« Previous Next »
And if you think this week’s center panel feels like a walk down memory lane, just wait a week or two…
Category: 11: The ghost dog of Wonder Valley
“Just a job to do”
« Previous Next »
“The disposition of…”?!? How have things gotten to this point? Maybe the Professor really did kill Watusi…
“On the other hand…”
“Shades of sadness”
« Previous Next »
When, oh, when will I stop trying to manipulate your heartstrings? Would you believe next episode?
By the way, this is the first time I’ve actually drawn Kirby’s dad, even though he was mentioned in Kirby’s first co-starring role, the 24-hour comic that was published as Watusi #6, way back in 2003!
“Guilt pangs”
« Previous Next »
This week’s seventh anniversary episode is a real milestone for me. It’s probably no surprise by now that I appreciate a well-paced adventure comic, and the more I work on this Watusi adventure strip, the more I am awed by the greats of the early days of the genre and what they accomplished. Gottredson, Segar, Hamlin and others mixed comedy and action in a way that made readers want to read the next strip … and made it look easier than it is to do, too!
This episode is the 365th Watusi strip, which means that if had been a daily adventure strip (which is how I’ve paced it, especially early on) all of the stories to date would have taken place in its first year: the adventure in Isla Esmerelda, the time travel story with W-Tusi25, Mystery Mutt & Teebo, the recent Victorian Watusi diversion, the Motilizing Reclivator, the Ch-ch-chattering skull, Sourpuss, the Dance Party, and (whew!) the Purloined Pocketwatch!
Hope you’ll stick around for the “second” year of adventure! Up next, more reactions to Watusi’s passing …
“Meanwhile, in the present…”
« Previous Next »
Yikes! It looks like the Professor has gone full-on Howard Hughes! I hope good news comes his way soon…
“A job well done”
« Previous Next »
And that brings this adventure of the Victorian Watusi to an end. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this change of pace as much as I did writing and drawing it. I may well tell another story featuring the character at some point; I just need to figure out if it should be a sequel with Percy or I’d rather backtrack Flashman-style and feature his previous master…
But either way, next week it’s time to return to the present and see how Watusi’s friends in Wonder Valley are dealing with his passing…
“Comes a-crashing down!”
« Previous Next »
It looks like Percy owes Watusi a lifetime of walkies after this!
I’m glad that Anderson Catwell showed up again, too: I forgot to talk about the character when he appeared earlier in the story, and this is a perfect chance to rectify that oversight! Anderson Catwell was one of the Victorian detectives (along with Lane Brain, John Leesburg, and Daphne Knight) that appeared in two issues of Larned Justin’s 19th Century Detective about 10 years ago. He wrote and penciled the first issue with Tim Corrigan on inks and lettering, and did the whole shebang on the second. Those moody comics where quite a shift in tone for Larned, more known for his Mad magazine-like parodies, but I thought they were pretty successful. If you’d like to get a copy of those issues for yourself, contact Larned via his YouTube channel (he’s moved on from comics to focus on video pieces) or me, and I’ll forward your request along to him.
A big thank you to Larned for loaning me his character for this story. It certainly made it feel more truly Victorian (to me, if no one else) by his presence!
“A wrench* in the works”
« Previous Next »
(* because– with apologies to Rod Stewart– “A spanner in the works” just doesn’t sound right to my ears)
It looks like the Gaslight Grenadiers may have met their match after all! More next episode!
“Seeing stars”
« Previous Next »
Ouch! I can’t imagine Percy will fare any better than Watusi did (but we’ll find out next episode)!
Watusi the Talking Dog 