Remember Krazy Kat? I find it hard to believe that George Herriman was writing this strip at the beginning of the last century. The art jokes are self-referential, and the mood is existential. The characters are obssessed with one another, and yet they utterly fail to communicate. The disconnects are so consistent that they don't even notice, each content with his own version of events. It's an exquisitely poignant picture of humanity: ultimately all we really need is to register one another's existence. But this proves to be no small task. Here's what E.E. cummings said about Krazy Kat: "The sensical law of this world is might makes right; the nonsensical law of our heroine* is love conquers all."
* Krazy Kat was supposedly genderless, but I guess the guy is entitled to his opinion.
Krazy and the gang are the greatest. I love Herriman's scratchy gestures. And the the infinitely repeating plot (Ignatz procures brick / throws brick at Krazy / Krazy is in bliss / Pupp puts Ignatz in jail. ) It never gets stale because it's spun out and out and out and out again - then grounds the weirdness with the familiar. A delightful theatre of the absurd.
Sally, you say "they utterly fail to communicate" but I have to disagree. Ignatz and Krazy (and others) communicate deeply and meaningfully ... its just that the meaning is different for each character. Ignatz does love Krazy, and Krazy is a pure enough soul to understand that. ( Luckily Krazy's skull is up to the punishment).
Do you suppose that there is necessarily an inversion in love? In this case, mouse attacks cat?
"Do you suppose that there is necessarily an inversion in love?" ...Herriman might have agreed! There is a whole segment where Ignatz and Krazy switch bodies and the Kat (controlled by mouse-soul) is throwing bricks at the mouse (controlled by cat-soul), much to the temporary delight of Officer Pup, who wrongly feels a wrong is being righted.
"you say 'they utterly fail to communicate' but I have to disagree. Ignatz and Krazy (and others) communicate deeply and meaningfully" ...I guess this is a K.K. moment cause I don't know where you are getting that from. Ignatz is obsessed, sure, but there's no indication that he 'loves' Krazy. He just really wants to hit him with a brick. Here's a little more from E.E. Cummings (written 1946):
If you're a twofisted, spineless progressive (a mighty fashionable stance nowadays) Offissa Pupp, who forcefully asserts the will of socalled society, becomes a cosmic angel; while Ignatz Mouse, who forcefully defies society's socalled will by asserting his authentic own, becomes a demon of anarchy and a fiend of chaos. But if -- whisper it -- you're a 100% hidebound reactionary, the foot's in the other shoe. Ignatz Mouse then stands forth as a hero, pluckily struggling to keep the flag of free will flying; while Offissa Pupp assumes the monstrous mien of a Goliath, satanically bullying a tiny but indomitable David. Well, let's flip the coin -- so: and lo! Offissa Pupp comes up. That makes Ignatz Mouse "tails." Now we have a hero whose heart has gone to his head and a villain whose head has gone to his heart."
In a flurry of posting...Art Spiegelman wrote a great little essay on Krazy Kat in Last summer's issue of Brick....
"Herriman's strip played its variations on one "simple" theme....(A Krazy Kat of ambigious gender enjoys getting beaned by a brick tossed by a mouse, Ignatz, who is in turn arrested by a one Offissa Pupp....The strip's admirers could and did read Herriman's daily variations as anything from political allegory...psycho-sexual drama.... "
I'd quote more but I'm on my lunch break from my oh so boring job.
To further complicate this existential love triangle....perhaps Krazy is in love with the brick?
Sally sez >> "...cause I don't know where you are getting that from. Ignatz is obsessed, sure, but there's no indication that he 'loves' Krazy. He just really wants to hit him with a brick."
The 'brick-as-token-of-love' idea comes from school-yard days. It seemed logical and clever for 'us boys' to express our affection for that special girl by throwing snowballs at her.
So girls, what's not to understand?! Can my gender be any clearer than that? Girls are wierd.
well in that case i feel bad for Ignatz' wife. she seems very nice and always knitting.
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* Krazy Kat was supposedly genderless, but I guess the guy is entitled to his opinion.
- sally mckay 5-12-2004 2:59 am
Krazy and the gang are the greatest. I love Herriman's scratchy gestures. And the the infinitely repeating plot (Ignatz procures brick / throws brick at Krazy / Krazy is in bliss / Pupp puts Ignatz in jail. ) It never gets stale because it's spun out and out and out and out again - then grounds the weirdness with the familiar. A delightful theatre of the absurd.
Sally, you say "they utterly fail to communicate" but I have to disagree. Ignatz and Krazy (and others) communicate deeply and meaningfully ... its just that the meaning is different for each character. Ignatz does love Krazy, and Krazy is a pure enough soul to understand that. ( Luckily Krazy's skull is up to the punishment).
Do you suppose that there is necessarily an inversion in love? In this case, mouse attacks cat?
- el gordo (guest) 5-12-2004 7:32 am
"Do you suppose that there is necessarily an inversion in love?" ...Herriman might have agreed! There is a whole segment where Ignatz and Krazy switch bodies and the Kat (controlled by mouse-soul) is throwing bricks at the mouse (controlled by cat-soul), much to the temporary delight of Officer Pup, who wrongly feels a wrong is being righted.
"you say 'they utterly fail to communicate' but I have to disagree. Ignatz and Krazy (and others) communicate deeply and meaningfully" ...I guess this is a K.K. moment cause I don't know where you are getting that from. Ignatz is obsessed, sure, but there's no indication that he 'loves' Krazy. He just really wants to hit him with a brick. Here's a little more from E.E. Cummings (written 1946):
- sally mckay 5-12-2004 8:09 am
In a flurry of posting...Art Spiegelman wrote a great little essay on Krazy Kat in Last summer's issue of Brick....
"Herriman's strip played its variations on one "simple" theme....(A Krazy Kat of ambigious gender enjoys getting beaned by a brick tossed by a mouse, Ignatz, who is in turn arrested by a one Offissa Pupp....The strip's admirers could and did read Herriman's daily variations as anything from political allegory...psycho-sexual drama.... "
I'd quote more but I'm on my lunch break from my oh so boring job.
- Ron 5-12-2004 8:46 pm
To further complicate this existential love triangle....perhaps Krazy is in love with the brick?
- mnobody (guest) 5-13-2004 3:32 am
Sally sez >> "...cause I don't know where you are getting that from. Ignatz is obsessed, sure, but there's no indication that he 'loves' Krazy. He just really wants to hit him with a brick."
The 'brick-as-token-of-love' idea comes from school-yard days. It seemed logical and clever for 'us boys' to express our affection for that special girl by throwing snowballs at her.
So girls, what's not to understand?! Can my gender be any clearer than that? Girls are wierd.
- Gordon Hicks 5-28-2004 1:27 am
well in that case i feel bad for Ignatz' wife. she seems very nice and always knitting.
- sally mckay 5-28-2004 1:53 am