Project Description

INKTOBER 52 2023 Day #29: TRAP.

“I had a tough time coming up with the idea for this one. The prompt ‘trap’ already showed up in a previous Inktober, and I played off of the whole Admiral Ackbar line from Return of the Jedi, ‘It’s a trap!’ It was fun, I got to pay homage to Star Wars yet again, and the final image made me chuckle. Admiral Ackbar is still the first thing I think of when I hear the word ‘trap’, but I didn’t want to repeat myself unless I could come up with a new way to approach it. As I was mulling that possibility over, my Brain remembered the very first ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ comic strip. Calvin approaches his dad – who is cleaning the family car – and informs him that he’s off to check his tiger trap, which he’s rigged with a tuna fish sandwich. Calvin’s dad humors him while barely looking away from his chore as Calvin states ‘tigers will do anything for a tuna fish sandwich!’ In the last panel we see Hobbes strung upside-down, munching on the aforementioned tuna fish sandwich, agreeing that ‘we’re kind of stupid that way.’ It was a great introduction to the characters and their relationships to one another.

I obviously took a few liberties with my interpretation. Calvin doesn’t appear with Hobbes in that final panel, but I felt I had to make that concession for the reference to work in a single frame. Of course, PMD is eating a bacon and banana sandwich, rather than tuna fish, and I opted to have the eating sound effects appear on one of PMD’s signs (I think it’s the first time I’ve had him hold a sign with his ‘foot’? Maybe not, though). I don’t draw myself often in these illustrations, but the few times I have have been references to ‘Calvin and Hobbes’. This particular Calvin version of me is probably the most Calviny from a stylistic standpoint (and yes, Calvin was wearing the safari hat in the strip). Anytime I can make an excuse to reference and pay homage to Bill Watterson is a good time.”