Chapter 374: This September
September 1, 1986. Monday. Calvin and Hobbes' Day Nth.
"Grandpa says the comics were a lot better years ago when newspapers printed them bigger." Said Calvin to Hobbes.
"He says comics now are just a bunch of xeroxed talking heads because there's no space to tell a decent story or to show any action." Said Calvin to Hobbes.
"He thinks people should write to their newspapers to complain." Said Calvin to Hobbes.
"Your grandpa takes the funnies too seriously." Said Hobbes to Calvin.
"Yeah, Mom's looking into nursing homes." Said Calvin to Hobbes.
Of course, the core of the joke is the complaint that new comics are just talking heads xeroxed over and over again. Limited space for story or action.
There's just no denying that comic strips of now are way different from the comics of old.
The old seems torn about that and the comics of the present had to bear the brunt of it.
Hence, the panels showing a repeat of Calvin and Hobbes in the same pose over and over again. The only difference is the speech bubble.
If anything, the complaint was right but this comic strip also proved that there is a story to tell despite the limited format.
Old was old. New was new.
It was both support and a counter, a meta-commentary, and overall just intellectual humor that intrigued people on a daily basis.
This Alexander Creed fellow had done it again.
Just like he always has.
Then again, when one looked much deeper into it... they'd find so much more...
Especially the conspiracy theorist that popped up since the Watchmen end and further back.
A commentary on comics. No siree.
People actually believe that this was Alexander Creed's own commentary on the state of comic books. Not comics.
The strip is about how old-timers hating on what's new but isn't it also Alexander Creed dissing on copycats?
Especially all the "xeroxed" copycats that just followed what he grew and built.
Who could blame the guy?
As of the moment, the comic book industry is in a mess.
Shouldn't the man be allotted to voice his indignance regarding the damaged comic book industry?
Albeit in a deeply implicit and comic-strippy way.
Undoubtedly, this simple Calvin and Hobbes may just seem like normal Alexander Creed humor at first glance but there are quite a lot of nuances to it.
It was up to them, the eagle-eyed fanatics, that will interpret the works of this era's Alexander the Great, so that the general public knows of his greatness!
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Well...
What can Alexander say to that?
Simply put... nothing. He doesn't even know that these crazies exist nor would he care for how deeper they dig for the true meaning of it.
He just plundered the joke from poor Bill Watterson, after all.
And even if there is an underlying reason why he picked that particular strip... well it might be because it seemed timely to his situation.
Another grandfather just popped up in his life and the grandfather theme seemed appropriate enough.
Instead of being shipped off to the nursing home like Calvin's, his own seemed to have marched out of said nursing home with a whole lot to say.
And Alexander could only think back on that.
How could he not?
There's just that many to think about.
It was quite a peculiar road to get there.
He just took a mystery correspondence card, ignored it, then got called in anyways...
Got into a bit of an inquisition, and people somewhat hard balled or tried gaslighting him into being recruited...
By the end of it, that one mystery card netted him a few more calling cards and he got a relative as a bonus.
Unlike Old Sullivan who is somewhat smooth and easygoing... Old Man Pierce seems pretty stiff and a big stickler to the rules.
Well, there's a lot to get to know about the old man and like any other normal person, Alexander is still weirded out by acquainting a long-lost family member.
Especially one that you know to be someone that didn't want to get to know you at all.
Coupled with his anti-socializing introverted-ness and the other party's brash bearings of discipline...
It all just seems more trouble than it's worth.
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Anyways, this was no longer August nor a private beach in San Diego, after all.
It was now the first of September and he was in CREED HQ. This was vacation no more.
Then again, his thoughts were still preoccupied with it.
And it just so happens to be something Mr. Advertiser took note of and can't help but initiate some small talk about.
"What's got you thinking, little boss? Are you perhaps reminiscing about your vacation?"
"In a way." Alexander said so. There's a lot that happened but for most of it... he'd rather not share. He just wasn't one to do so.
Some parts of it are best left to himself.
Well, there's that and there's also the fact that some parts are sanctioned by government parties to be kept on the down low.
Come to think of it, for a supposed month meant for vacation, a lot more stuff seemed to have happened there than in other months combined.
Even this far along, he still had to discuss most of it.
For starters, Comic-Con and the bust of the comic book industry.
Making Alexander pivot to that. "Anyways, what have you guys got for me? Miss Marker, how are we doing given the current state of the market?"
"All's the same for the weekly issue releases, little boss." Miss Marker took cue and handed a folder right away. "The same could not be said for Volume Books though."
Which all fit within expectations that Alexander was more than satisfied with. "Let's just put a pause on further printing and depend on whatever's in circulation for now."
Next was also Comic-Con-related but more on a big purchase type of deal that quite relates to an offer that Alexander made. "Mr. Legalities, have you got the specifics for me?"
"Right here, little boss." Mr. Legalities really had stuff prepared for this one. "At this point, Cadence is just waiting patiently for the results while the Marvel side of things is where most of the negotiations are concerning."
"The pushback?" How could there be none?
"Mostly from the existing Marvel executives and hired creators." Mr. Legalities explained. "Your projected vision for the acquisition just puts them out of a job whilst the rest just refuse to accept."
"Then dangle some compromise or leeways from there." Playing hardball then the somewhat softer alternative, Alexander kind of got that from a certain Mr. CIA. "Not too much though."
"Will do." Mr. Legalities understood that assignment quite well. "And yeah... there's the compiled Starbucks deal for you, little boss. The whole document should be finished by noon."
"It's just a shame that we didn't do quite well on the Papa John's one and I'll see to it that there's good news on the California Pizza Kitchen front." The man really took his leadership role seriously.
"Well, don't stress yourself too much on that since I've got a more interesting direction to take." Alexander still has that Pizza Planet concept to shape out, after all. "Just prepare yourself to handle the shops that are in Creed Store's vicinity."
"Also, do send those Starbucks documents to the Creed Games building when it's done. I'm mostly hauling myself there for the rest of the day." There's still a new game to be developed and released, after all.
"Which reminds me... how's Mega Man or the whole of video gaming endeavor faring outside?" Outside of the company or the country, it's all the same.
"It's doing well, little boss." Miss Marker dutily summarized.
"How did Japan, or Nintendo for that matter, react to it?" Alexander asked.
"There's not much to say for now but sales are good. By the time things pick up, we should know more by then." For a market research lady, sales charts sure seem more indicative than objective receptions.
Alexander nodded and finally turned to Mr. Advertiser. "How about the progress on your part?"
"We've prepped it for quite a long while now, little boss." Mr. Advertiser assured. "Everyone that wants to know should know. All that's left is the scheduled airing, ratings, and reactions from there. Given that it's back to school season, being able to position ourselves like a Saturday Morning Cartoon is great already."
"That's all good, I guess." Alexander got to ruminate on that and one could say that it was truly high time for it to finally happen.
Suffice to say, with this familiar back and forth, he was back in the groove.
However turbulent and unpredictable things life may have been or may be... business should remain as usual.
After all, from here on out, key projects are still to be launched left and right.
Especially this September. The oh-so-special projects of this September.