but is it art?

The daring adventures of Mac and Tosh (Part 1. Er, Part 3, technically)

It was time to test out the scanner of the new multi-function Brother MFC-9130CW or as I like to call it, the heavy thing that sits on the corner of the desk behind me, so I grabbed a collection of Mac and Tosh comics I made when I was a wee one. As you will see below, my sense of humor was already suitably dark, albeit somewhat unsophisticated. The bleed-through is an accurate reflection of the thin and worn paper, hence I’ve made no attempt to fix it.

Mac and Tosh "The Bomb"

I dated some of my earliest comics but not this series. There are several important clues, though. The lowercase “a” is written the “normal” way and I switched to the “fancy” version around the age of 10 or 11. The appalling spelling (“heavan” and “hear we come”) also indicates the period before I suddenly developed an internal spelling checker. I’m going to say I was around 8 or 9 years old at the time this epic was penned.

Speaking of penned, I bravely inked the comic without drawing it in pencil first. Note the very first word was a mistake that I crossed out and corrected. Perhaps white-out did not exist back then. You can also see the classic “make a balloon then scrunch the words to fit inside it” technique favored by many budding comic strip auteurs.

Sadly, Parts 1 and 2 seem to have gone missing. One can only imagine the tense build up leading to the eventual catastrophic demise of the characters.

Also, I can’t recall which was Mac and which was Tosh. Their names are directly ripped off of the Goofy Gophers featured in Warner Brothers cartoons, of which I was (and remain) a big fan. At the time I probably thought of it as an homage. At least I didn’t also make them gophers. Their explosive deaths could have been inspired by one of many Warner Brothers cartoons but most likely something from the Roadrunner series. I like how either Mac or Tosh looks on the bright side even as they let slip their mortal coils.

The last three panels are scratched in with pencil and I have no idea what the cryptic “TERRI DID THE” message refers to (Terri is one of my sisters). I also have no idea what the circle, #, square and 61 are references to or why they are repeated twice. It’s like clues to a murder mystery, but the only deaths I know of are in the panels above these would-be clues.

Anyway, I’m going to recreate these strips to see how they’d look from an adult perspective. My guess is sad, but in a different and less-cute way.

Sidewalk penis art

Is this a new trend in Vancouver? Recently I have come across two depictions of male genitalia etched or sprayed onto a sidewalk in the local neighborhood. What compels someone to memorialize such a thing for all to see? I cannot say.

The first one is on Glen Drive, along the route I take to China Creek Park for my runs. It was carefully created before the fresh concrete had a chance to set. At first I thought it might have been the start of a brontosaurus or some other similar dinosaur since the scrotum looks more like a pair of legs. I hope this was not a self-study.

Concrete penis

The second one appeared recently on the sidewalk beside a boarded house where Knight Street turns into Clark. By coincidence the house was being torn down today when I took the picture, so it is possible this particular piece of art may not last much longer. There is little ambiguity as to what the artist is depicting here in bold, vibrant strokes. I wonder if this spot was chosen because it was next to an abandoned property. I suspect so. It suggests a certain thoughtfulness one wouldn’t necessarily expect from someone spraypainting a penis onto a sidewalk.

Orange penis art