This week's panel suggested by Doug Waldron!

Simple...Yet Effective!

This week, I'm delighted to choose Doug Waldron, whose posts (including the memorable "keep Carl alive" campaign) have been frequent favorites for Ivy and me. Way to go, Doug!

As always, suggestions are listed in the order they were received. Thanks for playing and please join us again next Sunday!

--Scott
Sunday 01/24/1999

(anonymous)

• Daisy turns into a big groundhog that bites the Microsoft monster.

Bill Schlimme

• Carl & Daisy in the front seat of the car, as the Momster rises up out of the back seat, exclaiming, "No, Carl! It's your worst nightmare!" (Well, you have two panels that end with questions leading into this panel--surely there's some way to answer them!)
• Daisy could turn into a monster, exclaiming the same lines as above.
• Daisy could turn into a were-groundhog, and say something like, "Eh, could be!"
• Carl & Daisy in the front seat of the car, as a giant carnivorous groundhog rises up out of the back seat, exclaiming, "No, Carl! It's your worst nightmare!"

• Jeez, what lousy ideas! Sorry.

Jonathan Bogart

I won! I won! Or I helped, at least. Oh, my suggestion?

• Shot of Carl in car with Daisy. Carl reaches for a beer, saying "I have to have a beer to celebrate Groundhog's Day!" (Or just "...to celebrate," so it can flow from either direction.)

  (I've just been wondering ... is that still Bob Lappan's lettering? Someone probably already asked this, but I just started reading.)

[You're the first to ask, actually. Bob was indeed the original Carl letterer. I'm using a Lappanish pastiche but no, it's just me and my clumsy tools. --Scott]

James Riley

• The car is upside down, as is the word balloon, saying, "Huh? What happened to the panel?"
• Car goes over a cliff, with someone in the car (either Carl or Daisy, I guess) saying, "Whoops!" Short and sweet.
• Mom grabs onto the car with big long spikey hands, ala Terminator 2, while Carl says, "Oh no! Mom!"
• The car swerves to avoid a passing ground hog, and goes right over a cliff, the word baloon saying, "Watch out!"
• The car hits a pedestrian, and Carl shouts out, "Oh no, I hit Neil Gaiman!" cause if anyone could take a joke like that, he could.
• The car rams into the side of the panel, and Carl shouts, "Oh no, we hit the side of the panel!", since he has mastered the obvious.
• Finally, repeat the panel about Ground hog day. Finally, repeat the panel about Ground hog day. (I know how unfunny that was, but, you know...how could I not?)

Guy Nelson

• the next panel should be a shot looking in through the front window of the car, Daisy driving, carl riding shotgun, and the Momster seen chasing them through the rear window:
  Daisy: "why is a monster chasing you, Carl?"
  Carl: "the hell if I know!" (as he cracks open a beer)
• or same picture, different conversaiton:
  Daisy: "apparently it's Carl-gets-chased-by-monster Day!"
  Carl: "well, any holiday is worth celebrating!" (as he cracks open a beer)
• or a shot of the Momster shouting commands to a hoard of evil ground hogs:
  Momster: "get him, my pint-sized dealers of death! Shadow or no shadow, Carl shall not live to see another winter!"
  (devious laughter)
• or a shot of the car interior, Carl again riding shotgun:
  Daisy: "you bet it's Ground Hog day, buster!"
  Carl: "Daisy, you're a GROUND HOG!!"

Jennifer Reinhart

• The Groudhog in the Driver's seat says, "Who's Daisy?"
• The back of Carl's and Daisy's heads...in front of him is a view out a windshield of the back end of car much like his own, with two people in it. Carl: "Lousy roadhogs."
• Carl is sitting in the passenger seat...Daisy, at the wheel, says, "Now off to the Video store." (Alternatively: "Now, off to the liquor store!")(After all, in the first panel to the left he promised not to drink and drive, but if daisy's driving it's okay, right?)

  I would suggest that the two cars crash, but actually I think the game is better if we keep it down to just one Carl. Maintains the whole reader-choice thing, and it's more of a challenge besides.

Paul Hanna

• How about a panel strikingly similar to the "What is this? Groundhog Day?" panel (just for repetition's sake?)? A caption could read: "Hey, what's THIS button do?"
• "Oh no! A 900-pound gorilla!" The car begins to spin out of control as it tries to avoid the huge mammal.
• The car, like an certain ingeniously designed DeLorean, switches to flight mode. "Roads? Who needs 'em?"
• The car drives by a sign that reads "Road Ends Ahead" A voice inside the car says "Yeah, RIGHT!"
• "Is that a brick wall up ahead? Nah."
• Small flames and smoke shoot out from underneath the car's hood. "Oh no! I'm not insured!"

George Broderick, Jr.

• car zooms along. Carl balloon: Where are we going? Daisy balloon: To the airport! It's Sikorsky Appreciation Day!

Pike (luke Perry)

• The car stops at Daisy's house. Daisy leads Carl into the house holding his hand. Carl says "I'm so glad to see you, baby."

Eric Carpenter

What follows is one suggestion, with probably way too much going on:

• Carl turns and faces the back seat (monster in background), Daisy sits there pointing straight ahead at something in front of the car.
  Carl: "Daisy! What the devil are you doing here?"
  Daisy: "Carl! Look out!!!"

Jeff Williams

• Close-up of Carl inside the car. His expression is on of intense thought (maybe his eyes are closed). He snickers, "no, no, its April Fools"

Avery J. Cohen

• The car driving off in the background. In the foreground the monster has a terrified look on his face, perhaps in a pose adapted from the ubiquitous painting "The Scream", and is screaming either "Aieee! What's that?" or "Aieee! It's my shadow!"

Jesse Rimler

I know I'm going to win this time...I can smell it.

• For this panel, have a shot of Carl and Daisy inside the car. Carl is in the passenger seat, Daisy is the driver. Daisy is chugging a bottle of beer and Carl shouts at her in anger and disbelief "Daisy!!!".

dan wheeler

• The car speeds down the street (bruuum!) Carl: Aaagh! What are you doing here Daisy?
• "Groundhog Day" Carl's car rear ends Daisy's car crushing the microsoft monster (CRASH!.) All involved jump out of their cars. "Groundhog Day" Carl: Whoa! Deja Vu! (or perhaps: Not AGAIN!) Daisy's Carl: Yay! It's dead. Daisy (pointing at both of them, confused): CARL?!?!

  yes i'm crazy enough to think that second one could actually fit in one panel.

Al B Moore

• Carl is in the passenger seat of the car, and there is a groundhog driving. The groundhog says "Yes! I'm Daisy the groundhog!"

Stéphane Lussier (pushing thirty)

• The horrible microsoft monster calls a passing helicopter also piloted by one of its kind. It says something like "&*%/#!"&".
  Translation: "Follow that car!"

Christopher Ekman

Wait a minute- what DOESN'T belong to Microsoft?

But seriously, folks... you've gotten yourself into two hairy logistical pickles here. (Hairy pickles? Yecch.) Namely:

1) Who's driving the car, Carl or Daisy?
b) How are you going to turn the car into a helicopter in two panels?

• For problem 1), I have a suggestion. An interior shot of the car, showing Daisy at the wheel- she notices the monster in the rear window and, teeth gritted, says, "No, more like Independence Day. Hang on!" Carl, meanwhile, is slumped in the seat next to her with a bottle of Thunderbird, mumbling, "She didn't say anything about drinking while DAISY drives!" (All right, that's a little much, especially for a panel that would be crowded in any event, but I couldn't resist.)

  For the next panel, I think you'd have to have the car transform into a helicopter, while Daisy explains that she's a secret agent for the Justice Department. Now THERE's a crowded panel- but I'm just the writer, not the artist, so it's not my problem. ("Geez, I need to wedge in that big speech, but I wanted room to draw that bitchin' close-up!")

Doug Waldron

• View of Carl and Daisy in front seat of car, Daisy driving, Momster visible through rear window. Carl: "That's no groundhog!" (Simple, yet effective.)
• Daisy dons cowboy hat and yells: "Yippee-ki-yay, Carl!"

Avery J. Cohen

• Adding to my suggestion from Monday, (is this too much for one pannel?):
  In the foreground, the groundhog sticks his head up out of his hole, frieghtening the monster while the car bounces off in the background.
  Groundhog: What's up, doc?
  Monster: Aie yi yi!
• Or repeat the "What is this, Ground Hog Day?" panel, if you want to stick with a theme. (Then I'll suggest repeating the first panel ("Promise me, Carl..."), and then "What is this, Ground Hog Day?" only this time with the helicopter instead of the car.)

Avery J. Cohen

• Looking in the dashboard, Carl is talking to Daisy: "It's enough to drive me to drink!"

Howard Ian Schiller

Well, if he belongs to microsoft...

• Inside shot of the car we see the backs of Carl and Daisy and the road ahead of them. Daisy says "I know where we can get some help" and on the horizon is a building with the Apple Macintosh logo on it.

  Nothing like some corporate warfare.

J.P. Gosselin

• Carl sees daisy, asks: "What are you doing here?"

Mark Schlatter

• Carl turns to Daisy in the car and suggests they go sky-diving.
• Daisy turns into a monster while driving and tells Carl she's his worst nightmare.
• Daisy is clearly drinking and driving (with Carl as as a passenger).

CattJanRoxxanne

• Carl sticks his body out the window and says "Somebody should put up a sign for these kinds of things!!" and a voice says "Carl! Sit down!"
• what would be cool if like there was some weird twist in the story, like, since mabey Carls mom is a monster you could have Carl turn into a monster. Say that Carl's monsterism only works on ground hog day for some weird reason, so that way when he's in the car he says something like "AAA! I'm turning into a ground hog! Nooo!!"
• Carl looks at the monster and says "Man. That idustrial waste is really messing up those groung hogs."
• Carl looks at Daisy and says "Y'know, you could have ASKED to use my car..." and Daisy says "Do you wanna get off here or whine about it..."

Matt Ryan

I have to say I'm not as put out about the "Groundhog Day" reference as I was last week. After all, repetition is one of the basic themes of CYOC -- this gets us started *referring* to repetition. Fun!

(Just in case anyone is still wondering at this point, "Groundhog Day" was a Bill Murray romantic comedy in which he has to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right. Its predecessor was a film called 12:01, both are probably required viewing for die-hard CYOC fans.)

Tricky to make a panel that works from both directions here, hm...

• Interior view of car. Carl is befuddled, with a little confusion bubble or two popping over his head. He is looking at Daisy, who is looking at him with concern and saying, "Promise me you won't drink and drive, Carl."
• Carl and Daisy are stopped at a light. The momster leans in the window, points a tentacle, and says, "Carl! Promise me you won't drink and drive!"
• Playing it straight: Interior view of car. Carl: "Thanks for the pickup, Daisy!" Daisy: "Want a beer?"
• Alternately, Carl to Daisy: "You wouldn't believe what's been happening to me!"
• Or, Carl to Daisy: "On the other hand, maybe I've burst into a dream." :-)
• Daisy to Carl: "So, are we going to a horror movie, or another weird romantic comedy?" Carl is looking at her and doesn't say anything.

  I want to say that Carl has got to be the most spastic, extreme manic-depressive character I've ever encountered.
  Note to Douglas Barre (Age 28). Your God/chess panel wins my personal award for Best Yet. Do suggest it again when appropriate!

  Looking downpage, I'm suggesting that you do the two panels below "Groundhog Day?" in the same week. Otherwise, you may not get panels that work for both the down-and-right survival path AND the right-and-down quick-death path.

  Thank you for printing my commentary along with my suggestions! Discussion amongst contributors could make this even more interesting.

Piers Beckley

• In the car. Carl is sitting next to an older man, who is driving.

  Older Man: No. I'm your dad, and I should know.

• Inside the car. Daisy is driving. Carl is sitting next to her.

  Daisy: Yes. I always go for a drive on the second of February.

Paul

• Close Up of Daisy and Carl in car.
  Carl: Daisy, what the hell is going on!?!

Avery J. Cohen

• The car crashes into a giant groundhog.
• The car is snagged by a giant lasso. "What's that?"

Elan "Jiggy" Trinidad

• The car crashes into something (maybe a giant monkey, person, wall, Ronald McDonald--whatever)

Jeff the Crackhead

• Giant shadow of Microsoft monster looms menacingly over Carl's car. He screams "Oh NO, an extra month of winter!"

Douglass (age 28)

• In response to both the questions, we see Daisy driving the car, holding a gun at Carl. DAISY: "I'm afraid so, Carl."

M. Robert Turnage

• A view through the front window of the car. Carl and Daisy are in the car together with Daisy driving and Carl in the passenger seat. From the viewer's POV the left half of Daisy's face is normal, but the right half is turning monstrous.

  Carl says, "Daisy, I'm having the wierdest day."
  Daisy says in a monster voice, "Carl...Its Ground Hog Day."

James Brophy

• Daisy is driving the car and asks carl "You want some of my Beer, Carl?"
• They Run form the car to a chopper shouting "Out of gas again"
• In the chopper they struggle for the Controlls. "Your too drunk to drive daisy!" (this matches the pace with the other pannel preceeding this.)
• "Look out a clif!" as the chopper winds towards it.
• an explosion that fils the pannel. (allowing for an explosion form the other direction of pannels)

Dark Artist

• Very simple suggestion. Carl is in the car with Daisy, looking at her in the driver's seat, and saying, "Wait a minute! Why are you here?" This suggestion works because in the panel to the left, he had been in the driver's seat, and is now surprised to find he has been moved to the adjacent seat. In the above panel, he's wondering how Daisy knew to come and save him.

Jason Fliegel

There's really only one thing that can happen in this panel:

• The car crashes into a 20 foot tall groundhog.

TimmyC

• My only sugestion is that Carl should be really sweaty, and Daisy should start to grow two buck teeth like groundhog teeth and should have hair growing on her body.
  Carl should say "You're a GROUNDHOG?!"

Jon Delorey (age 176,666,666,667 half lifes of Polonium-214)

• Well, since I'll probably die anyway, where is the beer?
• What would Bill Murray do at a time like this?

Josiah Rowe

• Moving car. Balloon from car: "I'd better hurry!"
• Moving car, with monster following. Balloon from car: "Oh, my God!"
• Moving car, with mother following. Mother: "Wait, Carl!". Thought balloon from car: "Huh?" or "What the--?"
• Inside car. Daisy is driving, Carl is in passenger seat. Carl: "What are *you* doing here?"
• Inside car. Monster is driving. Carl is in passenger seat. Carl: "Aaaaugh!!"

Jeff

• In the car, Carl says "Quick, to the airport!"
• Carl is stuck in a traffic jam and says "DARN! Traffic Slowdown."
• You see the car swerving and the driver says "I'll take a SHORT-CUT!"
• Carl turns to the monster and says, "Do you know Bill's last name
• As Carl is jumping in the car, he somehow accidently knocks Daisy out and screams "Daisy!"
• The car hits a semi-large rock (or small boulder) and the car begins to flip.

Douglass Barre (age 28)

(I should point out that something out there doesn't want my to suggest Carl this week--twice so far doing this my machine has decided to revolt and kill itself rather than allow my words to be posted...) Anyway...

• From the back seat, we see CARL and DAISY looking over their shoulders past us, assumedly after the Momster they're fleeing. CARL: "Boy, good thing we're safe now!" In the windshield, however, we see that they're heading towards a large, dark, cave labelled "DANGER! DARK CAVE!"
• CARL looks in DAISY's glove compartment. He looks shocked and frightened. CARL: "How did that get in there?"
• We see GOD and the DEVIL playing some strange card game. On the cards we can see pictures of CARL, DAISY, MOM, the MOMSTER, etc. GOD: "Your turn. Untap first."
• We see a map of America, with a red dotted line indicating CARL and DAISY's meandering path. The path ends at a star labelled "Mount Rushmore." (I know I don't need to tell you Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota. Which, subtle guy I am, I just did.)
• CARL stands in shock, the Black Regent's dark mistress revealed at last as the Barefoot Girl! So surprised is he that he drops the Sceptre of Nataal, thus making him once again susceptible to the hereditary pirate curse. The Barefoot Girl laughs in mockery: "Ah, Carl, only you would be so foolish as to give up your pure love of Daisy for so fleeting a dalliance! Now you are without protection at the moment of my ascendancy!" In the shadows, however, we see DAISY, clutching the stump where her left hand was cut off by the Monkey King. In her other hand is the Remington pistol dropped by Simon Pale. She thinks: "Still one chance... if only I can get the attention of the Nicest Cat in the World... all may not yet be in vain!" Meanwhile, however, the Chinese Army is closing in on Valavoodra's hiding place and the Monkey King, summoned out of the Microverse of Nataal, is helpless, trapped behind the Codex of Gold. CAPTION: "Next: The Return of the Architects!"
• We see Carl hunched over a computer, typing into a web page that looks remarkably like this one: "CARL wins the lottery and marries Winona Ry_"

Eheitner

• Daisy and Carl sitting inside the car, Daisy driving.
  Daisy: "Ground Hog Day? Why does it have to be Ground Hog Day for things to seem to be repeating? Huh? Why? Just because of that $@%! movie...."