First Published: October 22, 2007
This is one of those strips which seemed amusing when I wrote it. Then, during the sketching phase, I developed doubts. So I started to rewrite. In fact, I kept rewriting the text even after I finished the art.
And after all this effort, the pay-off remains pretty weak. Perhaps I should have abandoned the strip during the sketch phase, but the moment I started to ink, I had committed too much time to its conception to throw it away.
I may be sullen at the misbegotten punchline, but I am proud at the drawing. That is one of the rewards of doing both the writing and the art: If one half falls short, you usually still have the other half to do your best on.
Drawing the old woman was fun (she looks completely different than the real-life inspiration), especially the way she raises her gnarly hand.