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The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Paul Morris: Mitty and Bodwell Smackdown

Filed under: The Catbird Seat: Friends & Guests Tagged: cartoons, comics, contests, James Thurber, Paul Morris, The Wavy Rule, TV, Walter Mitty

Paul explains today's inspired "Wavy Rule" (click to enlarge):

They've remade that jewel in the crown of our American heritage: American Gladiators, a show that fed the minds and muscles of countless kids from 1989 to 1996. I'm not sure what the point of that show was--maybe how to educate children on the proper use of skybikes and atlaspheres, or how to play Breakthrough & Conquer, a combination of football and freestyle wrestling. A veritable blast.

Here's my own remake of the show, with James Thurber-like characters. Instead of Turbo and Nitro, I say we pit Walter Mitty and Bodwell (a character in Thurber's story "The Night the Ghost Got In") against one another. Thurber humor and Super Powerballs--who can say no to that?

More by Paul Morris: Our very own upside-down question-mark naming contest! Plus, "The Wavy Rule" archive; a very funny webcomic, "Arnjuice"; a motley Flickr page; various beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale and free download at Lulu.

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Emdashes, founded December 2004, is a place where keen and dedicated readers of The New Yorker, past and present, can find related news and commentary: about people, subjects, and ideas within the magazine, and events and conversations outside its pages. Learn more about us and our contributors.

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A few clips

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Review: Does The New Republic's recent redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
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Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
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Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands (for Print)
Review: books about various New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly and Iain Topliss (for Newsday)
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Review: The Complete New Yorker (for Print)

More clips.

Tell me more

They say that dashes “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like em dashes—emphasizes what’s between: in particular, between the lines, covers, and issues of a magazine close to my heart.

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Edited by Martin Schneider, designed by Pretty, and illustrated by Inkleaf. Additional drawings by Carolita Johnson. Kissable pencil girl by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.

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