Sally Forth from Past to Future

I love the way writer Francesco Marciuliano plays with the conventions of the daily comic strip. In Sally Forth, he's jumped ten years into the future to present adult versions of Hilary and her friends Faye and Nona. And in one instance, he had the Forth family meet their earlier counterparts (see: Sally Forth into the Funky Past).

In a sequence that ran in August 2016, this happened:

Notice how carefully it's framed. Is Hillary really conversing with her older self, or is it just her imagination? There are no other characters around to either ask who that person is she's talking to or why she's talking to the air.

We only know what we're shown. And that ambiguity, I think, is what makes the sequence work. 

I like to think it's all in Hilary's mind.  Because I really am not looking forward to Zootopia 3 in outer space.

Sally Forth's Metadate

Sally Forth began in 1982 as a simple domestic comic strip, humorously showing the ups and downs of a working mother. In 1999 original creator Greg Howard turned the scripting duties over to Francesco Marciuliano things got interesting. Marciuliano occasionally had the characters break the fourth wall and directly address the reader. More often, though, it's more subtle. Buried in the gag-a-day dialog are indications that the characters know they're in a comic strip.

Look at these examples from an extended sequence from April, 2016.

This sequence is full of meta references. As Ted notes, the strip used to be just a gag-a-day comic. Sally comments on how Marciuliano more fully develops the characters and situations. In the final panel, Ted almost seems aware of the reader, but Sally defuses it with the punchline.

In the first panel, Ted says it's been almost 24 years since their first date (which took place while they were in college) -- 1992. Sally remarks that their timeline doesn't bear close examination. Which is true. When the strip started in 1982, their daughter Hillary was 12 years old (and still is). That pushes that first date back to 1970 at the earliest.

Ted's right -- Hillary's last name is in the title of the strip.

And yes, Sally's final observation, while seemingly comic exaggeration, isn't. The sequence at the restaurant did indeed take two weeks of strips to tell. 

Personally, I enjoy the extra dimension Marciuliano gives to the strip with these meta-observations. It's made Greg Howard's original creation even better -- and certainly more rewarding to read on a daily basis.

Sally Forth -- Into the Funky Past

For some reason, 2015 seemed to be the year of time loops. In Funky Winkerbean a time/space wormhole let the strip's original cast meet their future (our current) selves. The story line was a little problematic (even accepting the basic premise). The high school versions of Funky Winkerbean, Crazy Harry, Bull Bushka, Cindy Summers, Les Moore, Holly Budd, and Lisa Crawford encountered their older selves at a class reunion in an August, 2015 sequence.

Missing, of course, was the older version of Lisa, who had died of cancer years before. Various older characters made excuses for her absence, but the young Les Moore saw the tribute photo album and read his older self's book "Lisa's Story." (click on images to enlarge)

And that's where it gets problematic. When they returned, did the memories fade for the high schoolers? I hope so. 

Because when Lisa's cancer returned, a mix-up of charts indicated it wasn't serious. By the time the mistake was sorted out, it was too advanced to treat. One would assume that Les,armed with that knowledge, would have changed history and ensured his wife got the treatment she needed promptly -- instead of it being as much of a surprise to him as it was to her. 

Much less problematic is the Forth family encountering themselves in the corn maze. The family's inability to navigate the maze is a recurring trope in Sally Forth. In this sequence they encounter younger versions of themselves -- in a way.

Unlike Funky Winkderbean which has its characters age, Sally Forth is more or less frozen in time. In this case, its a meta time warp. On the left are the characters as drawn by original creator Greg Howard. On the right, the characters as depicted by the current team of Jim Keefe, Francesco Marciuliano and Steve Alaniz.

And Ted's right. His eccentricities didn't really blossom until Howard turned over the writing duties to others.

Sally Forth and the Art of Foreshadowing

Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe  have done remarkable things with Sally Forth, including playing with the conventions of the daily comic strip. The structure for a daily gag strip is simple: use 1-2 panels to set up the joke, deliver the punchline in the third. Sally Forth, like many strips, also uses story arcs to provide a framework for those gags. In August/September, 2015, though, Sally Forth had a remarkable sequence. (click on image to enlarge)

It's a bitterwseet sequence, and seems to foreshadow the breakup of Hillary and Jon. Or is it? When we start reading, we think we're reading third-person omniscient narration -- but it's Nona talking. When we flash forward to next summer, it's not clear if we're seeing reality, or just Hillary's imagination. 

Sometimes adventure strips, such as Judge Parker or the Phantom, will have some foreshadowing. A single panel will introduce something that won't be explained for a few weeks. Usually, though, it's laying the foundation for the next story arc, so there's a smooth transition.

In this case, we had to wait three months -- and several other story arcs -- to see if what happened next. 

Is this really the end, though? We'll have to wait until summer, 2016 in order to find out. But for now, it appears as if Nona knew what she was talking about. And note that in the strip above, Hillary also offers an observation on the three-panel gag.

To my knowledge, no comic strip has been this far-ranging in setting up a story arc. Brilliant.

The Aging Sally Forth

Aging in comic strips is always a problem -- usually it's one that's simply ignored. Dennis the Menace will always be 5 going on 6. Garfield the comic strip has run longer then the natural lifespan of a cat (even one with good eating habits). And so one.

A few strips let their characters age, such as the first iteration of For Better or Worse, or Gasoline Alley (see: For Better or Worse - the Aging Process). Usually, though, the creators make a choice. But not every creator isn't Francesco Marciuliano, who's had fun with comics conventions before. (see my previous posts about Sally Forth)

Pay close attention to the second panel in this September 14, 2014 sequence of Sally Forth.  (click on image to enlarge)

One child ages, while the other remains 12. Best not to look at that too closely, or indeed, the whole system will fall apart. But for the observant reader, Ted's warning provides some additional humor.

Meta Forth 2

Writer Francesco Marciuliano has taken some interesting turns with the comic Sally Forth. For the most part, it remains the domestic strip about the foibles of a working mom and her family.

But Marciuliano occasionally slips in dialogue that suggests the characters know they're living in a comic strip (see Meta Forth). As in the sequence published September 9, 2014. (click on image to enlarge)

It tackles one of the perennial problems of comic strips in a quite novel fashion. The problem is aging. Most strips keep their characters perpetually frozen in time, preserving the situations that create the humor. Dennis the Menace is forever five years old;  Garfield will always be an adult, but never elderly, cat. Some strips let their characters age; Doonsebury, For Better or Worse (before the reboot) and Gasoline Alley are good examples. But for those strips, the growth and development of the characters and their relations is part of the story.

Sally Forth is a situational humor strip, so it's not surprising that Becla remains 12 year after year. But Bettina, who was indeed born in 2013, is having her first birthday. So are the characters now aging or -- ?

Actually, I think Marciuliano want to have it both ways. Some characters will age, others won't. It's a novel idea, and I'm interested to see how it plays out. As Ted advises, though, it's best not think about it, or the whole system (that is, the premise of the strip) will fall apart.

Sally Forth to MST3K

Francesco Marciuliano and Craig Macintosh occasionally move their comic Sally Forth beyond the fourth wall (Meta Forth and Meta Forth 2). Like this Sunday's sequence. (click on image to enlarge)

Ted really establishes his nerd credentials with the reference to Mystery Science Theater 3000. But to have the main characters Crow, Tom Servo and Joel (or is it Mike?) appear in the last panel? Genius.

Of course I'm a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (and the shows current incarnations Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax), so I thought this was a great sequence.

If you're not sure what it's all about, here's a sample.

Meta Forth 2

Writer Francesco Marciuliano continues to subtly move the domestic comedy strip Sally Forth in an innovative direction.

In the past the characters showed awareness that they were, in fact, characters in a comic strip (Meta Forth). Yesterday's strip hints at that same meta-cognition, and at the same time shows the reader a little of the basic structure of comic creation. (click on image to enlarge)

If you weren't consciously aware of this concept before, take a new look at the humor strips you read. You'll see the weekly story arc (sometimes it lasts longer) that provides the framework for the gags. Seems Ted's noticed it, too.

Meta Forth

Sally Forth started out as a comic strip about the domestic foibles of a working mom. It's humor was gentle, along the lines of For Better or Worse. Then something started to happen when the original writer Greg Howard turned the strip over to Francesco Marciuliano. The character quirks became quirkier, the situations more comically exaggerated, and the strip's humor became much more sophisticated.

Then this Sunday's strip was published.(click on image below to enlarge)

The characters are fully aware that they're in a comic strip. Now that's novel.

And all of the references Sally and her co-worker Faye discuss are true. Ralph, the evil boss turned future brother-in-law has come and gone throughout the story lines as they said. Ditto with the new VP who was a major antagonist for Sally and then... gone. I especially like the reference to the background. Many artists fill in backgrounds with room details and people we never see again -- but this is the only time I'm aware that the fact has been acknowledged.

Congrats to Sally Forth creative team: Francesco Marciuliano (writer) and Craig MacIntosh (artist). Treats like this are the reason I always start with the funnies when I read the Sunday paper.