contextual comic seminar

Some of our faithful readers noted that Wednesday's comic didn't make a lot of sense. This is true. It lacked sufficient context to drive home the joke. The context stayed in my head, and didn't make its way onto the page. As a result, the strip was--shall we say--obscure.

The fix is above. I added the word "day" to the strip. The Earth and the word "day" together get the reader to Earth Day, which provides the stepping stone for connecting the Sun to Sunday, and then the Moon to Monday. Such a trail of hidden discoveries, when it unwinds, is fun to follow. I apologize for covering up the trail. I think I've hacked our way down the trail, and the joke is now dead. But take comfort, constant reader, in knowing it died showing you the difference a single word can make and illustrating why cartoonists can stare at a handful of words for hours before deciding which ones to use and not use.

P.S. For the record, Michelle correctly predicted the original version lacked sufficient context, but I argued vigorously for the more elliptical version. I am now having my crow served to me baked. (Some habits are hard to break.)

P.P.S. Today (several days after posting the original and after revising it to make the new version),  I discovered a more deftly executed variation on this theme by Mark Parisi in his strip Off the Mark.

Onward!