Who Knew

Who knew there were so many others who thought the same way that I do. I gave up on Close to Home years ago. I gave it a try. I truly did. I tried to read and like it. I am a Far Side fan and was upset when it left the comics pages. I too had hopes that Close to Home would fill that void. I gave up on it after about a year and now rarely give it a thought.

This article, A Very Bad Comic Strip: John McPherson’s Close To Home  by Tom Pappalardo that my older brother sent me makes some frustratingly terrific points. Frustrating? Yep, they are frustrating cause Mr. Pappalardo has put into words things that are so simple and easy to see that it makes me wonder why I didn't write this. I have seen the same horrible sketches, the same incredibly bad perspective, the same lame jokes. I wish I had the same anger and drive to expose patheticsim that Mr. Pappalardo has.

One thing that Mr. Pappalardo does not harp on is the fact that Close to Home is a waste of precious comic page real estate. This has been a pet peeve of mine for years. There are probably hundreds of thousands of comic strips out in the world that have more potential than Close to Home but don't get the chance cause Close to Home is taking up that space. This is why I refuse to read "re-run" strips. Why are the Peanuts still printed in my newspaper? Why are they re-printing For Better or For Worse? Go let a new up and comer try and claim that space. Peanuts and For Better of For Worse fans can go buy a treasury.

What's funny, now  I'm back to reading Close to Home just so I can see the problems that are illustrated in the article, just like Mr. Pappalardo does.

"I look forward to reading it with great relish every morning. Because I hate it so so much. Because it perfectly encapsulates everything that is wrong and bad about newspaper comic strip writing. Because it is so poorly executed, I usually spend more time trying to comprehend what I’m looking at than I do not laughing at the punchline."

Now I notice more and enjoy laughing with Mr. Pappalardo when I see these problems.

This is my suspicion: I don’t think John McPherson knows how to sketch. I think he has his idea and just starts inking it directly into a pre-printed rectangle. And hey, if something doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit. No big deal! On a daily basis, this comic strip provides the worst composition I see from a professional published artist.

The problem . . . I might just become a fan of Close to Home thanks to Mr. Pappalardo's article. Irony can be pretty ironic at times.