Stu Versus San Francisco, Part 29

Stu Versus San Francisco, Part 29

Posted by Brian • September 9, 2016

Original Release Date: January 27, 2009

I love this page. This is prime Mike and the Ninja. First, Renee perpetuates the door-kicking joke, then sounds so disappointed to find what appears to be an ordinary toilet. Mike is full of doe-eyed naivety, but makes a useful suggestion in a seemingly dead-end situation. Lastly, we get a series of panels cementing Pratt as a total scumbag. I think they're funny, and I use the small pupils/dumbfounded expression trick in the second-to-last panel as Mike and Renee's reaction to Pratt's questionable selection of content on his computer. I copy-and-pasted the artwork and just manipulated the eyes, so it's technically cheating, but I like the effect. Renee's eyes in the third panel are a nice touch, as well--her instinct to not trust the "out of order" sign serves her well. All around, this is a solid page.

One curious thing I have always wondered about Mike and the Ninja is that, even in its time, the technology was all fairly antiquated. Pratt's computer has a CRT monitor and some floppy disk drives. We were already beyond or well on our way to being beyond that stuff in 2009. This could just be a joke about Pratt's lack of technology know-how, but there's outdated technology everywhere in this comic, and I'm trying to figure out or remember why I drew all of that stuff. Maybe those were the only art references available.

Also, of course the toilet is actually an elevator to an underground lair. Did you expect no less?