Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli for November 05, 2009

Hey, I figured that out yesterday. I’m still wondering why she suddenly decided the 110-year-old man she ditched in the theatre would wander to a graveyard in the middle of the night. I’m hoping we’ll end up back at the cartoon retirement home.

Maybe this strip should be renamed “Gasoline Gertie”?!

oldbooger said, Maybe this strip should be renamed “Gasoline Gertie”?!

I agree, but I bet the syndicate wouldn’t allow it. I also wish they would go back to black and white.

Yeah lots of us figured that out yesterday.

I like this storyline. Possibly Walt believes that he is going for his annual Autumn walk with Skeezix…?

I’m surprise the strip is using color, since color cost a lot. I thought it cost to much to use color, although I’m not sure B&W will work. I have enjoyed this series.

Personally, I like the color in this strip. It shows even better detail in art than in the black/white strip. I like this storyline just like Struwwelpeter2 does. Walt is still in the storyline, being that Gertie is calling for him each day making it a mystery to where Walt is. I’m still betting that he is with Corky’s crew. They nabbed him when they saw the commotion of the seats that Gertie bought from the scalper.

I agree that this plot line is a bit silly and improbable. Nonetheless, I have read this strip since I was a kid and will continue to do so. If you like this strip, you really owe it to yourself to get the collected Walt and Skeezix strips from the twenties. The art of that day is not as slick as it is now; you can see where the cartoonist must have used fashion ads as reference when drawing women, and he was still experimenting with different inking styles. By today’s standards, there are some politically incorrect portrayals of African-Amercians. But the strip was full of real people. Uncle Walt’s friends, Bill, Doc and Avery all remind you of someone you know. It was also innovative. Skeezix was the first comic strip character to grow up in real time. There was also a child custody dispute that led to a court battle and Skeezix being abducted. It was not an ordinary three panel gag strip.

I hope ORteka and others are right. But there have been so many unbelievable turns in this story, who knows what’s next? But isn’t that the point of a serial, to keep people wondering? We’re all still here posting comments. I remember Walt wandering in the cemetery even before Phyllis died. I thought then that was going to be his end - lost and suffering from exposure. I hope this isn’t the end.

kab- color only adds to the cost if you’re printing it. Online, all it costs is the time it takes someone to do the coloring. And a lot of newspapers have added more color, including to their comics. The bigger issue is that most artists draw things for either black and white or color (ie, if it’s in color you use less shading to indicate different hues). So a strip designed for BW and then colored can look lousy.

Devonshade- the strip is not pathetic. I think it has its highs and lows but just in terms of craftsmanship is one of the best out there. You wanna see pathetic, go read Dick Tracy.

Stru, Yes, we need that autumn walk!

I still think Slim is up to something stupid…maybe the strip will go there next.

There is a rumor that when GM comes out with the new cars next year, Gasoline Alley will be renamed Hydrogen Fuel Avenue.

Chikuku said, Gertie has as much right 2b front and center as any other character. ———————– No. Not when it takes her six panels and two days to figure out that the sound of her own voice is an echo. This is really a bit too much now, and I don’t care how good the art is. It’s not that good.

ocean17 said, Chikuku said, Gertie has as much right 2b front and center as any other character. ———————– No. Not when it takes her six panels and two days to figure out that the sound of her own voice is an echo. This is really a bit too much now, and I don’t care how good the art is. It’s not that good.

I’m not yet convinced it is an echo!

channce said, I don’t know what J.A.D’s trip is.

I think you’re right about not knowing… I wish that realization had meant something to you. By the way, I don’t know what your trip is either.

crunkbot said, Is it interesting, or is it Memorex? Oh… neither.

OK, well, see you again tomorrow anyway!

I think he’s just a lonely old guy with a PC and an internet connection. Looking for someone to talk to, just like most of the rest of us.

Makes me think of WildMustang, who used to post on goComics all the time. WildMustang would say the most outrageous non-sequiturs and everyone would jump all over the poor guy. Then they found out he was deaf and didnt really speak English, his native language is sign, which isnt the same. He was posting here because he liked comics but also because he was working on his English. Real nice kid, but would say the weirdest things.

Anyway, I say we should all be more patient with each other and be a little kinder. Who knows who has had a bad day on the other side of that screen and needs just a little compassion. If we don’t watch out for each other no one else will.

Joe Allen Doty doesn’t appear to be looking for trouble. Seems like we all read his posts.

Joe, I have no complaint against you. Hang in there!

Oh– and Dypak, everyone should have at least one teacher like you at an impressionable age.

Susan001 is right. Gertie should be fired for dereliction of duty. She’s more interested in pursuing Byrd than taking care of poor Walt. Goodbye Gertie.

Dypak and axe-grinder: Great posts, great hearts – thank you!

Hey everyone leave Joe alone. If you’re not interested in his comments, skip over them. Seems pretty simple to me.

Norman, you’ve been on both sides of that advice yourself.

And the injunction “Don’t feed the trolls” makes the likes of Not Norman (And Crunkbot and Devonshade etc.) seem more welcome here than Joe Doty is, and that’s just unfair!