Tuesday, November 30, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 012

"ON HIATUS"

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This strip was originally published on November 30, 2011



This was the point when Harold and I realized that we just couldn't keep up with a regular schedule.

See, Harold and I had kind of jumped into this web comic with both feet and without any thought to all the other projects the two of us were working on, both separately and together. And so we found ourselves with way too much food on our collective plates and no time to eat it all.

Thus the hiatus.

We would come back for one more strip before deciding to chuck it all off a cliff and start over with something a bit more thought out and planned.

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 011

"HAPPY THANKSGIVING!"


This strip was originally published on November 24, 2011



I don't know about any of you, but this is what I've always been told.

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Monday, November 22, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 010

"HOW MUCH!?"


This strip was originally published on November 22, 2011



Back when this strip was posted 10 years I ago, I'd written something up about the strip that, rather than try to rewrite today, I figured I'd just repost. So here you go, my words from 10 years in the past:

Have you ever been to a convention just so that you could meet and get a picture with one of your all time favorite celebrities? Then you pay the ten to twenty bucks they charge you just to get in the door, only to find that you have to throw down another fifty to a hundred just for the honor of getting that picture and one or two words from the aformentioned celebrity?

Well, I haven't.

I don't get out much, but that's just me.

But we here at Variety Smack can relate and Harold has put together today's strip to show how you, if you are brave enough, can get get that picture without spending all that green. So give it up to the hardest working artist in the biz!

- Steeven "I Would Never Try That Because I Can't Run Very Fast" Orr

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 009

"THE BEARD OF DOOM"


This strip was originally published on November 17, 2011



See, the way I figured it was that since Harold got to live out one of his fantasies through the comic (see the last strip), then doggone it, I was gonna too.

This is, again, another retail inspired strip. I was, as I stated before, working at a Walgreens at the time I wrote a lot of these, so my experiences there would sometimes trickle into the comic.

One thing that had always bothered me about working retail were the people that would come up to the counter and spend the entire time I'm ringing them up talking on their phone.

Well, I don't know about you, but I've always found that sort of behavior downright rude. And frankly, it tended to get me a mite angry.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fairly antisocial guy, I wasn't looking to hold meaningful conversations with these people, but my very human dignity did want a little acknowledgement that I existed, that I wasn't just a vending machine they were plunking money into.

Smart phones, social media at our fingertips, it's all slowly killing society. These innovations designed to connect people from around the world and allow us to interact socially with each other over great distances is also destroying the way we interact with each other face to face.

I don't know, maybe I'm just old and cranky.

Also, I just want to point out real quick that Harold put little Teddy Bear faces on my jammies and I love that.

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Monday, November 15, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 008

"HAROLD VON DOOM"


This strip was originally published on November 15, 2011



This strip was all Harold.

The idea was his, it was written by him, he drew it up, he produced and directed it, he did it all on this one.

And from what I know about Harold, this is an actual dream of his.

The thing is, when I look back at our time making these comics and I'm being completely honest with myself, Harold worked way harder on these strips than I did.

I mean, sure, I had to come up with ideas and script them out, but when I was really feeling productive and creative I could write up a dozen strips in a day.

Harold, on the other hand, could do a strip a day if he had no distractions and other things going on in his life. He did the pencils, the inks, the letters, and the colors.

Harold Jennett was the hardest working man on Variety Smack . . . and he DOES NOT like yogurt!

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 007

"THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR"


This strip was originally published on November 11, 2011



Yes, it's another retail inspired strip.

I love this time of year. I love the fall, and I love the holiday season. This time of year really helps, for me, to cement the importance of family, and that's why, for me, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

However, this strip was written during my third holiday season working in retail, an institution that gives this time a year a whole new meaning.

That was a decade ago, but the experiences there, during that time, during the holiday season, have forever stained my soul.

Because working in retain as the holiday season dawns means dealing with customers while making sure the promo aisle is stocked and looks nice, even after hundreds of people rifle through the products, people who never put stuff back where it goes (seriously, how hard is that . . . ok, I'm guilty of it too, but still!), people who stampede through each and every day like a herd of wildebeest and never once, not once, say 'thank you' or 'excuse me' or 'nice shirt', yet always have a boatload of negative things to say like 'this is too expensive' or 'you never have what I want' or 'your shirt is ugly'!

And what's up with that!? I like my shirt! My wife bought me this shirt, and frankly I don't give much of a rat's furry behind what you think about my shirt!

I'm sorry, I seem to have gotten away from my original train of thought. Where was I?

Oh yeah:

I love this time of year, even though the retail industry, as a collective, does its best to try and dampen my spirits.

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Happy Veterans Day!

Monday, November 8, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 006

"WORKING FOR A LIVING"


This strip was originally published on November 8, 2011



This is another strip that I based on an actual experience of mine.

At the time Harold and I were doing Variety Smack, I was working at a Walgreens as a second job, and I'd be there, in my Walgreens shirt and nametag, stocking shelves, and most nights someone would come up to me and ask if I worked there.

I can admit that I never responded the way our man above did, but I always wanted to. I just never did, because frankly, I'm a bit of a coward.

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Thanks!

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

VARIETY SMACK 005

"FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH"


This strip was originally published on November 3, 2011



This is another one of my favorite strips, and believe it or not, it's based on a true story.

Well . . . kind of. I'll just say that when I was about 19, I had a friend who thought he had the key to getting the ladies. And when the time came to throw his skills down on the table, he failed. Actually, he didn't even try. He froze.

This one is for you, buddy!

Remember, if you want Harold and I to get the band back together and create more comic strip fun, maybe with more horses talking to each other, please say so by leaving a comment below.

Thanks!