Snapshots Cartoons: Behind the Humor

In the old days, Snapshots comic strips were produced verbally. I explained the cartoons to my illustrator, who would sketch 'em up and bring 'em over. Then we argued till I got my way.

That all changed when I met Vladimir, a cartoonist and illustrator who lives in Serbia and speaks little English. Actually, he doesn't speak English so much as he does read it.

This makes for some humorous bloopers in the cartooning. I might ask for a skunk and get a bum, or ask for a bum and get a newspaper. That is why I include with my instructions clipart, sketches, and funny snapshots of myself doing charades (you won't be seeing those).

A Sample Cartoon

What I asked for: This panel takes place on a Hollywood street corner, where a hooker is looking for business. A man pulls up in his car but cannot decide if he wants to pay. Growing impatient, the hooker says in caption: "C'mon, c'mon. I've got places to go, people to do..."

What I got:

Snapshots Sketch

First-Round Revisions: LOL. A "hooker" is a prostitute. She is talking to the driver, who is inside the car. "Places to go, people to do" comes from a saying in English: "places to go, people to see." People to do is another way of saying people to have sex with. It is growing less funny by the second.

What I got:

Snapshots Sketch

Second-Round Revisions: Nice recovery. Now, could we give the hooker a leopard-skin outfit as in this cartoon?

And, of course, the shiny finished comic:

Hooker Cartoon

No matter where we start, Vladimir always gets it in the end. And from the look of things, so would that driver in the first sketch had I not said something.