And thus closes another chapter in the Frederickverse. This arc started on September 20, 2011 and has run for a record-breaking 128 episodes during which Geoff has charted us everywhere from the palace of Theodora to the backseat of Flave’s love van. On Tuesday, I shared numbers 10 through 6 of my favorite moments, and now, the Top Five!
Number 5: Episode 516: It’s no secret that Drover Cleveland is pretty much my favorite thing from this arc, and his explanation of The Drover Code in this episode is the seed for so much that follows.
Number 4: Episode 493: I love this episode not merely for the way in which Newton proves his/her identity, but for the fact that Leibniz must have programmed his security systems with just such grandiose monologuing in mind as the definitive test of Newtonry.
Number 3: Episode 484: Public Health Announcements from Jack Kerouac. That’s all I gotta say.
Number 2: Episode 505: Every time I read Abe’s dialogue in panel 2, I just burst out laughing for a good minute. Don’t ask me why, or how, but Geoff somehow tapped into the primal line here of everything I find funny about anything.
And my number one favorite moment from Geoff’s epic run…
Episode 474: Drover explaining what a Drover is. I love it on its own, but also because it almost exactly mirrors the conversation Geoff and I had at our table at APE in 2011 when he was writing out scripts and I was drawing sketch requests. He was batting around ideas for what the Presidents should turn into, and after settling easily on Rutherborg B Hayes and Triple T Taft, he kept getting drawn to the name of Drover Cleveland, and proceeded to argue with himself more or less exactly the way that Hayes and Cleveland are arguing with each other in the first four panels, while I was just cracking up next to him. The whole thing is Geoff Incarnate, and so it makes me happy all over again whenever I read it.
So, there you have it! Brand new story arc, penned by yours truly, next week! If you want to do some preparatory reading, there’s no better place than the Holiday Specials!
– Count Dolby von Luckner
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Before getting to comic business, here is a totally awesome site that was brought to my attention by Jochem Atteveld. Basically, it’s a historical atlas where you can punch in any year and see the political division of the world at that time. It reminds me of those colored growth maps you got at the end of Civilization (at least the first two) when you finished a game where you just watch your color grow from a blip on the map to taking over the world. It’s really fun.
Well, this here’s the last week of Geoff’s arc, so I spent today going back through the whole thing to pick out my top ten favorite moments. I’m going to put 5 of them up today and 5 up on Thursday, and if you’ve got a favorite that I missed, we’ll be talking about it over on Facebook throughout the week! So, here are numbers 10 through 6!
Number 10: Episode 450: Frederick Decorates Theodora’s palace with baby portraits and the first appearance of the Eigenpower!
Because – Rococo! And Eigenpower!
Number 9: Episode 548: The Sea Lions respond to Flave’s Call! I just like the ridiculousness of the Storming the Beaches scene in the last panel.
Number 8: Episode 449: Voltaire and the Swan. Because it’s such over-the-top Voltaireishness I love it.
Number 7: Episode 462: Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial. Panel 4 is among my favorite things we’ve ever done.
Number 6: Episode 494: Taft and the Tub. When we go out to conventions, Taft is perhaps, next to Abe, our most requested president for sketches. There is some mad Taft love out there, and some real recognition of his merits as a president. I think this episode nicely salutes all of that.
Which leaves my 5 very favorite moments for Thursday, when we close out this arc with… A Mystery!!
– Count Dolby von Luckner
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It’s hard to believe, but next week will be the last week of this truly titanic arc. Little did we expect back in October of 2011 that Geoff’s story of kung fu sea lions, gender bending, and drovers would welcome in not only 2012 but 2013 as well. I’ve had a blast drawing it and it’s ridiculous fun for me not knowing precisely what is going to happen next, but I’m pretty stoked about hopping into the scriptwriting seat again too. So, starting on episode 575, we’re going to have us a brand new arc, meaning that if you’ve been waiting for that ideal hopping-on moment to recommend us to dozens and hundred of your friends and hangers-on, it is coming!!
– Count Dolby von Luckner