Obscure References

Hello! Happy Halloween. Two weeks ago I invited you all to ask questions—any question about anything that I am capable of answering. I got one that I think could fill up an entire post, so that’s what I’m doing.

On my Instagram, a user called @andrewfrankelvoice asked “How do you test (or do you just know) a comic is going be understood and registered comedically and not just be privately hilarious?” I’ve addressed a similar topic in my post about cartoonists searching for “A thing,” but Andrew was getting at something a bit more specific: obscurity. And his question came at a great moment because, I have had several recent posts that may or may not be considered obscure.

I say “may or may not” because how obscure a thing is depends on who you are, where you’re from, your age, etc. But all the cartoons I’m going to share today have at least one comment online where someone calls it “obscure,” or "niche,” or a “deep cut,” or some form of that. It’s quite possible you will disagree and believe that all them are extremely well-known! Don’t yell me at about it. Okay, here are some toons:

This cartoon is a reference to a 1967 short story by Harlan Ellison called I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. It’s a freaky tale about a super computer torturing the last five people on earth after it eradicated everyone else. It’s bleak and gross and would not be your usual musical theater fare. Is it obscure? Harlan Ellison was a successful and celebrated science fiction writer and I Have No Mouth is probably his most famous work. I’ve seen plenty of jokes and memes referring to it. There was even a computer game based on it. However, I was still worried about posting it. I almost didn’t. I was fretful that only a handful of people would get it and I would have a hundred people commenting, “huh?”

That’s why I wrote on the post, “I don’t know who I made this for.” Admittedly, that could be seen cynically as a bit of engagement bait, asking a question that would lead lots of people who did get it to respond “you made this for me,” raising the comments and getting the ol’ algorithm to expand the post’s reach. But I swear, that’s not why I wrote that! I wrote it for completely different cynical reasons: covering my ass if no one got it.

As niche as a topic may be, I don’t think I’ve ever had an idea for a cartoon that no one would relate to. We all consume culture, whether directly or through osmosis. I wrote about cultural osmosis for a comic in The New York Times about Moby Dick. I’ve never read it, but I draw cartoons about it because I know the basics through references from other media, for example, The Simpsons. Very often I find myself laughing or at least getting jokes where I am not 100% familiar with the reference.

Speaking of The Simpsons:

This cartoon is in this week’s issue of The New Yorker. Its a reference to The Music Man, a vert successful 1962 musical by Meredith Willson. I don’t think this is particularly obscure, but I did get a few “deep cut” comments when I posted it. I’m familiar with it because I grew up with musical theater-loving parents, but some may know it from the very famous episode of The Simpsons, “Marge vs. the Monorail.” (While we’re at it, lots of people online compared my “I Have No Mouth” cartoon to the Planet of the Apes musical from The Simpsons. That show was truly at the zenith of culture for a long time!)

This one is slightly tricker. It’s technically a reference to the Ophanim, an angel-adjacent being who has appeared in a few texts in Jewish and Christian theology. But It’s not really. Really it’s a reference to what is essentially a meme, an online joke that lots of cartoonists like to riff on. It is usually accompanied by the phrase “BE NOT AFRAID.” An important part of the joke is how many eyes they have. If my Music Man cartoon went over the heads of younger folk, this one may be more elusive to an older generation. Or maybe not! Who knows. Don’t yell at me.

You may notice that it’s more of a doodle. That’s because I have never bothered to draw it outright. But, I didn’t not draw it because I thought it was too obscure, in fact I did recently share it on IG with some other sketches. I never drew it because it didn’t feel like a fully realized joke to me. Biblically accurate angels are well known enough to joke about, The New Yorker even published this one from the great Akeem Roberts.

This is a Hannibal joke. Not the cannibal, the Carthaginian general who waged war against Rome. He brought war elephants over the alps. It’s a history joke! It may be obscure, but it’s not that obscure, I don’t think. Which brings me to the conclusion.

Being a cartoonist requires hunting for universal sentiment, but the range of how universal that subject can be is wider than you might think. I’m never going to post a cartoon about, say, Undead Disco Spartacus, a reference that has very little cultural relevancy because I just made it up. But people like obscure. People like niche. They like feeling that they are in the know. They like posting that one gif of Captain America saying “I understand that reference.” They like seeing something that is special to them, to their own cultural footprint, and if you make a joke for them, they will reward you. To make one final cultural reference, one that’s not too obscure at all: “If you build it, they will come.” 

What Else?

• I launched a new store! Come check out prints, and these cool Evil Squirrel Hats.

• Just for fun, here are some other cartoons I’ve drawn with possibly obscure references. How many do you know?

• It’s Halloween and I feel bad not sharing any spooky cartoons, so here’s one that appeared in The New Yorker two issues ago:

Ok! That’s it! Thanks so much for reading and please do like and subscribe! Comment too! Ask a question! Make a threat. Whatever you like. See you next time!