Commentary from December 5, 2003
I’m not sure where I got the idea for jerking off on a ladder, but I knew I wanted him to injure himself somehow whacking off. There is some inspired Mike dialogue in this one, and I thought it was interesting that he saw what he was doing as “art”. As I was defining the Mike character more and more, I saw him as a person who truly believed that what he was doing was noble, like being on some sort of spiritual quest, enlightenment through masturbation. This was a defining strip for Mike’s personality in that he wasn’t just jerking off for it’s own sake, but he wanted to be GOOD at it, and it was his own purpose in life.I thought that by having him injure himself it might bring some new humour to the strip, but I was only able to get two or three good jokes out of it. Mike not being able to jerk off wasn’t as funny as him jerking off, so MIke strips kind of slowed down considerably after the Danger Trilogy.
That third panel was difficult to draw. My comics almost always involve someone sitting or standing, so to actually draw someone in motion was a challenge. But I don’t think it looks too bad, although maybe a bit stiff (no pun intended).
The last panel has a nod to Eisu in it for his comment about Lovetalk.
“You’re not an artist so you wouldn’t understand.” If only I could write Mike dialogue like that ALL the time.
The commentary reminds me of someone I used to know, who would tell me earnestly about the great virtue of spending all his money on strippers.