, saying "Police! Follow that car!"
- As above, but "Follow that penguin!"
- As Carl is getting into the car, a guy already sitting in the passenger seat holds up a big book and says, "Carl, this is your life!"
OK, that will do me for now. Glad you're back from your break, Scott. I was already suffering Carl withdrawal...
Matthew Johnson
- CU of Carl putting the keys in the ignition Carl: Hey, I never noticed - my keychain is the Holy Grail!
Travis Pelkie
Woo-hoo, more Carl. If it took a year for 4 sections, does that mean section 6 ends around the end of April? That's enough time so that even I might win again!
- Carl driving-- "woo, those pretty lights coming right at me are clearing my head up"
- Maybe Carl has a vision of the future, of what will happen if he does D+D (drink and drive, not role play), and sez, "as god is my witness, I'll never drink again" (Next panel, Carl drinks, of course)
- Carl drinks and role plays. "I'm an elfling, all right, a f@$%##@ elfling!"
- Okay, that was uncalled for. Carl apologizes to role players, then.
- Or he goes into an epileptic fit over the Pokemon movie.
- Or he screams "yes, yes, I want to be a millionaire!!"
- Or else he starts to ponder the significance of comics being defined in spatialization terms and then the existence of himself in the cybernetic no space. His head hurts, then. So he starts drinking.
- Woo, I'm loopy on these new tracks. Actually, there could be a ponderance of Carl's existence if computers go wacky on New Year's. Will Carl still exist if everything goes poopy? And will he have enough liquor in his system to deal?
- Whoa, I'm almost out of suggestion boxes. Carl drives randomly, almost runs over Daisy, for some reason she then wants to break up. "Women!" Carl thinks, snidely.
- Deep, gripping human drama. That's what the last suggestion was about. This one's about monkeys in clothes. Where'd I just read about some comics of the 50's sold better with purple monkeys on the cover, and then there had to be limits on how many monkeys were used a month? I swear I'm not making this up. Probably.
Ya know, when I grow up, I decided, I'm gonna be a comics historian/theorist/practitioner. I mean, there are connections between history and comics, since they both attempt to make stories rigid through sequence and regularity, if I'm making any sense. Ah, the 25-hour comic. Well, I feel kinda silly that you put it in the big orange letters, cuz it didn't happen. I started one, then decided against continuing with it, then started another, did about 6 pages in 4 hours, got sleepy, woke up, did about a page and a half before I felt the story was going nowhere. Hey, I tried, it was fun, I'll attempt another probably around Thanksgiving, I realized I can draw a decent comics page fairly quickly, I started to actually like my drawing ability (what's this perspective stuff I hear so much about?), and I got the design of a character I had created before down. So as a 25 hour comic, it was a failure, but as a creative kick in the butt, it was very helpful. Thanks, Scott.
[Trying is 51% of the battle, Travis. Congratulations on the attempt. --Scott]
glamse
- Carl is driving much too fast, barely in control: "What am I doing?"
Nat Gertler
Don't drink and write comics panels
- "Hey! Who put Krazy Glue on the car door?"
- Pouring pills from a bottle into a hand. "Time to see if these Sober-Up Capsules really work!"
- Mom chasing after car. "Carl! You forgot your driving glasses!"
- Carl in car at a gas station. "Gimme a fill-up with ethanol!"
- Meanwhile, in the white house, the ghost of James K. Polk is having an uneasy night.
- Bizarro Mom shows up and says "Me want make sure you drink and then drive!"
- Carl, in the car, looking at a box on the driver seat. "What's this tin of Maguffin brand Red Herrings doing here?"
I'm engaged! I'd suggest people surf on over to http://www.gertler.com to see the description of what I like to think was an interesting proposal, but I believe I've used up my one URL as a past winner.
[I've been easing up on that one, Nat. Plug away. --Scott]
Christopher Woerner
[See top. --Scott]
[And who sez I'm taking credit? Quite the opposite. In fact all of the names on this page are just pseudonyms for Yours Truly. I haven't gotten an actual suggestion since June of 1998 so I write them all myself and put other people's names on them. --Scott]
[Except these responses. These are written by someone else.--"Scott"]
Catt Jan Roxxanne
- As carl drives past the speed limit with about a quart of beer in his bloodstream, he thinks "'You only live once!' Thats what I say!"
- As Carl open the door to his car, he sees a little man sleeping on the passengers side. He yells "Hey! There's a @#$%*!! GNOME in my car!!"
- ANNOYING STREET LOONY: HEY! MISTER! DON'T DRIVE THAT THING! 'CAUSE ITS A ACTULLY A MANATEE!!" CARL: ?!!
- Close up of a mortuary. Text: "MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN, A CHAIN OF EVENTS IS HAPPENING THAT COULD DESTROY OUR HERO..."
- Just as Carl closes his car door, a large man in a ski mask puts a shoe to carl's head and mutters "Where do you think YOU'RE going? Hmm?"
- "Wait! Hold on! I'm getting a mystical vison!!"
- "Before we take this adventure any further, a special note first: KIDS!! You too can learn more about the emense fun of being an idiot at carls web-thingie "http://www.drunken.shmoe.org!!!" Neat huh!!!
- Carls mom stares at him while hes getting into his car. Repeating "Be a good Carl, be a good Carl..."
Matt Ryan
Morgan Doninger
I'd like to make multiple suggestions, but this one's tough!
- MOM and CARL are revealed to be in the car. MOM: Why don't I beleave you? CARL: "Cause I can't find my keys! Hic!" (of course Carl's keys are still in his hand.)
Best I can do. How I missed our ever snuffing friend. It's the cheapest hobby I have.
The Mystic Mongoose
I have a plug yet to use, I realized.. I'll toot my own horn with http://www.mongoose.net/comicsrunner.htm , a fast-browsing site for online comics of the furry genre.
- The simple VROOM! panel from Understanding Comics.
- Carl looks at the wheel with heavy-lidded eyes. "Now, she didn't say anything about drinking and *yawn* dreaming..."
- Carl looks at the wheel with heavy-lidded eyes. "Now, she didn't say anything about dreaming and *yawn* driving..."
Patric Lewandowski
A New Carl! Carl Strikes Back! The Return of the Carl! The Phantom Carl! Carl Episode V!!!! Uh.. I'm done now...
- Carl, beer in hand, drving car along road. Carl: "Must find... them.. HIC!"
- Crisis on Multiple Carls.... Carl, walking down the street, not drunk, car speeding towards him with the drunk carl inside.. Carl: "Wow, I really meant it this time.. I'm not drinking and driving!"
- Carl driving in car. Carl: "Hic! I gotta find my keys! Hic! DANG HICCUPS ARE DRIVING ME NUTS! HIC!"
well, my first suggestion quite frankly blows, but the second and third suggestions certainly have potential if properly tweaked. Meanwhile, I gotta wonder, what happens when we finish section 6.
[I take a break for starters, ha ha, then it's on to Tear Away Carl, Infinite Carl, Carl Jam, and who knows what else... --Scott]
dan wheeler
- a very drunken carl sits in the back seat of his car trying to push his key into the back of the front seat "*hic* where's the ignition on this durn thing?"
- a very drunken carl is about to get into his car when he is interrupted by his very drunken mother. "oh no you don't! you promised me you wouldn't drink & drive so ... I'M DRIVING!"
- carl & mom in same positions as the "promise me" panel. carl: "but if you point that fucking finger at me again i'll break it off."
- carl asleep at the wheel of his car. he never even got it out of the drive way.
Tom Harris
- a voice calls out "Carl! Stop! I beg you!" (or some similar phrase) as Carl turns around quickly.
- shot of open car door with someone else in the driver's seat with a horrified expression on their face. "Who are you? What do you want with my car?" This might even be Alternate Carl, Carl's Dad, Daisy, or even Brian Boitano!
- Angel descending from heaven saying: "Wait Carl, the Messenger has arrived!" (I had to throw in a Tony Kushner tribute)
- aerial shot looking down onto Carl getting into his car with voice bubble "This ought to be good!"
- Carl getting hit in the face with a pie.
- Carl getting hit by a car plowing into his. (wouldn't it be cool if the other car had a drunk-driving Carl in it?)
- Enter: Wolverine... just kidding...:P
James Baird
Hey Scott and everyone...first time poster here, but this sounds like alot of fun!
- Carl in the car, his body in mid-spasm. "She didn't say anything about ::hic!:: hiccupping and driving!"
Jason M. Sullivan
- "Wait, this isn't my car"
Pat Hall
Kevin Pease
- Carl leans drunkenly out the window of his car, asking a stern state trooper: "Ociffer! Have you seen my keys? They're MISSING!"
Jay Sabicer
- Carl (with Martini glass in one hand) hits a pedestrian (female, blond, could be Daisy but we're not given a positive ID, yet) Carl (drunkenly): Get off the sidewalk! I'm drivin' here!
Doug Waldron
- Carl sits in car, confuse look on his face. "Now what do I do?"
Ross Horowitz
Kean Soo
David Goldfarb
"Well, okay...12,462." You do realize that you're just begging someone to submit a suggestion of exactly 12,462 words in length?
- Carl's mom appears and grabs the keys out of Carl's hand. "And just what do you think you're doing, young man?"
Do you realize that outside of the starter panels, Carl's mom has *never* appeared in the main strip? Other than as a tentacled monster, that is.
[Um, doesn't she get hit by a car and sprout wings in Section 1. Or am I missing something? --Scott]
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