Laptops On My Lap, They Make Me Happy

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The Script For Today's Comic!

#2
TITLE: Laptops On My Lap, They Make Me Happy
(4 Panels)

Panel 1:
(Tom is on the couch, watching TV, completely naked, his naughty bits covered up by a laptop. This could be split up over several panels, if need be, and probably should be for visual fun.)

TOM (thinking): "Is there anything better than working at home? I mean, here I am, sitting in my comfortable couch, watching a splatter movie on the tube, naked as a jaybird and drinking a beer… And nobody knows. I'm answering emails like a total professional, doing my work remotely, all in perfect comfort. Is there no downside to this?"

Panel 2 (or 3, or 4):
(Tom stops abruptly, surprised, looking at his laptop in horror and dismay.)

Panel 3:
KARLA (back home, obviously later in the day): "You sunburned WHAT?"

TOM (clutching his groin, moaning): "It was right underneath the laptop's heating vent…."

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Ferrett Says

If you’re curious as to whether this has ever happened to me, the answer is “no.” If you’re curious about whether it’s ever happened to anyone I know, well… I’ll just say there’s a reason why they sell laptop cooling fans and leave it at that.

We also have an “I Work Naked” T-shirt culled from today’s strip available for purchase, for you freelancers who want to brag about your working benefits on those rare occasions you venture out of your living room and into a public place. (I myself have been outside for precisely thirty seconds today, to get the mail, and the sun burned me like I was a Ginger Kid.)

We’ve gotten some flak about having merchandise available from Day One, as if there was some sort of predetermined period you must spend suffering for your art before you can even think about earning money. I suppose there are those who think that art != commerce != love, but I see it as a wonderful synergy; you can knock yourself out trying to make the best damn Web comic you’re capable of, and still try to make enough to recoup your bandwidth charges and at least some of the time you put into it. They’re not mutually exclusive – and when Café Press makes it so darn easy, why shouldn’t you at least try?

I wouldn’t worry too much, though. We have yet to sell a single shirt. Somewhere, Jim Davis is laughing.

Incidentally to the incidentally, even though we’ve been deluged with several thousand visitors – and hi! – I’d like to remind you that this is just the second comic. We’re still getting on our feet and introducing characters, so these early strips are a little awkward. The only strip that started out with the perfect tone and rhythm is Peanuts’ “Good ol’ Charlie Brown – how I hate him!”… And Roni and I put together are still no Charles Schulz.

If you like what you see, great! But don’t get too excited, ‘cause we could screw it up big time. And if you hate it, give us until the end of February; I’ve seen the strips we’ve planned for then, and they’re about as good as this is going to get.

If, at the end of February, you still think we’re hackneyed and poorly done and all that is evil about cartooning, feel free to kvetch. We’ll have blossomed into our full terribleness by then, and we’ll deserve every cup of vitriol you can fling at us… Or me, anyway. I can’t speak for Roni.

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