S.L.O.W. P.A.C.I.N.G.

Last week I made a crack about the pacing in Mary Worth, not realizing that that very week would be a especially apt, and painful, example of just how hapless the strip can be.

Take a look at last Sunday through Saturday:

Mary Worth, 3/13/2011


Mary Worth, 3/14/2011


Mary Worth, 3/15/2011


Mary Worth, 3/16/2011


Mary Worth, 3/17/2011


Mary Worth, 3/18/2011


Mary Worth, 3/19/2011


Placed side-by-side (or end to end?) like this, the strip is almost readable, in a cold-molasses-running-uphill-in-Jupiter's-gravity-and-Pluto's-climate kind of way. The dialogue even flows from one strip to the other quite naturally. Almost as if someone writes and draws the strip and just cuts it up into 2 panel chunks without regard to the final product.

Interestingly enough, the current writer, Karen Moy, expressed a desire to pick up the pace in a 2007 interview. She states her goal as 3 stories a year. Egad.

I find the pencils on Mary Worth to be especially painful, more because of the fact that the penciler, Joe Giella, has a fascinating resume than because of how they look. Giella worked with greats like Alex Toth, C.C. Beck, Carmine Infantino, and Gil Kane on comic books during the Silver and Golden Ages. It's great that he's still working....but the layouts and especially the faces are really just terrible at times.

Meanwhile, Dick Tracy is cooking, at least comparatively speaking.

Dick Tracy, 3/20/2011


In a week we've see the return of 3 supporting characters, including a personnel change in the police force, a very Tracy-like disgusting villain arriving on the scene, some casual scenes from around the police station and cafeteria, and even an offhand mention of another bust. That's at least 4 months of most legacy strips! I'm pretty pleased.

Have a great week.