Henry, I say this with all the wish to see you succeed at this as I may, but you need to slow your roll here. This is a daily comic strip, not a full-length novel, there are only so many subplots and asides people can swallow … and you’ve already seen from the comments how many people just threw up their hands.
As it was, you started with a bunch of changes and twists: Gil’s and Mimi’s marriage in trouble, the return of Keri and Jami, Keri considering herself gender fluid and being at odds with her mother, the antagonistic newbie coach, Mimi’s mother terminally ill … and ringing in little tidbits like reminding people that Gil is an amateur pilot. Fair enough. Right there, you’ve got plenty of plot to carry through a season.
But it just keeps on coming and keeps on coming in waves, and it’s dizzying even for those who remember people and incidents from past years. Mel coming back, her kid being trans, Keri’s little love triangle (square?), the strip focusing on volleyball for the season, peacock mascots, it just doesn’t stop. This strip’s demographic — heck, the demographic for newspaper comic strips generally — isn’t in youngsters for whom a slow day involves liking and replying to only a few dozen random TikTok posts. What comes after school shooters, Keri proposing an orgy to all her suitors?
Henry, I say this with all the wish to see you succeed at this as I may, but you need to slow your roll here. This is a daily comic strip, not a full-length novel, there are only so many subplots and asides people can swallow … and you’ve already seen from the comments how many people just threw up their hands.
As it was, you started with a bunch of changes and twists: Gil’s and Mimi’s marriage in trouble, the return of Keri and Jami, Keri considering herself gender fluid and being at odds with her mother, the antagonistic newbie coach, Mimi’s mother terminally ill … and ringing in little tidbits like reminding people that Gil is an amateur pilot. Fair enough. Right there, you’ve got plenty of plot to carry through a season.
But it just keeps on coming and keeps on coming in waves, and it’s dizzying even for those who remember people and incidents from past years. Mel coming back, her kid being trans, Keri’s little love triangle (square?), the strip focusing on volleyball for the season, peacock mascots, it just doesn’t stop. This strip’s demographic — heck, the demographic for newspaper comic strips generally — isn’t in youngsters for whom a slow day involves liking and replying to only a few dozen random TikTok posts. What comes after school shooters, Keri proposing an orgy to all her suitors?