Basic Instruction, Part 7

In my ongoing reality series, I continue advising Scott Meyer on how to become a syndicated cartoonist. If you haven’t been following the story, start here:

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/08/basic-instruc-1.html

Allow me to set the stage for today. Have you noticed that bad movies seem like good movies when you watch them on an airplane? Your context changes the experience. On a long flight, you are delighted about any form of stimulation.

When you judge the potential of comics, you have to make sure you have the right context. To make my point, here are a few of the original Dilbert comics I submitted to syndicates in 1988. These were reviewed by the top comic syndication editors on the planet, all experts at recognizing future comic hits. Only one editor, Sarah Gillespie, at United Media, saw potential in Dilbert and offered me a contract. The other editors passed.

Only one other syndicate gave me a personalized response. The editor helpfully suggested that perhaps I could find an actual artist to do the drawing for me. Ouch.

When United Media offered me a contract, I offered to partner with a real artist so I wouldn't embarrass them. That’s when a strange thing happened.

Sarah Gillespie said my art was fine.

Within a week, my art improved about 30%, simply because someone with credibility told me I was an artist. It was like my very own Wizard of Oz moment, where the Wizard told me all I needed was a syndication contract and I would become a talented cartoonist. In the following years, my writing and art steadily improved. It was the mid-nineties before Dilbert grew into something the public could embrace.

That’s your context for looking at Scott Meyer’s new batch of comics. The question to ask is “What could it become in three years.” Would he master the 3-panel strip form, and find the rhythm? Does he have the right stuff to develop the right stuff? Is he already there?

For your comments, please tell me your age and then list any comics currently IN NEWSPAPERS that you like better than Basic Instructions. That will be revealing.

Comments

[Zach]

Age 26.

Dilbert, Get Fuzzy, Foxtrot, and Overboard are some of my favorite comics. I'd say that Basic Instructions ranks right up there with them. I especially like the third strip about being "X-Treme."

[Mike]

Male; 37

The only good comics in print today: Dilbert, Get Fuzzy. I still love Berkely Breathed's artwork, but his strip just isn't very funny anymore. Bloom County was awesome, Opus is not.

Basic Instructions is hysterical. Where Opus is kind of in search of something funny to say, BI is just laying out real life in all of its unfunniness. Which is hysterical. And frankly, more difficult than it sounds.

[burt]

great strip! only strips beteer are get fuzzy, foxtrot, zits, frazz, and pickles

[Scott]

Male, 22.

Doonesbury!

[Lymonhead]

Has anyone considered that Basic Instructions could fit in its original format in a Sunday paper?

[Ace]

Male, Age 21. I read a couple of these, and literally couldn't stop. I've read every one on his website. While some almost miss the mark, he often hits gold (the yawning one, and How to make a decision) that have me laughing for ridiculously large amounts of time. I frankly don't like anything that is in newspapers right now, save dilbert.

[MacIntyre]

Age: 63
Comics I like better (or equal to) than BI.

Non Sequitor
9 Chickweed Lane
Calvin & Hobbes
Liberty Meadows
Zits
Get Fuzzy
Boondocks
Rudy Park
Bloom County
Dilbert

I have the books on all of the above where books are available.

I think Mr. Meyer should just go for it. Given the amount of dialog in his strip, he's probably stuck with the three panel format, but four panels have worked for a number of other folks. For instance, almost all of the above cartoons use the four panel format.

The only criticisms I might have is that Mr. Meyer may be too hip for the genre and may draw too well to be considered a cartoonist. I think that something in the cartoon needs to resonate with the reader and "leet skillz" and "bringing it" may not resonate with many of the boomers or pre boomers.

On the other hand, all three examples were worth reading and for my money well above average for the typical cartoon you see today. If Mr. Meyer can maintain that level of performance, he will be indeed formidable.

[JRM]

Male, 41.

Better than BI:

Dilbert
Pearls
For Better or For Worse

Competitive:

Zits
Get Fuzzy
Bliss

I like the three-panel format used here, but I would *not* reduce the word count; it wouldn't work as something not-Basic Instructions.

I think it should be syndicated right now. It's better than 70% of the comics in our local paper, and that's right now, today. Whether Scott M. is able to keep it up, improve, or runs out of ideas, I don't know. But it deserves a larger audience. Appreciation to our blog host for helping it; better comics lead to a better existence.

--JRM

[Tracey]

The only comics I read regularly are Get Fuzzy and Dilbert. I would add Basic Instructions to that list. I don't want to say it's better than my current too favorites, but it's really good.

[JoCykes]

Age: 23
Get Fuzzy

I'm really enjoying the BI strips, more so in the 4-panel versions, but the latest 3-panel batch has improved significantly. Overall, the BI comics have a 75% satisfaction rate for me. Keep up the great work!

[Robyn]

Age:

34

I really like Basic Instructions. Comics that are in the paper that I like a little more are Bliss, Bizarro, & Pearls Before Swine.

[Bill Tkach]

Age : 34

Favorite Comics in Publication:

Bob the Angry Flower (it's in some newspapers)
Pigs before Swine (or whatever it's called)
Get Fuzzy
Dilbert
Non Sequitor

Favorite Comic Ever:
The Far Side

Favorite comic when I was 10: Garfield
(Back when he looked like a freak)

Worst comic ever: Family Circle
(Obviously still around because the largest demographic that probably reads newspapers is elderly)

[Veda]

Age: 25
Favourite Comices: Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, Dilbert, Pearls Before Swine

I think the best way to judge if a comic strip is good enough, is if you look forward to reading it in the next day's newspaper. Basic Instructions isn't quite there yet, but I think it has the potential to strike gold in a couple of years.

[Alex B]

Age: 45
Location: Southwest
Favorites:
BC
Dilbert
Far Side
Garfield
Mother Goose and Grimm
Wizard of Id

Grew up with:
'andy Capp
Family Circus

I tend to like comics that comment on life, without necessarily being cynical (irony is what is appreciated most).

He's got a good start. Everything worth something starts out just a little off and unpolished. I'd give this one a 75% chance of success. Get less wordy, let the reader inject thier own experiences into the experience of reading the cartoon, and this could take off. Definitely a good start.

[SteveM]

He's already there. His strips make me actually laugh, not just smile and that's a rare thing for me.

Our comic section in the little local newspaper (small town, USA) is pretty lame (not even Dilbert), but the only comic in it I read regularly is Frank and Ernest. I like his stuff.

[Brian]

I just came to this site and read a couple of blogs. I like the advice Adams gives. He really knows what he's talking about when it comes to newspaper comics, but I think his thinking is behind the times. Who in the heck really read the newspaper anymore? The internet has stripped away the middle men and gate keepers who keep insisting what is quality and what is not. Funny is funny, and if people like it, they will read it, whether its four panels or three or two or one. I found a neat little comic strip on comicsherpa.com called "Corny Toads". Even though its artwork is not the best in the world, its kind of fresh in its delivery of comedy and I read all of them, but its been a while since the artist submitted more. Check it out. BI is fairly good from what I've read, though the writing could be tighter. Honestly, when I see a comic strip with a bunch of words bunched up, I get turned off. I just don't expect comics to be wordy like some Quentin Tarantino movie.

[Mark T]

Male, 21

Just wanted to say that, while I believe that the original 4 panel strip is still the best, I think this batch of 3-panels is a step in the right direction. it's the only set of BI outside of the original format that I laughed at.

As far as the print...some things could be cut down, as in there are easier ways to say some of the instructional parts (don't want to cut down on the dialogue i think, as that's the funny part). Also, I don't think whether or not older people can read it is a factor, because, from what I've seen of his jokes, most older people wouldn't really like the jokes...but that could be a young person's biased opinion

[kati]

re:

I think the comedy in BI is NOT fresh and has been overdone. Cynical comedy is now the de facto comedy of Generation X and later, and I myself find it sort of tiring. It's comedic style is a rip off of Seinfeld, Kevin Smith, Jeanine Garafolo, Ray Romano, etc. from the early and mid nineties. The jokes and style are those I have heard before over and over again in comedy clubs. Therefore, I see this guy as a hack. I don't really find his brand of comedy funny anymore, but that is just me. I don't see what folks see in this strip. If you read closely, the delivery is repetitive. The description is given and then the characters basically act out the description using practically the same words. Am I the only one who sees this? Someone please correct me

.......you are so right!not the only one who sees this....don't get me wrong. i wish the guy well, i just wish he would learn to draw off his own bat and not trace over photographs of himself and also develop a less ' hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-hammer' writing style. it needs to be fresh, but its the same 'ol, same 'ol. ...........kati x

[Cullain]

Current syndicated comics? - get fuzzy. pearls before swine. doonesbury. dilbert. Bizarro. Rhymes with Orange. I read Opus, but that's only because I loved Bloom County so much - not sure I would bother with it, otherwise. I think technically some newspapers have diesel sweeties, so that might count. And I think Basic Instructions is on par with all of them.

He is getting better with the 3 panel format, but I still think I prefer the old way. The biggest question I have - in 3 years, will he still have inspiration? These comics aren't all that frequent, and he had a long layoff from doing them. What happens when it becomes a daily grind?

[Tilius]

26, male

The newspaper comic I like best: Strizz (in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, see http://www.faz.net or http://www.strizz.de)

[dave]

Age 41
top 6 (in no particular order):
Dilbert For Better or Worse Funky Winkerbean Spiderman Alley Oop Doonesbury
In other words, ones that typically tell some type of story or follow a timeline

[dave]

Age 41
top 6 (in no particular order):
Dilbert For Better or Worse Funky Winkerbean Spiderman Alley Oop Doonesbury
In other words, ones that typically tell some type of story or follow a timeline

[Cassandra]

These are lovely! I think Mr. Meyer is finding the elusive three-panel rhythm, at least most of the time.

I'm a 24-year-old girl and there aren't many newspaper comics I like *more* than "Basic Instructions." A couple I like about as much are "Retail", "F-Minus", "Cow and Boy", and increasingly "Diesel Sweeties".

[HopefulSkeptic]

At first I thought the advice to switch to the 3-panel format was a commercial no-brainer. But the first few attempts were rather lackluster. I really liked many of the 4 panel strips on the website, and began to doubt if the deceptively simple idea of changing the form factor would work at all. Then I read these three, and thought... oh, there! Now he's got it. Well done.

I still fear he will hesitate to inject some of the small comments and gems that made the comic so enjoyable when in the larger format. The tradeoff will be worth it if he can achieve commercial success, and we the readers can continue to enjoy his art for a longer time.

Age:
34
Frequent Reads:
Dilbert
Pearls Before Swine
Brevity
Doonesbury

[Juwar74]

I think the comedy in BI is NOT fresh and has been overdone. Cynical comedy is now the de facto comedy of Generation X and later, and I myself find it sort of tiring. It's comedic style is a rip off of Seinfeld, Kevin Smith, Jeanine Garafolo, Ray Romano, etc. from the early and mid nineties. The jokes and style are those I have heard before over and over again in comedy clubs. Therefore, I see this guy as a hack. I don't really find his brand of comedy funny anymore, but that is just me. I don't see what folks see in this strip. If you read closely, the delivery is repetitive. The description is given and then the characters basically act out the description using practically the same words. Am I the only one who sees this? Someone please correct me.