Ol’ George #43: Introducing Geni

 

Ol’ George #43: Introducing Geni

Notes on #43: 

1. I have mentioned previously how I recognized that this strip lacks an independent human female character. I said this to a friend, who remarked that Ol’ George does not pass the “Bechdel Test”! If I wanted to get over that indignity, I’d need a scene where two women characters with names have a conversation that doesn’t involve a man. I’d already written this one, but I’d been putting it off because it required designing a new character, which is work. It’s okay that one is a bird and it’s only about her drink order, right? 

I decided that this new character would be based on a drawing I did seventeen years ago, which was rejected as a label design by Surly. (Go to my blog’s search bar, look up Surly Two, read about it). 

This sketch still exists in pencil form, but I intend to finish it in one form or another. A great tribute to her would be that she live on as a character in this strip, after spending nearly two decades in my closet(s).

By the way, if that drawing had a title, it would be Too. It was intended for Surly Two, but was rejected because , according to Omar, she was “too pretty.” 

2. She is called Geni, for reasons which shall remain a mystery. Is it pronounced “Jenny” or “Jeannie”? You decide!

3. All of George’s drinking buddies-Chester, Balonious, Riblet-and many of the guest stars-Tom Waits, Snoopy, Thelonious Monk, Santa Claus, etc.-wear hats, like him. Geni wears a cranberry beret because Surly Two was a cranberry stout and she’s a Prince fan.

4. Does George have a thing for Irma? Shhh! I mean, who wouldn’t? 

Here she is, Miss Too Pretty of 2008.