023 “Tears In Heaven”

Some people think that this comic takes place in Japan, maybe because of the pseudo-Japanese style I use and the Japanese names I give some of the characters. In reality, it doesn’t happen in Japan… it doesn’t happen anywhere — the location is irrelevant. What I like to make fun of are Western customs and sensibilities, not Japanese ones. Because of this, most cultural references are Western, and this strip is a good example of a strip that violates the idea that this happens in Japan and within a Japanese culture. Yuko goes up to heaven and meets God, defiantely a Western convention. Second, Yuko’s body is buried and not cremated, also a Western convention. The Suicide Girl series would be a lot less fun if bodies got cremated after the funeral. Hence, a Western sensibility is more appropriate.

A friend, Ikuko (he helped in a Jam strip in Volume Two), said he liked the idea of a God that was at such a loss for words, like in panel 3.