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Metapost: JOSH INTERACTS WITH COMICS CHARACTERS (NOT IN HIS NIGHTMARES)

OK, so here is my excuse as to why I was late with the first few days of this week’s comics, which is that I was in scenic Orlando, Florida. While in America’s #1 Central Florida tourist destination, I stopped by the Universal Islands of Adventure, and while maybe I was mostly interested in Harry-Potter-related activities, I was also keenly aware, thanks to a steady trickle of photos sent to me by faithful readers over the years, that there was a real live Mark Trail diorama to be found. And when I spotted it, it was all I had hoped and dreamed of … and more!

Yes, here we have Mark and Billy Keane interacting, for some reason! And what the pictures I had seen couldn’t convey was the fact that this display has an audio component as well! As I stood nearby and pretended to menace Mark with my feeble fist, his soothing voice was piped in from a speaker above his head, informing us that he works for Woods and Wildlife Magazine and loved nature. For reasons I cannot comprehend, Mark is the only character in the whole Toon Lagoon area who gets to speak! Do you think that any of that makes sense to anyone who visits the park, other than the soap opera strip obsessives who read this blog?

There were other characters on display there, and a weird grab-bag they were. They certainly weren’t the most popular characters, but they also weren’t from any one comics syndicate, which means we can rule out corporate synergy as a basis for the character choices. For instance, there’s this Shoe display! Kids love Shoe, right?

You also have the opportunity to stand directly under Marvin’s no-doubt poop-filled diaper:

And you can get some ice cream, if you aren’t scared off by Cathy’s looming crotch.

In summary, the Toon Lagoon section of the Islands of Adventure is a good place to spend a few minutes of ironic bafflement before moving on to actually fun parts of the park. (Although the Dudley Do-Right log flume ride is pretty great. I had forgot how completely pun-tastic that show was!)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 01:58 am and is filed under Cathy, Mark Trail, Marvin, Shoe. |

60 responses to “Metapost: JOSH INTERACTS WITH COMICS CHARACTERS (NOT IN HIS NIGHTMARES)”

  1. Uncle Lumpy
    September 14th, 2011 at 2:13 am [Reply]

    What is that thing looming over the Marvin display? Hobbes got run over by a prune truck?

  2. papa
    September 14th, 2011 at 2:13 am [Reply]

    Halleluia! It’s raining snark!

    Hope you had a good vacation, Josh.

  3. Uncle Lumpy
    September 14th, 2011 at 2:23 am [Reply]

    Oho! Mark is tracking Billy, holding one of the dashes he uses to “mark” his “trail”.

  4. jnik
    September 14th, 2011 at 2:36 am [Reply]

    Hey! I did the exact same pose at the Mark Trail sign in Universal Orlando five years ago! People must do that a lot, especially if they have facial hair.. And yes, I also have a beard.

  5. Lascauxcaveman
    September 14th, 2011 at 2:36 am [Reply]

    The Ben & Jerry + Cathy synergy is overwhelming! That must be the highest grossing ice cream stand featuring a crotch-flashing corpulent cartoon character graphic in the the entire state of Florida.

  6. Flamedrake
    September 14th, 2011 at 3:22 am [Reply]

    …Cathy? Cathy, you don’t want to swim around in that ice cream. Look at it. Marvin’s been here.

  7. Chris Barts
    September 14th, 2011 at 4:02 am [Reply]

    @Lumpy: That is from Little Nemo in Slumberland, which is one of the best-drawn comics of all time and full of dreamy wonderfulness, even if the plots were always a bit thin.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Little_Nemo_moon.jpg

    http://www.comicstriplibrary.org/browse/results?title=2&page=1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Nemo

    http://www.toonopedia.com/nemo.htm

  8. animus
    September 14th, 2011 at 4:50 am [Reply]

    I’m just glad that Cathy™ waxed.

  9. Mr. O'Malley
    September 14th, 2011 at 5:22 am [Reply]

    I haven’t had much time to think about comics recently. I’m just chiming in to send best wishes to Dingo from a couple of threads ago.

    My wife is from the Northwest and she is a total salmon snob, as in “is there any other kind of fish?”, but this last summer she was introduced to walleye and her mind was blown, as they used to say back when Funky was dealing lids around Westview HS.

  10. John C Fremont
    September 14th, 2011 at 6:14 am [Reply]

    @Uncle Lumpy (#1): I think it’s Jackie Gleason acting out that scene from A Trip to the Moon.

    Also, it looks as though Cathy is staring pretty intently at that lightning rod sticking out of the top of her head.

    GT – Speaking of moons, that really doesn’t look like Marty in that last panel. Looks more like Gil’s evil twin Chad.

  11. Jocelyn Knockersbury
    September 14th, 2011 at 6:35 am [Reply]

    Hooray, people with facial hair beating up on Mark Trail!

    That Cathy display is fresh nightmare fuel for sure.

  12. Kilby
    September 14th, 2011 at 6:43 am [Reply]

    The lightning rod on the top of that ice cream stand merely serves to accentuate Cathy’s pinheadedness.

  13. doggans
    September 14th, 2011 at 7:20 am [Reply]

    I’ve always been confused by the comics characters used in Islands of Adventure. A Gasoline Alley gift shop? Really? I mean, it’s not like that shop actually HAS Gasoline Alley merchandise, but still, really?

    I do enjoy seeing some of the more ancient licenses represented, like the statue of Krazy Kat…but then, why do they have Boris and Natasha among comic strip characters?

  14. Liam
    September 14th, 2011 at 7:27 am [Reply]

    I’m not going to eaten anything from Cathy’s crotch.

  15. Rich
    September 14th, 2011 at 7:27 am [Reply]

    It’s obvious that Cathy has been impaled on one of those old bill spikes. But why does she look so happy about it?

  16. Some Guy Here
    September 14th, 2011 at 7:33 am [Reply]

    I thought you were on vacation.

  17. gleeb
    September 14th, 2011 at 7:50 am [Reply]

    ‘shaft: It’s not suspense if it’s a dream. That’s called writing more than you have room for. That is to say, poor writing.

    Dick: Look out! She’s sure to have another chair on her!

    ‘bean: Ah, the raw youth of Cancerdeathville. Sure, they’ve got the stupidity and the contempt, but they have yet to develop the thin veneer of pretending to care about others.

  18. Doctor Handsome
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:14 am [Reply]

    ENHANCE.

  19. MissFelis
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:29 am [Reply]

    I’ve never commented on this blog, because I can’t compete with the wit and sparkle of the other hilarious commentators, but I just had to point out that I think that Josh is wearing a Kate Beaton shirt. Am I off my rocker, or is that right?

  20. Rocky Stoneaxe
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:30 am [Reply]

    Billy’s attempting to give Josh a reacharound in that first photo.

    (Sorry, melonhead, your stubby T. Rex arms aren’t up to the job!)

  21. Maggie the Cat
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:30 am [Reply]

    OMG. Why the bigger-than-life Cathy Guisewite crotch shot?? WHY??? Could she not have been binging on ice cream in, say, SWEATPANTS like she would normally wear?

  22. Écureuil Écumant
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:38 am [Reply]

    MT, a mudged version.

    What I want to know is whether the audio Mark Trail also features random emphases, and eschews contractions.

  23. Josh
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:47 am [Reply]

    @MissFelis (#20): Indeed, it is this shirt!

    Josh

  24. Lorne
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:53 am [Reply]

    Why is Cathy posing for Hustler?

  25. Rocky Stoneaxe
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:55 am [Reply]

    @Josh (#23): Definitely not the kind of shirt a Holmophobe would wear!

    @doggans (#13): Since there was a Bullwinkle and Rocky comic strip in the 1960s, why not?

  26. Nekrotzar
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:02 am [Reply]

    I think I posted a link to this photo when I visted Orlando last year. I still have nightmares about it.

  27. Powers
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:04 am [Reply]

    Toon Lagoon is nominally devoted to King Features – Mark Trail, Shoe, Popeye, Blondie, Marvin, etc… so the presence of Universal’s Cathy is a little puzzling. Any other Universal strips represented there? Were United or Creators’ comics present? It’s been so long I can’t remember. I have a vague recollection of seeing Andy Capp and the B.C. characters (both Creators strips).

    Obviously they also have the Jay Ward license, thus Dudley Do-Right and Boris & Natasha. I wonder if that’s just the JW properties or if all of the Classic Media-owned properties (in particular, Harvey Comics) are part of the deal. (Note that Classic Media was founded by a former Marvel CEO — Marvel being the licensor of the adjacent Marvel Super Hero Island.)

  28. Nekrotzar
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:06 am [Reply]

    @Nekrotzar (#26): It’s coming back to me now. The chocolate sauce on the ice cream made me initially wonder if this was some horrible Cathy/Marvin mashup.

    I wish I hadn’t remembered that.

  29. Russ H
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:08 am [Reply]

    It’s hard to enjoy ice cream when confronted with the sad fact of Cathy’s apparent incontinence, pooping all over the kiosk. She must be negotiating for a semi-reggular role in Marvin.

  30. Maggie the Cat
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:10 am [Reply]

    You were really risking life and limb by starting shit with Mark like that. Did you forget you’ve got facial hair? Obviously he’s going to punch you out.

  31. Maggie the Cat
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:11 am [Reply]

    What was Mark saying? Was he just sharing his thoughts aloud, spoken in bold?

  32. Russ H
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:12 am [Reply]

    MARK TRAIL! ED DODD WAS YOUR CREATOR?? HOW COULD YOU DESICRATE HIM IN THIS MANNER?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Dodd

  33. McManx
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:16 am [Reply]

    I haven’t laughed so hard in a great while. Josh, your poses are terrific, especially the Marvin nose-holding shot. Observations:
    1. Given the proportions of Mark-to-Josh, I would say Mark appears to be 8 feet tall in real life. Andy must be the size of a grizzly bear. But your punch must have been threatening, since Mark apppears to be handing you his wallet.
    2. Was the slogan at Cathy’s Ice Cream “Snatch a cone today” ?
    3. Given the “swoosh” lines following Marvin, I’d say his trajectory landed a face full of ass right at you. Josh, you are brave in the face of incoming…

  34. DavidF
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:26 am [Reply]

    Is there some Photoshopping going on in the Shoe picture?

  35. Deb
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:28 am [Reply]

    For a minute there, I thought you had your feet on backwards for the “Shoe” photo.

  36. [Old Man] Muffaroo
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:46 am [Reply]

    Chris Barts is right: The moon over Marvin is drawn like Winsor McCay’s moon. I was first confused by the fact it has something in its eye, like the rocket from “A Voyage to the Moon” John C Fremont called that one.

    (Is that a rocket in your eye, or are you just happy to see me?)

  37. Dewey's Coffee
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:57 am [Reply]

    Could there be anything possibly more awesome than the way the Mark Trail exhibit assumes that only boys are curious and love to wander? No: no, there could not.

  38. Brian
    September 14th, 2011 at 10:01 am [Reply]

    Speaking of interacting with comics characters, I worked at the AJC during a time when Mark Trail was featuring Charles Seabrook. It was REALLY strange the first time I looked up from my comic page to see the actual person standing there. (I didn’t know who Seabrook was at the time.)

  39. The Divine O'F
    September 14th, 2011 at 10:40 am [Reply]

    Awesome Josh! All of it! The photos, the posts, the comment on Mary Worth’s 9/11 remembrance. I rarely stop by here anymore, but I always read your commentary. You are THE BEST!

  40. kingklash
    September 14th, 2011 at 1:48 pm [Reply]

    Gee, thanks a heap, Josh! That put me off ice cream for at least a month. And polka-dot crotches.

  41. MikeyMike
    September 14th, 2011 at 2:41 pm [Reply]

    Well, that Cathy cut-out certainly explains the line to get ice cream.

  42. Little Guy
    September 14th, 2011 at 3:26 pm [Reply]

    All I can add to the Cathy snark is “ACKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!”

  43. Dr. P and the Women
    September 14th, 2011 at 3:40 pm [Reply]

    I’m just going to go ahead and assume that Mark’s voice RANDOMLY gets much LOUDER for no apparent REASON.

  44. greghousesgf
    September 14th, 2011 at 3:47 pm [Reply]

    I’m not buying ice cream from anybody who hates herself for being fat.

  45. Mysterious shirtless lawyer
    September 14th, 2011 at 5:40 pm [Reply]

    Cathy’ crotch, coated with chocolate sauce. OK, my life is complete.

  46. Andrew Leal
    September 14th, 2011 at 6:16 pm [Reply]

    Josh: Toon Lagoon has gone through mild changes so it’s possible other characters spoke at one point. I could have sworn I’d read that the Hagar and Tumbleweeds statues had sound. (My sister went and took a photo of the Tumbleweeds one, a strip I loved but which wisely retired not exactly in its prime but before creator T.K. Ryan passed on, thus saving it from that fate worse than death).

  47. Austin
    September 14th, 2011 at 6:26 pm [Reply]

    No Marmaduke photo op? Marm is running up into the air and you can hold on to a rope, so when you get home and turn the picture sideways, it looks like he’s pulling you airborne.

  48. Harry F
    September 14th, 2011 at 8:13 pm [Reply]

    Is Cathy excited because she’s having Ben and Jerry?

    and/or

    Do not order Cathy’s Monthly Cherry Surprise.

  49. Kibo
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:03 pm [Reply]

    I think the “Cathy” ice cream shop isn’t so much a promotion for “Cathy” as it is for CakeFarts.com. (NSFW)

  50. Mr K Martin
    September 14th, 2011 at 9:14 pm [Reply]

    How can you have a theme park without the Mary Worth Emotional Roller Coaster or the chance to have your picture taken in a life-size Crock Sweat Box?

  51. Just some guy
    September 14th, 2011 at 10:02 pm [Reply]

    I remember when I was a little kid, begging my parents to take me to the “Shoe” display in Florida.

  52. Donkey Hotey
    September 14th, 2011 at 10:49 pm [Reply]

    “Cathy’s Looming Crotch” would be a good name for a rock band.

  53. Westville Oncologist$$$$$
    September 15th, 2011 at 12:02 am [Reply]

    No Funky Winkerbean display? I would think Batiuk would not pass on a chance to spread trauma to a wider base.

  54. Just some guy
    September 15th, 2011 at 12:59 am [Reply]

    @Westville Oncologist$$$$$ (#53): It’s much more appropriate to just tell fans that there is a Funky Winkerbean display. Then when they arrive, imagine their despair when they find out there is none. It will be just like living in the Batiuk universe.

  55. Braniff
    September 15th, 2011 at 9:46 am [Reply]

    @Rich (#15): She’s dying while pigging out on ice cream!!!

  56. Braniff
    September 15th, 2011 at 9:48 am [Reply]

    Here’s an idea for a Family Circus display–get Barfy live up to his name and vomit brown stuff all over you (er. barf). NOTE: This will require lots of sanitary wipes, showers, etc. for obvious reasons.

  57. irene
    September 16th, 2011 at 9:08 am [Reply]

    Oh great, the phrase “Cathy’s looming crotch” is going to be in my head all day. Thanks for that.

  58. doggans
    September 16th, 2011 at 11:55 am [Reply]

    @Rocky Stoneaxe (#25): Sure, but it wasn’t known primarily as a comic strip. Most of the other characters in the comic strip area lasted longer in comics than in other mediums.

  59. Noel Schornhorst
    September 17th, 2011 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

    @doggans (#13):

    There used to be Rocky and Bullwinkle characters roaming around Universal (much like Disney characters used to do in Disney World). In the immediate area is also Aesop and Son statues. There was also a store for Rocky and Bullwinkle merchandise, but last time I was there, despite still having Rocky and Bullwinkle and pals decorating the outside, it was turned into a place that sells internet time and various cell phone accessories…

    so in other words, stay tuned for the next episode:

    Surfing the Antler-net

    or

    iphone, uphone, we all phone!

    @Uncle Lumpy (#3):

    This is Keane scat. I’d recognize it anywhere–

    A WILD BILLY APPEARED!

  60. T.J.
    September 21st, 2011 at 2:38 am [Reply]

    Am I the only one more bothered by Cathy’s foot in the ice cream?

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