This week's panels suggested by

  • Zack Adgie

With this week's "sort-of-similar-I-guess" awards going to:

  • Bill Schlimme
  • Wei-Hwa Huang
  • John Pierce

Naw, I don't plan to make these multiple panel choices a habit, I just really liked Zack's idea. Anyway, we took a few weeks off so I guess we've been making up for lost time!



"Please Stand by..."

Due to a change of Hosting Services while Carl was on vacation our forms were temporarily broken. That problem was entirely on the server's end, not yours, and has been fixed. Thank you for your patience.

Meanwhile, however, the new scripts have been returning some screwy-looking (though still usable) results and proudly reporting them back to you guys as well as sending them to me. I'll see if I can get that fixed soon also. Sorry to bother you with all this! Keep posting as usual and just ignore whatever these silly machines tell you (provided it starts with a "Thank you" not an "Error"!)

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

--Scott
Monday 05/08/2000



Zack Adgie

    Hey, excellent eye-popping action on that last one... somehow, carl's words just seem to match the occasion prefectly :)

  • Spend one frame just showing carl's tombstone, then in the next frame have a thought bubble that says "Oh... I guess it is." Either that, or just put that in this frame.


Addison Godel

    Welcome back. ;) Loved, loved, LOVED the sample pages of Reinventing in Wired...can't wait for the book.

  • Camera zooms out to reveal the previous panel was a T-shirt, which Carl is wearing.
  • An old codger (the hunter from Section 1?) steps into the graveyard, sticking his shovel into the grave and muttering something about diggin' up some fish bait
  • Carl is in Heaven, and a higher power tells him "Your purpose is not yet fulfilled! Return to Earth!"


the marvelous patric

    welcome back scott! my life has been dull without carl.

  • Carl rises from the grave "Cool! After all this time, I'm actually Immortal!"
  • Carl falls from his grave into the netherworld
  • Carl in heaven
  • A lone figure stands at carl's grave.... perhaps it's really carl... or a clone... or carl from the past, or carl from the future, and i realize that this suggestion is now more like a bunch of suggestions. oh well. you get the idea.


dave

  • his butt could be sticking up from the ground.


Mr. ?

    Welcome back!

  • Zombie Carl rises out of the grave!
  • Zombie Carl's hand bursts out of the ground!
  • Daisy is kneeling at the grave. Daisy, "You left life just the way you always wanted, hit by a beer truck into an alligator farm."
  • Carl is at St. Peter's desk to be judged. Carl: "Oh no, not here again."
  • Same as above, but Satan and God are going to wrestle over who gets Carl's soul. St Peter: Welcome to the match for Carl's soul! Let's get ready to Rummmmble!
  • A crow lands on the tombstone.
  • Dead Carl thinking: I can't believe my last words were 'BudqzO Ickrf!'
  • Dead Carl thinking: "Actaully, being dead isn't so bad. Hi Mr. Worm."
  • Lightning bolt hits the grave.
  • Satan: It's only the beginning for you! Mwa ha ha ha!

    This panel should be interesting!


Michael Patrick

  • Carl still in grave: Hmmm...it sure is cozy down here.
  • Carl (still in grave): Dad! How did you get down here?
  • Carl (still still in grave): Charles Shultz! I'm your biggest fan!
  • Carl (still still still still still in grave): The worms crawl in...the worms crawl out...the worms play pinochle on your snout!


PJM

    Welcome back, Scott, and welcome back, Carl!

  • Carl's hand bursts out of the grave a la 'Carrie'
  • The Grim Reaper appears... GRIM REAPER: "I assure you it is, pal."
  • Another voice comes from the grave: "Shut up, some of us are trying to sleep"
  • Scott McCloud comes along and dances on Carl's grave, symbolic of the fact that you've been laughing about his sad demise for so long. SCOTT: "Ha ha ha!" CARL (in grave): "Hey!"

    Carl... how have we lived without you?!!!!


Doug Waldron

  • Carl stands in heaven. God: "Wanna bet?"
  • A hand pokes out of the ground. Carl: "Must... rise... from... dead."
  • Graveyard panel with thought balloon, but thought balloon now simply says, "..."
  • Carl in H - E - double toothpicks. Devil: "Wanna bet? Mwa-ha-ha-ha!"
  • View from inside coffin. Carl: "Guys? I'm still alive! Hey Guys? ... Can anyone hear me?"
  • Carl's ghost does something.
  • Atropos to her sisters: "Can someone hand me a sharper pair of scissors? This one's not cutting very well."


penny

  • he's in an underground room with his mother, who tells him she told him not to drink and drive.
  • he's in a coffin, wondering how to get out.


M@tthi@§

    Welcome back! It's been far too long, man! Send us all free signed copies of the new tome and we'll stop moaning...

  • INT: UNDERGROUND, CUTAWAY OF (QUITE LARGE) COFFIN A lit candle flickers in the center of the coffin. CARL sits awkwardly in one corner, CARL'S DAD opposite CARL'S DAD: Just take it easy son, and pray for graverobbers...
  • EXT: SHOT OF CARL'S GRAVE (AGAIN) CARL(thinking): Ah, well... at least they buried me with a case of Bud...
  • INT: BAR CARL, shocked, suddenly finds himself back in the bar with his DAD, who is in mid-sentence... CARL'S DAD ...on the fourth hole! Who'd believe it?


Tom Harris

  • Shot of carl waking up, all dizzy and out of sorts with a bandage around his head. a voice from nearby saying "It's a miracle he wasn't killed"
  • Show the same tombstone frame with a different thought balloon (suggestion: "Boy, it sure is dark in here..")
  • The angel reaches down and grab's Carl's soul from underground, pulls him up above the ground saying "You're right carl, death is never the end!"
  • Jim Morrison appears, as a ghost, floating next to Carl's ghost... Carl: "Whaaaa? Jim Morrison?" Jim: "This IS the end..."
  • Carl's ghost floats up out of the ground drinking a beer "Well, if I'm really dead, I should enjoy life"
  • Carl appears (as if in a Jack Chick tract illo) in front of a glowing faceless being sitting in a chair, pointing at him
  • Carl's hand thrusts out of the tomb... he is rising from the dead... a half-vampire immortal freak!

    If Carl comes back as a ghost, and his father is a vampire, perhaps Ethel is some sort of Frankenstein's monster, and Daisy is a werewolf....?


Taylor

  • A gross zombiefied Carl hand bursts out of the gravesite.

    I misspelled zombiefied didn't I?


Bill Schlimme

  • Carl, still in the grave: "Well, now at least I'll have time to write my masterpiece: REINVENTING MORTALITY!"
  • Carl, still in the grave: "I sure could go for some human brains right about now!"
  • Carl, still in the grave: "Hey! What do you know! Worms really DO play pinochle on your snout!"
  • Carl, still in the grave: "Or...CAN IT?"
  • Carl, climbing out of the grave: "I think I'll go terrorize some teenagers!"
  • Carl, still in the grave: "What would Hitchcock do?"


Travis Pelkie

    I tried to get in last week, but that naughty form mail thing. Oh well, welcome back, and I can't wait for RC. (I figured I'd start using the initials, like UC) I'm vaguely surprised no one attempted a 12463 word suggestion. Maybe someone did, and the problems from the form mail lost it for them.

  • um, I'm not sure. We're close to an ending in section 6, but it also goes down another half dozen panels or so. Well, until I think of something better, I'll just say that Carl crawls out of the ground, like in Thriller.

    Hey, I'm all frazzled over the fact that I'm writing a paper on the Greyshirt story in Tomorrow Stories #2, and I have no real idea what I'm doing. I'm gonna try using semiotics and iconography, which is what sorta has me confused. If anyone's got any suggestions, feel free to send them to bg18629@binghamton.edu and I'll credit you in the paper. Wow, that's everyone's dream, isn't it, to be credited in an academic paper? Of course, I've credited you, Scott, for UC. Thank you for that. Wow, a new Scott book coming out, DC is putting out Spirit archives (gah! in a good way). What's a comics fan with no money to do?


Clyde Meli

    Hi, visit my online non-apocalyptic comics at http://apokalupsis.com

  • An apocalyptic answer: Christ's Second Coming takes place at that moment, and Carl is suddenly Resurrected to Eternal Life!

    I've preordered Reinventing Comics already!


[Thanks, Clyde! I've noticed that out of 2,000,000 books on Amazon.com, RC is already ranked at about 13,000 and it's not even printed yet! I'll be revamping the Objects section soon and adding a special Amazon "associates" link which will send a little money our way with each order, so if other Carl fans would like to pre-order, please check the Main Page a bit later this week for a link to do so! --Scott]

Kevin Pease

  • Carl's grasping hand shoots up out of the ground in that special "here comes the undead guy" way. Maybe a bit of lightning and thunder for the full effect.
  • For a future exercise in the Carl Variations, I would suggest a thing just like the telescoping Original Recipe, but with suggestions as in CYOC. The place for the new panel to be inserted each week could be chosen by a random number device.


Jay Sabicer

    Intently looking forward to the new book.

  • Carl's hand shoots upward from the grave Carl: They've buried me by mistake. I'm alive...alive I tell ya!

    Any chance of a booksigning tour? At least in Southern California?


[Ah! Speaking of the Main Page, you'll now find my appearance schedule there as well! No store signings planned currently, but we'll see. --Scott]

Damian

    Who needs the Kwiki Mart?

  • (after the "wait, this can't be the end!") a question mark appears on the grave under "Carl RIP" and there's a thought balloon reading "That's better." Hey, it'll be easy to draw.

    Not me.


Markus Gerwinski

    I was already suffering from Carl withdrawal...!

  • The obvious one first: From a tombstone besides, reading "R.I.P. BUD" a thought balloon comes up: "Yes, it is!"
  • Carl raises from his grave: "I need a drink!"
  • Carl's skeleton raises from his grave: "I need a drink!"
  • We see Carl in his coffin, knocking on its cover from inside, shouting: "Hello?!"
  • The tombstone again. In front of it, a shovel is coming out of the ground. Thought balloon: "All this for a lousy little can of beer!!"
  • In his grave, Carl lightens a match: "Hey! Here's a tunnel or something!"

    Scott, in the list of Carl extensions you're going to draw after CYOC is done, I miss 5-card-Carl. ;-) Anaway, I'm _really_ curious what the others'll turn out to be... the titles seem interesting.


John Ludwick

  • Cut to Carl inside his dreary, small coffin. He's been buried alive! But he doesn't seem the least bit worried. Carl thinks to himself, "I have a second chance!"


Wei-Hwa Huang

  • Same as panel above, except thought balloon says "Or CAN it?" Some omnipresent voice says "You're right! It won't be the end until two more panels later!"


Craig J. Clark

  • Dr. Frankenstein and Igor at Carl's grave. Igor, with shovel in hand: "Is this the body you want, boss?"

    Welcome back. In the interim I bought and read "Understanding Comics." Great stuff. I can't wait for the new book.


John Pierce

  • Carl is inside his coffin, watching a television. Carl: Well, at least I still have my Univision... TV: Donde! Donde! Donde!
  • Daisy is talking to a familiar looking collie. Daisy: What is it girl? Is Carl buried alive?
  • Same scene of Carl's grave. Carl (thinking): On the other hand, I guess it could be.
  • The typical hand-bursting-out-of-the-ground scene. Carl: Freedom!
  • An underground cross-section showing Carl digging his way out, and going straight down.


Michael Avolio

    Wow, three panels last week! For a second there I thought I'd jumped a couple weeks into the future (again)..!

  • Carl crawling up out of the grave.

    Obvious, I know. Oh well, there's always next week.


Josh Korr

    this is so cool. why doesnt dc let us choose the next panel for their comics?

  • Carl, underground, thinks: "I forgot to give mom her keys back!"
  • A mole or other small rodent, underground, possibly in Carl's eye socket, says: "There's still more flesh to gnaw."
  • As a girl walks across Carl's grave, his hand shoots up and grabs her leg, her beer, or both.


David Hayward

  • "That truck was quite soft!"
  • "Hey, It was all imaginary! So am I! I don't exis..." (Leading to blank plot of land).
  • "I'm alive! Now, how'm I gonna get out of this grave?"
  • "Now, what would Herve Villechaize do?"
  • Carl's mum (mom, ma, whatever. Well, excuse me for being british) drives heavy earth moving machinery into frame.
  • Zombie Carl BURSTS from grave, perhaps roaring.
  • *sigh* "Irony. I sure didn't see that coming".


randy pickering

    Enter: Thor cracks me up every time I see it.

  • Carl comes back to life as a CREATURE OF THE UNDEAD, Crawling his way out of the grave. This now means that his mom is now out to get him!

    You've probably heard this before though, oh well.


Tod Caviness

    Right on. I'm so glad Carl's back it almost seems a shame to help kill him off ...

  • A hand bursts out of the ground in front of the headstone ... (Optional word balloon: "Braaaiins!" or possibly "I live!")
  • We see the inside of a womb and a baby Carl as he is reincarnated. CARL: "... or is it the beginning?"
  • Back at home, a ghost Carl floats in the background as Ethel does pottery. ETHEL: "Oh, my Carl ... what have I done?"
  • Better yet, do that last scene with Daisy. DAISY: "Oh, Carl ... why did you have to leave me?"


Patrick Joseph

    Carl's dad is an alcoholic vampire. What was it called in high school when you'd punture the base of a can of Milwaukie's Best with a house key and drink the whole 12 fluid ounces from the hole?

  • Carl's dad puntures the base of a can of unopened beer with his mighty fangs, devours the contents, takes over the wheel of the car and crashes into Carl's gravestone. They are burried together, father UN-dead, Carl MUCH-dead.

    Does that count as one or five suggestions? Can it fit into 3 square panels? I'm not the artist on this one, just the plotter. Do it.


    zoom out