Walking Signals

I've had this one in the queue for a few weeks, but finally, this morning, I found the missing piece. I sort of knew what to put in the first three panels, but once I thought of the final panel, the cartoon was ready. The next thought was how to package it. Since I am not a cartoonist, I needed to format the discussion so that two guys in the office could make all the points. That meant it had to be another person who was actually punched by a turn signal. Of course, it also requires that you remember your hand turn signals.

Run Over

When you hear statistics on TV or the radio, don't you have to think for a minute to determine what it means? I do. So, when I heard this one, my first thought was exactly what today's CoV says. I debated working a multiple panel comic around it, like maybe having the other character react to the ridiculous statement by the blue character, but all that would do is explain what the real interpretation is. I trust my reader to understand it. 'Nuff said.

BA Manager

A coworker came up with the acronym in this strip and insisted that I use it for a Clarity of Vision. I is a very clever acronym, but I had to find the twist that makes it feel like a CoV. Finally, I decided that having him already wearing a Batman mask would work. I also wanted to start the comic strip with another acronym that would be inappropriate in the workplace. Well, that one would be inappropriate anywhere.

Too Bright

Of course, once you open the Waldo door, there are other ideas that appear. Here, we find there might be a positive sign to wearing a cap that seems to glow in the dark. This strip also includes a comment on how programmers like to keep the building lighting lower to enhance the visibility of their computer screens. However, when facilities comes in, they need more light while they complete their work. Come on, people. Can't we all just get along?

Cubicle Search

One of my coworkers suggested that, as our team keeps changing locations, it is like playing Where's Waldo.

Wireless Mouse

Where do you go after all the mouse replacements escalating throughout the workplace? Back to basics. OK, what if the company gave everyone the same mouse? Why don't they interfere with each other? And what might happen if they did?

Mouse Basics

In real life, at some point, things return to normal or even minimalistic after complex situations. So, today's character returns to as basic as a mouse gets. A mouse. If there is another cartoon in this, I think it might be based on how noisy the office is with these mouse solutions in place, but I have not decided.

Gas Mouse One-Upped

Once you design a gas-powered mouse, the next logical step is how to make it bigger and better. So, what if you could use a car and a GPS and then map it into a screen? That's where this office worker decided to go. As he notes, and as you can imagine, it would not necessarily be productive, and would certainly be a gas hog, but wouldn't it be fun to try?

Gas Mouse

This came about from seeing the Mighty Mouse at an Apple store. So, where will we go next with mouse (or other input devices) development? Maybe we'll go old school and just make it bigger and power it some other way. Bingo. a gas engine on a mouse.

Iran Nukes

There has been a lot of posturing in the press between Iran and other countries over the Iranian capability to build nuclear weapons. So, when I heard that the US wants to impose further sanctions (but I did not hear any that had teeth), I had to capture that idea. And with Russia and China not really wiling to participate, I decided to have them on the sidelines watching. I also added my own idea of some sanctions that would really scare Iran into capitulation. Come on. Wouldn't you give in if you could not watch the latest Sandra Bullock flick?

Tax Form

This form is not real. It is an attempt at humor based on the rumors of the high cost of the new Health Care changes.

Larger Breakroom

One weekend, I came in to borrow a game from a coworker and my wife came with me. When she saw our breakroom, she commented how much larger it was than hers. It includes a popcorn maker and a big screen TV with satellite TV. So, I wondered how big is too big.

The comic is supposed to depict that 90% of a building is break room, with minor consideration for cubicles around the outer edges. Maybe my picture is not exactly to that scale, but I wanted to include recognizable human and laptop shapes.

Stakeholders

Today's Clarity of Vision seemed an obvious followup to yesterday's Steakholders comic. The only unknown was what to have the non-vampire say that would tie them to the project concept. Once I had that, I decided to have a few of the vampires make small comments.

Steakholders

So many times, if I break into work talk with family, many of the terms are unfamiliar or at least, less commonly used. So, this image has been bouncing around in my head for a while. The trick was finding an image for a steak that fits in the minimalist style of this strip. I did. The next decision was how to present it. I did not like any of the four panel versions I created, so I made it a single panel strip. My first, I think.

Wailing Wall

As seems to often happen, I heard a story on the radio during my commute that mentioned the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. So, this follows a common theme of one guy using a common name or place while the other actually means something different. So, I tried to find another place where you might hear wailing that I could use.

Black and White

This strip started with the idea of someone not knowing how to change colors in a Powerpoint presentation. So, what if they used black font on a black background, or white font on white paper? I noticed that a trned line did not show up well the other day on a presentation, so I tweaked the color to be lighter. Since I wondered, "What if I did not know how to do this?", I came up with the basic format for today's CoV.

SWOT

A common business tool in IT and organizations is a SWOT diagram. In this, you can identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and determine how your company or group is doing and how you can improve.

So, after thinking of a SWOT diagram, I decided that the easiest way to build this strip was to re-interpret the acronym. The final panel was the challenge. What else could SWOT stand for that would be funny? I also tried to find a third interpretation for the final comment, but couldn't think of anything worthwhile, so I went with a homonym.

After-Dentist Meeting

As you might guess, I thought about this one while sitting in the dentist chair a couple of weeks ago. They deadened the left side of my mouth, but kept talking to me and understanding my answers. So, I thought about what it would be like to have to return to the office and lead a meeting. Once the concept was in place, I just had to tweak some statements so that I could correctly misunderstand things. The last phrase was rewritten five times.

GOB Help Us All

Interestingly enough, at least to me, this one started with the idea of someone tracking a project like they would track a wild animal. However, as I wrote it, it morphed a little away from that strict idea into the normal two characters talking about this other character hurrying to control the out-of-control project. The final panel was also the final written. I did not know what I would write until I came up with God help us all. "OK," I thought, "what would give the other character something to be puzzled about? Ah, what it he did not say God, but something that sounded like it and meant something else." That's why I invented the GOB acronym.

Snacks and Pills

In this take-off on Jack and Jill, I first came up with Crack and Pills are sold up the hill, but decided that was a bit too edgy. And for w3anting to oint out what typically poor dietary habits we IT-types have, snacks and the ever-present vending machines are often the lunch choice we make. After searching for how I wanted to build the entire strip, I decided to have the character increase pill use throughout to keep him going. Once I had the rhyme down, I added the side comments to semi-explain the cartoon.

April Fool's

I had another theme in mind for today's cartoon, but decided I could not pass up April Fool's Day. Last year, I used the comic to insult the guy in the cubicle next to me. This year, I chose to have one character not really catch on to how his buddy was playing an April Fool's joke on him. I started from panel 1 and just moved straight through. I did rewrite panel 4 three times before I liked the final comment.