"Buddy and Romeo need ... an impossible scenario."

- Cartoonist's sister

Full quote: “Buddy and Romeo need to be in the right place at the right time… you know, an impossible scenario.”

With this early strip, I realized that Buddy and Romeo should make their beach trips in the winter to underscore their cluelessness and terrible timing. I’d argue also that the beach is an improper venue to meet someone. Aside from the immodest attire, in my experience, there was always an audience to witness what would have been a pitiful introduction and an inevitable rejection. The girls were always surrounded by friends on the beach. And I was surrounded by my parents.

---

In revisiting these comics after years away from them, it’s been interesting to be entertained by them as a reader and re-evaluate the creative choices through a more critical lens. For this strip, I immediately saw a missed opportunity in the original strip. As a free bonus this week, please enjoy the 2023 special edition director’s cut of that strip.

---

The Seinfeld writers had a mantra for the legendary television series: “No hugging, no learning.” That mantra certainly influenced our approach to the Buddy and Romeo series. There are plenty of tears and emotional duress in the comics but the reader is invited to look upon it with gleeful amusement. Comic strips have a long tradition of spotlighting lovable losers (i.e.: depressed Charlie Brown can’t kick the football; Calvin’s only friend is his stuffed tiger; Garfield’s Jon Arbuckle and his atrocious taste in dating fashion attire; etc.) and Buddy and Romeo follow in that tradition. It’s reassuring to watch a character’s misfortune unfold on the comic page day after day. It makes us feel better about our own daily struggles.

Perhaps Buddy and Romeo are two of the biggest losers in comics history. Not because of their personalities and the premise of the comic strip but because the strip itself failed to ever move beyond publication in a single newspaper in the entire self-syndication run. And, fittingly, the series ended in cancelation. More on that in November…

---

Two idiots.

---

I’ve done several strips across a few comic series about trying to meet a girl while driving. Movies show men getting on and off trains and running alongside of trains and yelling “Stop the bus!” so they can meet a girl all the time. Doesn’t really work that way with driving. Nor does it with trains in reality, In college, I remember seeing a girl outside the train. And the train started moving and that was that.

I just realized how extensive the damage to the police cruiser is. From their bicycle.

---

If you’re enjoying yourself at Buddy and Romeo’s expense so far, please subscribe and share this Substack with your friends. As always, thanks for reading!

---