My, what a decadent reference pie to digest this will prove to be! Where to begin!
First, it would appear that Ryan has murdered a young man named Fortunato and encased the corpse behind a brick wall in a dark room (perhaps the basement he lives in along with his mother, who I would imagine does not know of Ryan’s activities). Again, we the audience find ourselves returned to an internal setting, only it poorly lit. Is this representative of the corruption of the domestic?
As the strip progresses, young Fortunato’s body is dead, but his spirit lives on! Fortunato asks what the whereabouts of ‘that Amontillado’ are, at which point all the literary references of this strip fall together quite nicely. As we all know, Amontillado is a wine known widely soley in reference to Edgar Allan Poe short story ’ The Cask of Amontillado’, at which point the name of Fortunato becomes clear. Fortunato is the hapless victim of the sinister Montresor!
Of course what baffles me is there is no Amontillado at all in the ‘Cask’ which I have always found a short coming in the Poe short story. Perhaps the cartoonist is commenting on this Poe-esque downfall by following in the same steps….how does Ryan fall into this? What slight has Fortunato made against Ryan, who serves as the Montresor figure…where inevitably is this Spanish sherry Fortunato was promised? Perhaps if Poe were French, his use in the strip would have some sort of point. In a lot of ways, I find this strip an utter failure in living up to the standards set thus. Clarity is sacrificed for the rich texture of deep reference I fear.
great! but, good grief, some key words don’t even appear in the strip – in the future could we suggest keywords and you build a strip around it?
— campbell Nov 13, 19:57 #I suggest – Hobo
Yes, I agree, there is a staggering lack of hobos in this comic…you’ll get your hobo strip(s) soon enough!
— DW Nov 13, 21:45 #Will we ever see a return of the Realist Poetry Thug? Inquiring minds want to know!!
— Jarrett Nov 13, 23:34 #Will this be an art hobo or a regular hobo?
— McTrowe Nov 15, 23:12 #I think that poor hoboes are the funniest – either that or a famous hobo – a Darth Vader hobo
— campbell Nov 16, 01:26 #My, what a decadent reference pie to digest this will prove to be! Where to begin!
First, it would appear that Ryan has murdered a young man named Fortunato and encased the corpse behind a brick wall in a dark room (perhaps the basement he lives in along with his mother, who I would imagine does not know of Ryan’s activities). Again, we the audience find ourselves returned to an internal setting, only it poorly lit. Is this representative of the corruption of the domestic?
As the strip progresses, young Fortunato’s body is dead, but his spirit lives on! Fortunato asks what the whereabouts of ‘that Amontillado’ are, at which point all the literary references of this strip fall together quite nicely. As we all know, Amontillado is a wine known widely soley in reference to Edgar Allan Poe short story ’ The Cask of Amontillado’, at which point the name of Fortunato becomes clear. Fortunato is the hapless victim of the sinister Montresor!
Of course what baffles me is there is no Amontillado at all in the ‘Cask’ which I have always found a short coming in the Poe short story. Perhaps the cartoonist is commenting on this Poe-esque downfall by following in the same steps….how does Ryan fall into this? What slight has Fortunato made against Ryan, who serves as the Montresor figure…where inevitably is this Spanish sherry Fortunato was promised? Perhaps if Poe were French, his use in the strip would have some sort of point. In a lot of ways, I find this strip an utter failure in living up to the standards set thus. Clarity is sacrificed for the rich texture of deep reference I fear.
— Olaf Demeanor Dec 18, 13:49 #