Since it's been awhile, I decided to use three suggestions! Here they are:

1.

  • Winter (age 4) - Dialogue! [As told to Mommy: He's saying, "ickrf" because it's another way of saying "oh no I'm going to be dead, because the car is going to hit me"]
  • Zack Adgie - Tex Avery lives!
  • Sky (age 6 and 2/3) - Hey, close enough...(see Sky's second suggestion.) Gotta keep the peace doncha know.

2.

  • Mr. ?
  • Scott Kinoshita
  • calmx
  • Alberto Chimal
  • Zack Adgie
  • Markus Gerwinski
  • David Hayward
  • Michael Avolio

3.

  • Alberto Chimal



It's Great to be Back!

Thank you to everybody who wrote in during my break. Reinventing Comics, all 242 pages of it, is off to the printers at last! Look for it to hit comics stores in early June, and bookstores in August. Check our FAQ list in the Welcome section for more info on the book.

Thank you also to all those who alerted me to the malfunctioning suggestion forms in the last few weeks. This was a glitch due to scottmccloud.com's recent move to a new hosting service. The problem is now fixed.

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

--Scott
Sunday 04/30/2000



Sky (age 6 and 2/3)

    It's wierd that we are ending for a little bit.

  • Carl sees the truck but then it disappears (wonder how you draw that).
  • He sees the car then he looks up and sees the same car.
  • It's just an optical illsion, and a monster is comming at him.
  • He sees another truck coming at him and soon there is a 1,000 trucks coming at him.
  • He sees a person coming at him and the car and he runs away.
  • He sees a big gigantic monster behind the car, and the monster crushes the car and Carl says "thank you".
  • Carl sees Daisy and runs away from Daisy.
  • He sees another car coming at him jumps on the cloud.
  • Carl sees Daisy and Daisy says "whats happining" and Carl jumps up on a cloud.
  • Carl knows the car is an optical illusion and he wants to get to the monster.

    There's so many people just at the beginning of the week.


Winter (age 4)

  • budqz0 ickrf (translation: He's saying, "ickrf" because it's another way of saying "oh no I'm going to be dead, because the car is going to hit me")
  • vtvzzzzzzz-u332101234567890==54
  • hi mom i love you yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
  • tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
  • uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
  • tgbwtsdb
  • His name is doesn't listen when his mother says "don't drink and drive Carl" but he just doesn't listen.

    (I obviously transcribed that last suggestion --Ivy)


Lukas

    Hm... hibernation. Busy Production or post-production means reinventing comics is just months away! Then we can get working on the Zot! Problem. Maybe an online petition?

  • Well, since "dad" is now in continuity... As Carl runs by the beer truck, he exclaims "Dad?!" while in the truck, Carl's dad looks back at him and queries "Carl?!" (Dad being drunk while driving is optional, but will make for more interisting thread)

    It'll be a while until this is properly posted, but yesterday, Feb 13, Charles Shultz, creator of "Peanuts," died. As a highly popular and influential sequential artist, his passing is a great loss to us all. Perhaps more than coincidentally, the last Peanuts strips is to have run today, Feb 13. Or at least that's what my friend told me. Rest in peace.


[Shultz was one of the greats. He'll be deeply missed. --Scott]


Mike Farrar

    Carl, in robe and pointy hat, gestures in direction of beer truck, which then transforms into babe holding six-pack.

  • "uh oh! 'Ala kazam'"


Dark Artist

    Well, what else do you expect to happen?

  • Carl flattens himself down against the street as the truck passes harmlessly above him!

    It makes sense, doesn't it?


Mr. ?

    Good luck on your book, Scott!

  • Carl is hit by the truck and his body goes flying into a beer factory.
  • Carl evades the truck. Carl: "Whew, that was close!" But we see another truck barreling down on him from behind, driven by HIS MOTHER!
  • Carl is hanging to the door of the truck holding on to the driver's, Daisy's, arm.
  • The truck flipped over to avoid a cringing Carl, but now a wave of beer comes out of the back.
  • Obligatory drunk suggestion: Hijacking the truck, Norm from Cheers!

    After looking at your site, now I'm thinking of doing a 24 hour comic...


James "DexX" Dominguez

    Oh no... is Ethel actually Arnold Schwarzenegger in disguise? What next? "No Holy Water, Bert, but this Uzi will sure make you HOLEY!" Just kidding... I thought it was cute! :)

  • The obvious one that should fit very well but will be suggested by millions of people: The truck swerves and tips over, a torrent of beer flowing out of it and rushing toward Carl.
  • Addendum to the previous - Carl stands stunned in the middle of the road, thinking "Stay or run? What a dilemma!"
  • The truck vanishes in a puff of smoke. Carl says, "What the-?" A hairy man in a tutu stands beside him, saying, "Carl, I am the beer fairy."
  • A closeup of the front grille of the truck, with Carl spreadeagled across it, screaming. Possibly add two people inside, one saying, "Do you hear something?"
  • The truck screeches to a halt, and a keg of beer flies out of the back, on a collision course with Carl. He stands petrified, maybe uttering his trademark "Gah!"

    Bummer... I REALLY like the Beer Fairy, but it really is too much action for a single panel. I will try to get him into this comic at every opportunity in the future.


Taylor

  • Carl grabs onto the back of the beer truck and rides it to freedom!

    Will there be a CYOC 2 when this one is done? Or are you sick of Carl and his drunkeness.


[Actually, I always intended that there be many Carl variations. Choose Your Own Carl, just became too big and stalled those other plans until this one could be completed. So to answer your question: No, we'll probably put CYOC to rest, but Carl himself will return in many forms. Among the possibilities I've been considering are "Carl Jam" "Tear Away Carl" and "Infinite Carl." Stay tuned... --Scott]

Joe Gassert

  • The driver of the beer truck reaches out to pull him into the cab. The driver could be Daisy, as in section 3.


David Bedno

  • Carl's mom is standing there, looking puzzled, holding a slip.
  • Carl slips on a banana peel, and escapes the oncoming truck...I dunno, maybe it goes over him.

    Ok...so they're obvious. I'm not in a subtle mood today...


Gregg Lamse

  • Daisy's driving the truck. "Climb in, Carl! You drink, I'll drive!"


Scott Kinoshita

    This seems to get more difficult with each panel!

  • He skirts past the truck, thinking "Wow, that was close" as a taxi comes from the other direction right at him.
  • Same as above, except his mother gets hit by the truck.
  • Carl is saved by winged Mom/Carl, who then flies into something else
  • Carl slips on the beer can and goes flying out of the path of the truck.
  • Carl's mom throws the knife at him, punctures the truck's tires, which skids out into something else (causing havoc)
  • Carl gets hit by the truck, but he's too drunk to notice the damage as he goes flying and doesn't die for a few panels.


PJM

    After my triumphant victory I return!

  • The truck ploughs into Carl. His head flies clean off! (And so far from a gravestone panel... could be interesting)
  • "GAaaaaaaaaaaah!" screams Carl, leaping out of the way just in time.
  • The truck screeches to a halt. The truck driver leans out of the window... "Gee, aren't you Carl from Understanding Comics? Can I have your autograph?!"
  • The truck swerves to avoid Carl, and ploughs straight into Mom.
  • Who says the truck is moving? Carl goes to the back of the truck, and starts removing crates of Bud. "Ah! My delivery's arrived at last."
  • Mr T leans out of the window. MR T: You damn crazy fool!
  • Elvis arrives and starts wiggling his pelvis at Carl.
  • Carl's dad leans out of the truck window - "CARL! LOOK OUT!!!!"

    See ya April!


terminus

    "... and it's moist"

  • Carl dives under the truck. it drives past.
  • Truck stops just missing Carl, Carl Passes out.
  • Truck screeches.. but you cant tell if Carl has been hit or not.
  • Carl dives under the truck, and it hits his mom.
  • Truck stops, Carl gets in.


Kelvin the Lion

    MUST...DRAW.....COMICS!

  • Closeup of Bert, who is driving the truck
  • Carl leaps off the road and goes sliding down a slope
  • Carl shouts "dragon slave!" and blows the truck away with a blast of Lina Inverse style magic.
  • Carl slips and the truck just goes safely over him.
  • The truck swerves away and hits another beer truck, Coors maybe.
  • The truck transforms into a robot like Optimus Prime. "You ok kid?"

    Your book is an inspiration to all of us struggling to become professional comic artists. I eagerly await Reinventing comics.


Morgan Doninger

    Well that was stupid. Hit enter, and sent nothing whoo hoo fingers flyin'. Good luck eith your hermitude... hermidity? Wha-ever. I will miss this too. Sigh.

  • Carl's face pressed against the windshield of the truck that has just ran him down. CARL: "Ow."

    For an added highly law-suitable touch the truck could be driven by the Bud Ice Penguin! Good luck on RC.


Danny Cline

  • Sound Effect: WHAM! Carl is stuck to the truck's grill, still alive and unharmed, like Wile E. Coyote. Carl: "Wuh?"


Thom Marrion

  • Carl is in the cab of the truck with the driver knocking back a few and commenting on what a lucky break he just had. His mom is left behind in the dust.


Geoff Sebesta

  • CARL: Hey, look! A quarter! He bends over and the truck rushes over him.


Santiago Casares

  • Somehow Carl finds himself inside the beer truck. There's a tear in his eye as he says: "I'm in heaven"


calmx

  • BAM!! sound effect as Carl and Bud truck collide. CARL rises, in a daze, getting up. "Must... run..." (as per Bud commercial...) Eventually, somehow, Carl ends up drinking AND driving the beer truck.


Alberto Chimal

  • Carl flies through the air after the impact and cries, "Yaaaah!"
  • Carl flies through the air after the impact, looks down, and says, "Whoa, what a great view!"
  • Carl flies through the air after the impact, right back to her mom. She says, "Ah, there you are!"
  • The truck stops, screeching. Carl says, "??"
  • The truck stops, screeching. Carl says, "??" Someone in the truck says, "It IS you!"
  • Carl's tombstone, but with a thought ballon that reads, "No, wait... This can't be the end!"


Del Antonio

    Ibid.

  • Truck screeches to a halt; Carl's Dad hollers from driver's window "Carl! Get in!"
  • Truck screeches to a halt, Carl's Mom leaning out of the window laughing, "Mwa ha ha"


Tony Biegen

  • Carl is thrown through the windshield and then through the back of the cab. This sets up the next frame for Carl to wind up in the back of the truck surrounded by beer bootles.


Rosa Clements

  • A massive big albatross flies down out of the sky, picks Carl up and flies off with him. Carl looks surprised and says "What the- " or something.


Nathan Alderman

    When's the inevitable Carl/Wolverine crossover debuting? "Promise me you won't drink and drive, bub!" (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

  • Carl's legs stretch upward fantastically by reflex, a la Plastic Man, and the truck passes harmlessly beneath him. Carl: "Whoa! What was IN that drink?"
  • R.I.P. Carl. (Only to be followed in the NEXT panel by Carl rising from the grave as a zombie.)
  • Carl throws himself flat on his stomach and the truck races over him. Carl: "Phew! That was CLOSE!"
  • Carl leaps sideways out of the truck's path, only to spot Daisy in the driver's seat of the truck. Carl: "Hey! Watch where you're-- DAISY?"
  • A muscular figure in a cape swoops down and plucks carl from harm's way. Carl: "Superman??" Figure: "No..."
  • The truck passes right THROUGH Carl! Carl: "Huh?"


[Having been on haitus at the beginning of April, let me just say that Marvel and I are still haggling over the movie rights. --Scott]

Jim & Steve

  • beer truck stops in time and the driver gives carl a free beer so he will not report his reckless driving

    Beer: The cause of and solution to all life's problems


dan wheeler

  • a kid is playing with a toy BUD truck in the foreground. kid "honk honk!" carl is running in tha background. (you see the truck really wasn't bigger than carl is was only closer to our point of view.) carl "now for that drink!"
  • the driver of the truck is .... carl's mom! she says "or so you thought, carl! i'll teach you to disobey your mother."


bryan youn

  • The panel shows the driver of the truck -- it's Carl's dad! He is of course drinking.


Aryeh Cohen Wade

  • Carl sidesteps the beer truck and thinks, "Boy, that would have been ironic!"


Souther

  • sound effect:SLIP! (Carl slips on banana peel and flies over the truck and out of harm's way)


Wade Bowen

    I was just re-reading some old Zot and got all nostalgic for Carl updates. But that sounds like I'm complaining and I don't mean to. Take your time, I'm also excited about Reinventing Comics. I don't know why you needed to read this. So...

  • the truck misses carl, but puts his mother in harms way. "Mom, watch out!"
  • Carl hitchhikes, and gets a ride in the back of the beer truck "Hey buddy, you need a ride?" "heaven!"or "my prayers are answered" or whatnot
  • interior of the truck with Carl uncomfortably smashed up against the windshield. Perhaps the driver has an alchoholic beverage at hand. truck driver: "oops"
  • Bert dives in and knocks Carl out of harms way, only to be hit by the oncoming truck.


Pete Riedner

  • Carl slips, and slides under the oncoming truck. He lives, but is sent to the hospital.

    Lead up to Carl in the hospital, Where he all of a sudden has an aneurism an dies.


Koby Chodosh

    Glad this particular plot thread doesn't involve vampires... those are getting pretty silly (not funny).

  • This is pretty obvious, but I think it's the best way to go: Carl in a hospital bed, with three dots connecting to the central R.I.P. CARL panel.

    This and everything else on your site was an awesome idea. It's amazing that you can afford to while away your hours doing this. Not even any ads on your site! Scott, you rock! I'll make sure to get "Reinventing" when it comes out...


Zack Adgie

  • Carl gets hit by the truck and dies (to later rise from the grave for a frame or two)
  • The truck turns left, never even coming close to hitting carl.
  • Carl suddenly vanishes into thin air, without a trace? Where is he? that is a mystery to be solved next frame...
  • Or how about a frame dedicated to nothing else but carl's eye popping out of his head in fear, a la tex avery?
  • Carl is miraculously saved when the gigantic RoboCarl(tm) steps on the beer truck. Now, how to deal with robocarl...


Greg Lam

  • Carl looks relieved. The truck is stopped in the background. He says: "Wow, that truck must've just missed me!" Meanwhile, a hand taps him on the shoulder: "Ahem!".


Reynor Padill

  • Carl is in the front seat of the truck. Driver: "Wanna drink?" holding up bottle. Carl: (Screaming) "NO! I promised my mother."

    Next carl could go into a rage and fight the driver, only to be kicked out of the moving truck and die. Or else the truck could crash, and he dies.


John Pierce

  • Carl is caught in the mouth by a fishook out of nowhere and pulled to safety.


Bret Sector

  • Show the truck driver drinking a beer and looking horrified: "I didn't think one beer would hurt!"


Patrick Thompson

  • Carl chasing the truck down the street. driver says"Oh No! He's gaining on me!"
  • Shot of the truck smashed into Carl's house, having swerved to miss him. There's a huge pool of beer on the road, pouring from a split in the side of the truck. Carl's down on all fours, lapping it up like a cat at a plate of milk, thinking "Mmmm...Road beer..."
  • Carl stands next to the stopped truck, looking down at the front tire. His mom's legs are sticking out from under the tire, like in Wizard of Oz when the house landed on the witch. Think's Carl: "Ding, Dong, the witch is dead..."
  • Hot from over Carl's shoulder, looking up at the Truck about to hit him. Carl thinks: "Dad?" Truck driver thinks: "Son?"
  • Giant foot comes down from the sky, crushing the truck before it can hit Carl


Markus Gerwinski

    Hi Scott! Welcome back from hermit mode... and after giving us so much time to reflect our suggestions, don't say you didn't expect THAT:

  • The obvious one first: In an I.Jones-like manner, Carl rolls under the Bud truck, laying flat down between the wheels. (Could make this one as a close-up of Carl, viewpoint from below the truck, its wheels speeding towards the vanishing point.)
  • In a samurai-movie-like manner, Carl jumps over the bud truck.
  • From a dark corner, someone grabs Carl's arm, pulling him out of the way of the Bud truck. (Word balloon: "Shh! Come here!")
  • Just a big panel filled with a CRASH!!! dust cloud.
  • The truck driver avoids hitting Carl by getting off the road, crashing into a tree. Watching the accident, Carl says: "Hey, if you're drunk, stay off the road!!"
  • Daisy jumps on the road, pulling Carl with her to save him.
  • The truck hits Carl, hurling him in a ballistic flight back towards Mom.
  • Carl is "picked up" by the truck, hanging flat on its front. Carl: "This isn't my day..."
  • The scene shown on a screen. Carl zigzags along the road, avoiding the truck, a police car, a motorbike, and a tram. The person who's watching the screen (sitting outside the panel, so not yet visible to the reader) says: "He's fast... Maybe he's the right one..."
  • The Bud truck falls into an open manhole.


Andrew Solovay

    My first Carl suggestion!

  • Closeup of truckdriver, who's thinking, "She didn't tell me not to *drive any drinks*!"

    ...just 'cause I'm that kind of self-referential dude.


Holland King

    What a great idea this is!

  • Have him hop over the truck and grab a beer, then go drive and die


Scott Mooney

  • The beer truck breaks and swerves, narrowly missing Carl but (next frame down) tips over and splits open, spilling a huge tidal wave of beer and efervescence which egulfs Carl. Next frame down Carl is submerged, eyes rolling back in his head, air escaping his lungs in a big stream of rising bubbles, his face turning quite blue. (frame to the right is Carl's grave, of course) frame below a hand (who's we don't know) is pulling Carl's head above the surface of beer. In the panel to the right of Carl's vampire dad about to bight him, Carl's mom boots carl out of the way, wooden stake raised to stab Bert. Next panel: The force of mom's kick sends Carl crashing through the liquor store window (the view is from outside) into the path of an oncoming beer truck which is already braking and swerving to avoid Carl. Next panel: the truck has rolled, it's tank split open, and a huge tidal wave of beer is crashing down on Carl. "Help!" says Carl. This joins to the next frame where Carl is already submerged and drowning in the vertical thread.


David Hayward

  • Carl bounces off front of truck. Carl: "Oh. It was stationary. That was lucky". Then... (Piano, Pink elephant, whatever).

    (Piano, Pink elephant, whatever).


Sky (age 7 when you read this)

    Daddy's been gone a long time.

  • He jumps on the truck.
  • He saw nobody was in there and ran away.
  • Daisy was driving the car and saw Carl and stopped and came out.
  • Carl's dad was in the truck and going to surprise Carl and jumped out.
  • He realized that there was traffic behind the truck and he jumped on the cars.
  • He breaks the car window and looks inside and something snaches him on the nose.
  • A bird comes by and pulls on his hair so that he can fly up to a tree.
  • Carl shows the person in the truck a stick and the person runs away.
  • He jumps on a the shoulders of a person walking by and gets safely through.
  • Carl sees a computer rolling by and he makes it block the way of the truck.

    I get to tell you my Carl lots of time because it's more than a week!


[Yikes! Child welfare services, take note: Sky is referring to Daddy being "gone" from the website, not home! --Scott]

Tony the Comics Guy

  • 1. CARL exclaims "Huh??!!" as the truck mysteriously passes through his ghostly image. 2. We see CARL laying on the ground, clothes torn, after the truck has driven right over him. CARL: "Whew! That was close!" 3. The SUPER-DUDES FROM "DESTROY!" fall out of the sky, crushing the truck and keeping it from hitting CARL. CARL, with his mouth slacking open, exclaims "Wha..??!!"

    You know, Scott, "Understanding Comics" is freakin' incredible and "Zot!" is one of the best, but "Destroy!" is still the most fun to read. You GOTTA love it!


Georgia Young

  • Carl is dead, looking at the truck and his body and sez "how about that for
    poetic justice?"


Markus Gerwinski

    Forgot these ones:

  • Mom flies by on a broom, grabs Carl's neck and lifts him (thus saving him from the truck). Mom: "Gotcha!"
  • In a horse-like manner, the truck hops over Carl. Carl: "?!"
  • When the truck is only inches away from him, Carl yells into his cell phone: "I need an exit! Fast!" (With a nod to "The Matrix")
  • Before hitting Carl, the bud truck crashes into a truck with tombstones.
  • We see Carl and the truck as pieces on a chess board. Player 1: "This is hard..." Player 2 has an evil grin on his/her face. (Suggestions for players: God/Devil, Daisy/Mr.Gordon, Scott/Clarence...)


VM

  • Carl's Dad is driving the beer truck, drinking a pint of blood and grinning maniacally.


Antonio Romero

  • Truck swerves, narrowly misses Carl, but a bottle of Bud falls from the truck, catching Carl on the left temple...
  • Truck swerves, narrowly missing Carl... through the driver's side window, though, Carl spies the face of his supposedly dead father... the two lock gazes, each equally stunned to see the other...


Doug Waldron

  • Carl slips on a banana peel! Get it?
  • When the truck pulls completely into view, we see that the side reads, "Buddha Trucking Company." Carl achieves enlightenment.
  • Flashback to a Birthday many years ago. Mom opens her present from Carl:
    "Why Carl! What a lovely slip!"

    Never underestimate the power of slapstick.


Michael Avolio

    Ahhhhhh... Good to be back.

  • Carl SLIPS and falls under the truck, complete with sound effects. (Suggested sound effect: "SLIP!" Not very original, but it works.)
  • The truck runs over Carl., The truck slams into Carl's front as Mom's knife stabs into his back., Carl lands on the front of the truck, like in an action movie or a Frank Miller comic., A flying Carl (or a flying ANYONE) swoops in and grabs Carl., A panel in which Scott McCloud gives us a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Scott McCloud." (C'mon, we need a nonsequitor..!), Daisy leaps in front of the truck, pushing Carl out of the way, but being hit instead. Carl: "DAISY!! OH NO!! SHE SAVED MY LIFE!", Same thing, but with Dad instead of Daisy., KER-THUMP! Close-up on the truck driver: "I hit something!" (He can be grimacing or smiling, I don't care.), Mom sees the truck go by, blocking Carl from view. (We see from behind her.)

    Looking forward to Reinventing Comics...


Tom Harris

  • A hook appears from the sky, pulling Carl out of harm's way
  • Carl slips (adding a clever visual pun to his previous comment) under the truck, which harmlessly passes over him.
  • The truck crumples against Carl like tin foil
  • Close up reaction shot of Carl's horrified expression, close up of carl's mother's horrified expression.
  • Close-up on evil expression of fiendish looking old man driving the truck (this would be carl's grandfather, Al), the truck zooms right through Carl, who stands there looking confused.. thought balloon "?"
  • Carl falls into a manhole, narrowly avoiding sure death.
  • The flying Carl (or the pink elephant, or the angel) swoops down and rescues Carl
  • A faling pink elephant smashes the truck.. Just in time!

    Welcome Back!


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