Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #1138 and a recollection


Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #1138, originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I grew up spending too much time at the library. I'd mostly peruse illustration annuals or books of collected cartoons.
Once, while flipping through a copy of the Best of H.T. Webster, this drawing caught my eye. At first I thought the final line of the caption said something about Chewbacca. Then I wondered if somehow this was where George Lucas got the name for everyone's favorite wookiee. I had heard Lucas was a fan of comics and illustration (somewhere there's a picture of him in his office with an original Leyendecker hanging on the wall behind his desk), so to my young mind it seemed entirely plausible.
This notion of a nearly forgotten comic strip influencing contemporary culture stuck in the back of my mind, and likely played a part in the nonsense you see here everyday.
It's probably worth noting the pencil-necked fellow in the above linked panel is Caspar Milquetoast, whose last name has since been adopted into our vernacular even though he's largely forgotten.
And speaking of George Lucas: yes, tonight's comic is a reference to THX-1138, albeit extremely oblique.