Mutts 3-Panel Meta

Patrick McDonnell, the creator of Mutts, has played with comic strip conventions before. The week of December 3-8, 2018 he riffed on a core concept of the art.

Daily humor strips usually have three panels. The first sets up the premise. The middle establishes the pattern. The third upends the pattern with the punchline.

In the sequence below, note how each daily strip plays with a different aspect of this convention.

In the first strip, McDonnell brings to our attention that, while each panel may look identical, each represents a different moment in time. The characters move from the second to the third panel because time has passed.

In the second sequence, McDonnell further explores this concept. The background to all three panels is identical, each representing the same scene in a different moment. Mooch refuses to leave the first panel, so he's absent from the second. Earl does the same in the second, so the third panel is empty. The humor derives from characters willing themselves out of the sequence.

The third sequence further develops the concept. Here, Earl remains in all three panels. Mooch however, disappears from the sequence.

The fourth sequence presents another variant. First neither characters stayed in the timeline through all three panels. Then Earl stayed. Now both appear in the last panel. But Mooch still opted out of the timeline in the second panel. So where did he go?

Note the changes in the fifth sequence. Here the landscape spans all three panels. So each panel still represents a different moment, but now also a different location. McDonnell places Mooth and Earl's word balloon across panels one and two. And Earl isn't in the second panel -- he's calling from the third. Here, the humor plays on the function of that last panel.

The final sequence also plays on the role of the last panel. The bear (the punchline) arrives too soon.

For those interested in the art of sequential art, this week entertained on several levels.