sensible, relevant question about cartooning

[Diane CBPFC]

Roger,

I have noticed some cartoons do so much better on Facebook because we downward scroll to get the punchline after seeing the image first (usually). I am wondering if you would have done anything different for the attention of this downward scrolling generation?

[Roger Kettle]

Diane, I'm sure this works well with a single cartoon where the caption is nearly always at the bottom. In comic strips---my line of work---the speech balloons are at the top. Maybe I could have printed the strips vertically? In short, I don't know!

[ZestyWhite]

It took me a lot of training to read a comic strip without glancing ahead to the punchline. But one of my favourite things about reading in this way is when you encounter the frame that has no dialogue. That pregnant pause before the joke's resolution proves that comedy timing is still important and employable even in a visual medium. (usually alongside the imagined sound effect of the cogs of Dennis's mind turning exceedingly slowly)

[Roger Kettle]

Thanks, Zesty. I used that "freeze-frame" technique a lot and, as you said, I think it adds to the timing of the gag. It's now ten years since Beau Peep last appeared in print. Not long before nobody around remembers it!