When I was a kid, and my interest in cartooning was becoming apparent, I remember my Mum and an auntie (I don't remember which - I have more aunts than a book by PG Wodehouse) talking about cartoons and whether there was any future in it. The comment that stays with me to this day came from the aunt: "Well, I think its clever. Have you ever noticed the way the stories always stop exactly at the end of the page? How do they do that?"
It's not as dumb a question as it first appears to be. There are some comics, Garfield being one, that have a rigid format that has to be stuck to at all times. This gag wouldn't work in Garfield, it has to be paced at four panels. You can't lose a panel without losing the premise, the set up, Smith's reaction, or the punchline. 1 and 2 could possibly be melded together but the timing would go all skewiff.
I have a space to fill. The strip ends when the gag is delivered on the right hand side of the space. Other than that, everything is up for grabs, I can have as many or as few panels as I like. I revel in that freedom. And I've been really enjoying doing the Sunday strips - when I return to doing the dailies in the new year I think I may do some Sundays as well.
The real question is, how does the Jim Davies organisation manage to churn out so many gags with just three frames (middle one borderless) in them?
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