This is a 38-panel comic I’ve
worked on nonstop for the past two months, and finally finished a few days ago.
Basically, I wanted to satirize the pop culture tropes of “Cool Girl” and
“Manic Pixie Dream Girl”—while making it clear that I don’t think the
stereotypes are true (there’s a joke in the strip about neither of them
existing in the real world). I’ve also always liked the idea of two female
characters battling it out for a reason completely unrelated to a man. In this scenario,
they’re vying for their place in the plot. What I’ve noticed from movies and TV
is that “Cool Girl” and “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” never seem to occupy the same
story, because both of them are always presented as the character the male
protagonist is supposed to end up with. As you can probably guess, it doesn’t
pan out that way here.
Most of you are likely aware of
what “Cool Girl” and “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” mean, but I have been asked about
those tropes by a few people who are unfamiliar with them. So, for everyone’s
reference: http://tinyurl.com/gneg3wt and http://tinyurl.com/7ddlqgu . MPDG is known for being quirky,
artistic, spontaneous, and playful in a childlike way. She tends to wear
vintage-y clothes and have an indie vibe (think every character Zooey Deschanel
ever plays). She bakes cupcakes and knits. She takes off on random road trips
and force-feeds everyone sunshine. Cool Girl, on the other hand, is more of a
tough girl who’s thought of as “one of the guys” (as silly as it is that such a
quality means you’re thought of as a man). She’s constantly bragging that she’s
“not like other girls.” Sort of like the Girl Next Door trope, except more
high-adrenaline. A few friends who have seen the comic have asked if MPDG is
supposed to be me, and the answer is no. Aside from the red hair, I don’t even
think I look like her.
Also, several people have asked
me who John Green and Nicholas Sparks are. They’re both real-life popular
novelists. Nicholas Sparks writes saccharine stories that are basically
extended Hallmark cards. John Green’s plots tend to be formulaic in a similar
way, except his characters deliver the stories with witty, whimsical dialogue
and while wearing scarves. (And this isn’t to mock him; I like John Green.)
I very well may continue this
project. This could just be the first installment. The second might involve the
characters struggling to form their own identities outside of the tropes
they’re written into.
http://tapastic.com/episode/251539
http://tapastic.com/episode/251539
