Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Cartoon Confusion Due to Creepy Ending


Otto Soglow is confusing us again, this time in the September 8, 1928 issue of The New Yorker (click for a full-size image).

I'm not stupid; I assume the joke is that the diver left his suit to join the mermaid underwater. But does it make sense that my first thought was that she'd EATEN him? And does it seem strange that I still halfway believe that this was Soglow's intention?

7 comments:

Adrian said...

I agree with your first observation as the explanation.

But I definitely had the same concern as you did for the diver. I thought perhaps that mermaids are much like a female praying mantis, eating their mates.

Adam Thornton said...

Maybe they are? Maybe they eat sharks for breakfast?

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, she killed him...

Anonymous said...

Was Otto Soglow another of Stephen King's pseudonyms?

Adam Thornton said...

She certainly has that look in her eye.

If Otto Soglow were really Stephen King, there would HAVE to be dialog, and the diver would have to say "Ayuh."

Anonymous said...

Hah! Maybe he did say it, but we couldn't hear it on account of he was underwater.

Adam Thornton said...

Oh jeez, you're right!

He MUST have been Stephen King, then. :)