This week's panel suggested by Kenneth Applebaum, M. Robert Turnage and Fish.



Bouncing Back from Oblivion!

Well, ten people suggested snapping the rope, six suggested the rope was too long, but it was the three who suggested it wasn't a rope at all that carried the day!

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

--Scott
Sunday 12/06/1998




Adam Ford

  • Since we're going classic, and we can be kinda open ended in the beginning of this storyline...

    The noose snaps and carl plummets downwards, thinking "Hmmmm... Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"


dan wheeler

  • carl in the hospital with both legs in traction & a full body cast. "I wish i were dead." carl #2 stands by , conflicted on whether or not to pull "the plug."
  • carl in hades holding six pomegranite seeds in his palm.
  • carl pours a full can of gasoline over his head (while still noosed to the golden gate bridge) & lights a match "goodbye cruel world!"
  • use whatever winter, sky or ivy suggests.

    i'd like to say i'm laboring under the assumption that this is, indeed, NOT a fresh start but a continuation of the old carl strip otherwise it won't make any sense ent it's put all together. no easy outs guys. twins and all i say!


Piers Beckley

  • Carl is sitting on a piece of grass with the noose hanging loose around his neck and stretching up off the top of the frame. He looks surprised and not a little miffed. The lake is in the background and we can see the bridge support pillar to the left of the frame.
    Carl: "Guess I should have checked the length."
  • Same picture, but the rope is broken
    Carl: "I need stronger rope."

Tom Dougherty

  • Carl is just about to jump when he sees a beautiful girl jogging by (on the bridge). Carl says, "Waitasec..."
  • Carl jumps, but the noose snaps, and he falls into the boat below him. (thinking of a straight-on shot of Carl, able to see the rope's breaking point, and the boat below him, possible action lines to show he's falling) Carl looking up, says, "Dern."
  • Police man grabs Carl and says, "You don't want to do that, son. Suicide is against the law!" Carl, "Golly, I didn't know!"
  • (my suggestion for previous panel) Carl's mom comes back as an angel and says, "Don't do it! You didn't hit me! The *other* Carl did!" (Can you fit that many words into that panel? If not, you can shorten it and say, "You didn't hit me! The other Carl did!"
  • Carl jumps and dies... all remaining panels are of him hanging from the bridge.... Perhaps the police taking him to the coroner's.

    Of course, that last one is a joke.

    [As opposed to...? Actually, I really liked that one! --Scott]

    If I think of more, I'll get them to you!


Drew Hart-Shea

  • the panel should be the same as the previous one except for lines representing carl's plunge off the bridge. Unfortunately the rope is far too long and carl splashes into the water un-hanged, but still attached to the bridge by his neck.


Travis Pelkie

  • I think you should try and evoke that one McCay Rarebit Fiend where the guy bounced up off the water. I think that was in Read yourself Raw.


Kenneth Applebaum

  • Carl is snapped back up. "Dammit," he cries, "bungee cord! Just my luck!"

    This could then lead to Carl channeling his suicidal tendencies into the pursuit of EXTREME SPORTS!

    Or not.


frank episale

  • the dock begins to break apart under carl's feet. he scrambles to hold on, crying, "no; i'm too young to die!"
  • carl jumps but the distance from the dock to the water is not nearly far enough to hang him. he is left floating, almost peacefully, in the water (with noose still binding him to the dock, of course)

    p.s. why do we only get to see neil gaiman's suggestions when he wins?....


[Not sure what you mean, Frank. Neil has only made the one suggestion so far. If you're asking about the archiving of suggestions and the links to the panels themselves that I did for Segment 1, I'll do the same with this segment when it's complete. (Sorry I didn't ask about this on Monday when you posted!) --Scott]


Chantal B.T

  • Carl makes the noose too long and just as he jumps off the bridge, he hits the deck of a ship smuggling cars illegally into Cuba. (His car is also on the ship.)


Sean Michael Henry

  • A boy scout appears and says "Hey mister! That knot's all wrong!"


Jonathan Bogart

  • Carl jumps improperly and dangles, choking. Later, perhaps, someone walks by and unties the rope from the bridge. Of course, then he'd have to be run over by a steamer or something...


mark coale

    first, glad to see Carl back. It was lonely without him.

  • Suggestion # 1 (the wacky one) -- Carl jumps off the bridge. Unfortunately, he has forgotten to tie the rope to anything and plummets toward the water.
  • Suggestion # 2 (the surreal one) -- Cark jumps off the bridge, but is unable to hang himself, since the rope is stuck on the giant floating arrow that says "Noose" on it.

Jason Brice

  • Close up on Carl with an devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.

    Devil: "Go on, do it, ya wimp!"

    Angel:"Please, Carl, no!"


James Riley

  • A little girl points towards Carl and says, "Momma, look!" (Only her in panel or Carl also)
  • World becomes colorful, Carl shouts, "Hello Happy World!"
  • A car smashes into the side, knocking Carl over. Someone from car says, "Whoops!"


taylor

  • "Oh no! Bridge Trolls! All the commuters will be killed! I've got to stop them" Shouts carl off screen.


Ben Rossi

  • a clown or a monkey flies at carl, knocking the gun out of his hand, saving his pathetic life


Fish

  • A beret wearing art-critic walks up-clapping his hands---"Bravo! A stunning piece of modern expressionism!"
  • Carl has accidentally tied the rope to his foot---and it turns out to be a bungee cord!
  • The rope is too long-Carl fals into the river.


wombat_lad

  • the rope breaks
  • as he jumps the alcohol wears off and he awakens at his drawing table
  • his girlfriend drives up and invites him to a movie, the movie screen turns out to be the paper on his drawing table, he flies through it to his studio in the real world, trips and falls out his window.


Jordan Mooney

  • Carl jumps off the bridge, but the fragile rope snaps and Carl plummets towards the water below.
  • Upper body shot of Carl and a bum who has appeared next to him. Bum asks "Hey mister, got some spare change?", Carl replies "Not now, I'm busy!"
  • Henry Travers (Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life) appears and throws himself into the water. (I couldn't resist suggesting that).


Catt Jan Roxxanne

  • how about having Carl turn into his mom just before he kills himself . He'd still be Carl, he'd just look like his mom. And if he looked like mom he wouldn't kill himself because he'd be so freaked out. Also have him say "Oh my god whats happening to me!" This idea sounds weird but it opens a wide assortment of new ideas.
  • Better idea: have angel Carl turn normal Carl into mom, makes somewhat more sense that way.
  • have carl go through with the suicide, but instead of the RIP CARL panel show him in some sort of netherverse.


Mark Krukar

  • Carl is lying on the deck of a boat looking dazed, the noose still in his hands. He is surrounded by drunken revelers with the strains of "Margaritaville" playing in the background. Carl says, "Wha - what happened?" Above him we see the bridge has opened at an angle. Apparently, Carl chose a draw bridge to hang himself from just as it was opening!
  • We see Carl in the site of a rifle scope, the noose around his neck. There are X’s in his eyes. A bullet is slicing through the rope just above the knot. In the foreground of the scope, we can just make out the cap of the hunter. He is saying, "Not so fast punk!" as he fires the rifle.
  • Same as above, except the hunter isn’t firing the rifle, it’s Carl’s mom! (If there can be two Carl’s, there can be two moms with one still alive!) In the foreground we can make out her gray hair. She is saying, "Carl, I won’t let you die!"
  • Or maybe it’s Carl with a rifle, saying, "I can’t live with any more blood on my hands!" as he tries to save himself.


Addison Godel

  • Hm. Goes against your apparent "let's kill one Carl" plan, but something like... Carl: Ack! The rope -snapped!- Guy In Boat Going By: I'll never catch a thing in -this- river!


Nathan Alderman

  • Some kind of bystander (maybe Clarence the Angel?) approaches Carl as he's about to jump, yelling "Wait!"


J.J. Reinhart

  • The Carl who has made his way from the panel on the left (I guess I'm envisioning something like, "she didn't say anything about drinking and sailing")sits in the same sailboat that was visible in the background of the previous panel. I suppose he'd be in the foreground now, seeing the other Carl plummeting to his death off the bridge. Thought bubble: "I've got to save him!"


Stewart Smith

  • Carl notices something peculiar in the waters of the East River and exclaims "What's this loathsome thing?"


fernando orellana

  • The drugs that Carl consummed where really heavy duty gene-mutagens, disguised as hallucinogens. The drug's genetic effects take effect at the bridge where they...

    1. suddenly change Carl into a dog, forgeting the whole sucide thingy for a tasty fire hydrant. Then, Smack he gets hit by a car driven by his mom; carnige, carnige, water everywhere.

    2. Or Carl suddenly changes into miniture wax statue of liberty. The next day the sun melts the little statue away into the river. carnige, carnige, wax everywhere.


Stéphane Lussier

  • Carl is sitting in a movie theater with his girlfriend. As the closing credits start to roll over the "Goodbye cruel world" scene, he asks her "So? What do you think of my movie?" She hesitates to reply...


James Langdell

  • Carl: (holding unraveled noose) Darn! My crummy knot just fell apart.

    Stopped Driver: Young man, I'll help you.


Howard Ian Schiller

    It can't be so easy for our friend Carl...

  • A close up on Carl's face covering his eyes from a spotlight in the sky... "Step away from the edge!" comes from a small police helicopter above the bridge.

    BTW 2: I enjoyed your pages in Wizard. I'm looking forward to your book!


Jason Thompson

  • Due to a trick of perspective, the bridge is only a few feet above the water. Rather than hanging, Carl jumps in with a big splash, to his surprise. The noose is tied to his neck, but has plenty of slack.


M. Robert Turnage

  • The second Carl is standing on the bridge, looking at the "rope" that is pulled taught. The Carl on the bridge yells "Carl! That's not rope! Its a bungee cord!"


Morgan Doninger

  • The panel is a view from space of the planet Earth with the word balloon : "Good-bye Carl!"


Aaron Cumming

  • Carl jumps, but at the last second the rope breaks, sending him plunging into the water
  • Carl's friend Daisy is driving by on the bridge. She spots him and yells, "Carl, don't jump!"

David J. Warner

  • A woman runs toward Carl, shouting, "Wait! Don't Jump!"


harrison!

  • carl jumps but the rope snaps. (that'll probably be suggested a bunch of times)
  • carl jumps but the bridge collapses.


Jeff

  • Carl has jumped, and you see the noose around his neck. Carl is in the air and the rope snaps.
  • A friend pulls up in a car and says, "Carl, STOP!" or "Carl, I've been looking all over for you!"

Topher S. Hines

  • Just a panel of Carl flying out over the river saying "Ahhhhh"

    This seems to make sense and could be a good ending point/ turning point for the horizontal strip. Maybe draw it so the noose isnt obvious.


Pete White

  • Carl leaps from the bridge and the rope snaps. He lands on one of those garbage barges.
  • Or maybe a really cute girl in a convertable stops on the bridge to try and talk him out of it. Or maybe its Ponch and John.

John Shaft

  • Another Carl driving on the bridge gets out of his car and yells to winged Carl, "Wait! You have too much to live for!"


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