This week's panel suggested by Alex Schubert

And the "Youthful Indiscretion" continues...

What a week, eh?

So, it looks like a CYOC first, this week -- a split panel!

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

--Scott
Sunday 11/19/2000

Jesse Rimler

• carl visits his father's grave site Carl:i miss you, pa.

  hey, Scott, any opinions on Kid A? personally, i don't know how these radiohead guys can keep topping themselves so wondefully.

[I don't have Kid A yet, but I like what I've heard. (I wish I had more money to spend on music!! Been getting into Amon Tobin, Underworld, Blur, Caleb Sampson and finally getting some Massive Attack, but I have a lot of catching up to do. Aphex Twin and Radiohead are both high on the want list.) --Scott]

Matthew Mella

Guess I won... prolly means that 2 weeks in a row's a bit optimistic, but, hey it's the taking part!

• Carl/Carl JR slumps on bench. "I wish there were still bars open" (prohibition's back in 2020... it's obviously past closing time in 2000)
• Carl/Carl JR lays in the road. "I'm just gonna sit here and wait for a truck to run me down!"
• The ghost of Dad/Carl appears, offering a bottle of Bud. "Go on, son, take a drink..."
• A piano falls on Carl/Carl Jr's head. Just because.
• Carl/Carl Jr continues his melancholic idlings, unaware that the grim reaper has begun to follow him, scythe over shoulder and finger outstretched: "...It's a lesson to us all on the evils of drink..."
• Carl/Carl Jr stops and put's his thumb out, hitchhiker-style: "I've gotta get outta this dump!"
• 20 years later, Carl II talks to Carl III: "promise me you won't drink and drive, carl." "I promise..."
• INTERMISSION: Chorus line of pretty high-kicking girls dressed as bottles of budweiser

  Make a poster out of all 6 parts when this finishes in the new year! Go on! I'd buy that for a dollar... Maybe you could send past winners a free copy...

[How about a PDF file people could print at home? --Scott]

Doug Waldron

• A tractor beam pulls Carl into a passing spaceship. Carl: "What the--?!"

  You've got to admit, it's a perfect time for an alien abduction.

Rusty Priske

• Carl, looking much more chipper: But he wouldn't have wanted me to mope around!

garth robbins

• carl senior comes back as a vampire and drinks his blood next one is "she didn't say no sucking blood and driving"

Travis Pelkie

• This Carl sez: "I can remember it as if it were yesterday" Leads to sequence down-- maybe a dream!

  Okay, the dream stuff, maybe not, but. . . I just read RC recently, and I am pumped about online comics! You're very persuasive. But I've got an idea now, that ties into a thought suggested to me by someone posting on Zot Online who wants print and digital comics coexisting (so do I, BTW). But he suggested to me about the possibility of "collecting" online comics. Then I met with an advisor here at school that mentioned that a way to fulfill my art history major is to do something like curate an imaginary (comics) exhibition, or do a website, so I thought, combine the 2, and do an online exhibition of online comics. How feasible would you think that was, Scott? If anyone has any suggestions, my email is bg18629@binghamton.edu I hope the form mail takes.

[Hmn... Interesting idea. In a way, assembling a collection of links *is* a kind of curating. Comments anyone? --Scott]

Morgan Doninger

Missed last week due to computer problems (my end), but I'm back now.

• The ghost of Elvis appears in front of Carl. Elvis: "You think your Daddy died tragically?"

  I have no idea how to spell tragically. I also agree with you stance on the election, but since I live in New York, I've got little or no problems voting for Nader.

[In Ireland and elsewhere, they have an instant run-off system where you indicate your first and second choice of votes. We really should implement that here. Then no one would hesitate to vote for a third party candidate for fear of "throwing their vote away." COKE or PEPSI is not my idea of "freedom of choice." --Scott]

John Barnes

• Carl's now un-dead Dad rises from a cemetery near the crossroads.  "Caarrrllll", he moans, in a voice that is 'cold and grating and full of dirt' (to quote Stephen King).

  Thanks for your time, as well as the hours of entertainment and insight you've given me through Zot!, Destroy!, Superman Adventures, The Adventures of Abraham Lincoln and Understanding Comics.

Ryan

• I think the panel should show carl jrs dads ghost, and he talks to him, but
  carl jr isnt scared

Jake Young

I wonder why nobody thought of this before?

• Off in the distance, Carl sees that his car is being towed away. He yells for the truck to stop.

  The panel to the right would probably begin with him wondering what to do now that he is without a car.

Mike Yi

Man, we just HAD to kill Carl, didn't we? Now we'll never know how he died...

• Carl (Jr.) - If it wasn't for alcohol, none of this would have happened.
• Carl (Jr.) - I wish I knew how he died.
• Daisy (young Daisy) comes in: "Sorry about the accident"

  Ack. Multiple Carls. Didn't we have this problem before?

Nat Gertler

Ah, I can still use the suggestion that the system lost last time!

• That big orb in the background turns out not to be the sun, but the bald head of a Godzilla-sized Burt ghost! "It was neither tragic, nor truly death..."

Glen Seymour

I was going to suggest things about how Carl Sr. died, then I realized that on the top path we know how Bert died but we don't know how Carl Sr. died. Argh!

• Carl's mom appears, "Oh get over it." Carl looks shocked, "mom!"
• Carl with lightbulb over head: "Then again, I can make it into a musical!"
• "...into a graphic novel"
• "...into a motion picture"
• Carl holding car keys, "I need a drink."
• Carl opens a car door, "I knew I left my car around here somewhere."

  Hmmm... I'm not impressed with those. I'll try to come back.

Damian

• Carl walking towards parked car. it's revealed that a chimp is walking behind him. Carl sez: "...then Dad could be my designated driver, instead of this trained monkey!"

[Ha! Ha! Y'know, if it wasn't quite so long, dialogue-wise, I probably would have gone with this one. Honorable Mention, D.! --Scott]

Glen Seymour

Suddenly, I came up with a suggestion to confuse things even more!

• Carl sticking one finger up, looking at us: Maybe I can clone him and bring him back!

  Alternately, I guess he could clone himself to stop being lonely.

Mac

• Caught up in his musings, Carl wanders into the bad part of town. We see buildings with boarded up windows, bums on the street, etc. Carl: "Hey, where am I?"
• A Mysterious Stranger steps in front of Carl and says, "He wasn't really your father, Carl."
• Carl sees a dark shape behind him. He thinks, "Wait a minute... I'm being followed."
• A bright light shines down on Carl from above. A voice says "Prepare to be abducted, Earth creature." Carl says, "Now what?"
• Carl: "Speaking of tragedies, what's the deal with my hair?"

Jen

I must be really out of touch. I am having a hard time following this whole thing. But that doesn't mean I won't try.

• Daisy doesn't trust Carl. He is always running off to drink in the mourning of his father. Carl had a fight with dad just before dad died drunk driving. Right now she wonders where he is. Carl cheats, beats, or hurts Daisy in some other way (on top of everything).

David Smith

Carl needs to adopt a happier tone.

• "At least I inherited his lemon-flavored pants!"

  Lemon-flavored clothing is the wave of the future!

Alex Schubert

...

• Carl looks at a car and bottle of booze. He thinks: "Hmm..."

  After that...it ould be easy for Carl's mother to say "Hey! You promised!" or something very much like that...and I would fit...see? SEE?!

PJM

• Carl Jnr starts reminiscing about his dad's death, his thought bubble stretching up to the panel above right.
• Carl Snr walks into view... "But Son! I'm not dead!!!"
• A car ploughs straight into poor Carl Jnr
• Carl Jnr: "...I mean, licked to death by an aardvark. How demeaning!"
• Carl Jnr finds a magic lamp on the road.
• Carl Jnr sells his soul to satan on the crossroads.

Markus Gerwinski

• The obvious one first: In the middle of the crossroads, a trap door opens under Carl's feet.
• Voice resp. word balloon from behind Carl: "He hadn't."
• Since he's looking to the ground, Carl discovers a coin lying on the way.
• Since he's looking to the ground, Carl runs into Scott.

  Congrats to the "Hearts and Minds" climax, Scott! It was really a fireworks of surprises... I hope, it wasn't really Dekko who was slain by the ceiling, but one of his backup bodies. I like Dekko; he's a kind of "supervillain" I can accept: The kind who doesn't even think he's committing a crime... and if you think about it, he's almost right. The worst thing you can blame him for is deprivation of liberty, damage to property, and a, uh, quite drastic way of delivering his artistic message. By the way, I got the impression he's a bit resembling you, Scott: He's also very passionate in his arts, and he has a missionary urge to fight for it...

[Note to newcomers: Markus is referring to Zot! Online . I just finished the 16th and final installment of the story "Hearts and Minds." And yes, Dekko is definitely based in part on his creator, as are Max, Jenny, Woody and Zot himself! --Scott]

Lee K. Seitz

• Carl (Jr.): I plan to live to a ripe old age. In the background, we see: A. A sinister, shadowy figure. B. A UFO approaching. C. Thor. Take your pick.

Andrew Selby

I'm sure some of these are painfully obvious and probably suggested by others already, but hopefully I've included a couple that spark your interest.

• Carl breaks down sobbing: "And it's all my fault!"
• Carl walks into a bar: "Dad! I thought you were dead!"
• Carl discovers a newspaper on the ground: "Oh, look! A story about dad!" (this provides a good set-up for the next panel)
• Ghost of dad with devious expression appears over Carl's shoulder (like a tiny devil making evil suggestions): "Why don't you have a drink, son?!?"
• Carl standing in front of dad's tombstone (view is from back side of tombstone, so you can't read the front): "I hope I don't follow in his footsteps." or "I hope I don't end up like him."

  Thanks so much for this comic! I sure hope you plan to have other projects with reader participation. It's been a real treat watching this story unfold.

Dirk Deppey

Mr. McCloud- I am actually here to protest the insufferable absence of flying monkeys in your little "Carl" cartoons here on this website. I believe that your reputation as a high-faluting "comics-explainer-guy" may have gotten to your head, and made you forget your indy roots. Flying monkeys are the only solution, of course; everybody loves them, and would gladly own one if only such creatures existed in the real world. And they will! One day, advances in genetic engineering and aerodynamics will at last collide in an orgy of good taste and child-like innocence, and the elusive flying monkey will at last be ours. I think I shall name mine "Ralph." Anyway, it is with concern for your reputation that I submit the following:

• Panel: Carl looks up to the sky, sees a flying monkey. CARL (thinking): Oh, look. A flying monkey!

  I hope my eminently sane and valuable suggestion is heeded in time. - Dirk

[Ayeeeeeeeee!! No, Dirk, No!! Flying Monkeeez SCARE-EEEEEEEEEE!!! --]

Josiah Rowe

• Carl/ Carl Jr. reflects, "I suppose it all started with that promise....". In a thought balloon, we see the famous "Promise me..." panel, setting us up nicely for the following one. (Which means that the rest of this path may or may not be within a flashback, which may be being thought of by one of two generations of Carls! Multi-layer me, baby!) The thought bubble can be either "original flavor" (Carl Sr. and Ethel) or ambiguous (show [whichever] Carl's promise only, don't show who he's making the promise to). •••• Aaaugh! I ended a sentence with a preposition! That is the sort of sloppy writing up with which I should not put!

  This is probably one of those "suggested by millions" ideas, but we haven't had one of those for a while...

Grant Schreiber

• Carl making face of disgust: "...crushed by falling obsolete voting booths in Palm Beach!"
• Upshot of Carl, clenching his fist: "If only I wasn't a mortal coward, I'd swear vengence!"
• Carl, brightening: "On the other hand, I now have Dad's collection of lucky rabbit feet!"
• Carl, wiping his brow: "My fear of steamed carrots haunts my every move!"
• Carl, rubbing chin in deep thought: "Perhaps Detective Dotty will have found more clues!"

  Mystery! Vote Fraud! Smirking German Television Reporters! Sudden Death! This one single panel packs all the drama of late 20th Century ennui into a square of perfection! -- I've built up the hype, Scott, now it's your turn!

Ted Anderson

This would have to be a two-panel bit, and since I don't really want to take away someone else's opportunity, you're therefore free to completely ignore this...but I still like it.

• (Panel 1) Carl's Dad comes up from the grave, saying something like "But I'm not dead!" to Carl's shock and surprise. Except, of course, that it's now Carl Jr, so... (Panel 2) Carl Jr: Wait! You're not Dad! Carl Sr(appearing out of nowhere): No! I am!

  Like I said, it's two panels, and it doesn't make sense unless you squint at it really hard and hit your head a few times with a hammer...oh well.

Jeff Clear

So we have Carl in one thread, Cral Jr. in another..... Complicated.

• Voice from off panel...."Carl!"....Carl/Carl Jr. turns around...."Dad?!?"
• Carl/Carl Jr. kicks someything. "What's this?"

Shane Semler

• Another Carl Jr. in an alternate universe is walking in the opposite direction as the Carl Jr. in last panel and saying the exact same thing but in reverse. Just flip the last panel and plop it in the new spot.