winstein

Comic strips with ageing characters are still very fascinating to me, since it's very rare for there to be one. A lot of comic strips prefer to freeze all the characters into the same age for years even as the environment around them had evolved, such as the introduction of smartphones. Some of the comic strips do age the characters but there is an "age ceiling" where characters stopped ageing once they reached it. An example on this is Peanuts, where even the baby characters grew up but are still stuck as children. I think Gasoline Alley might have frozen the ages of the characters in recent years but it's been years since I checked that comic.

One example of a comic strip with ageing characters is Baby Blues which is about a couple raising a baby, but eventually they have another two children. The ages of the children while each new baby was born are different, although the age of the characters started to slow down when the third child was born. It's interesting to note that Zoe and Hammy are still extremely short (a little taller than a baby's height) even if they are not babies any more. (Top 2: 1990 comic, bottom: 2018 comic; I haven't found a modern comic with all 5 members in the family present).



Another comic I would like to highlight is Arlo & Janis, since the characters do age and that is best seen by their son Gene who is an adult at this time of writing, whereas he was about 8 years old when the strip started (by contrast, Arlo was 35 when the strip started). The cartoonist (who hasn't been replaced, by the way) mentioned that it's to make technological and social advancements less awkward compared to if the characters were to have an age freeze. The age gap and a gag might hint that the titular couple are within their senior years (55+) already, meaning that Gene would be in the late 20s at this point. Comparison between an early strip and a strip from 2019. Noticed how different the characters look, especially the son Gene (last panel in second comic). Top is 1985, bottom is 2019.

I am convinced that Sonic and Garfield both have a lot in common even though they couldn't be more opposite from each other, such as how Sonic likes to run around and Garfield is generally lazy, and how their colours are even basically the opposite (Sonic is blue, Garfield is orange).

To list down some things:
1) The main characters have an attitude that people like
2) Their art styles are distinctive with their large expressive eyes
3) Their body types are pretty similar
4) They make wisecracks
5) Their later works are generally considered to be of lower quality than their heyday
6) They have a huge anti-fanbase that thrives in treating the property with a huge dose of cynicism

I do have to say that Sonic had it somewhat better than Garfield, because at least with Sonic it's far easier to find an actual fan of the character, but it's far more difficult to find one for Garfield.

It's interesting how there are so many Mario Kart imitators, yet there are far fewer Mario Party imitators. There were some contenders throughout the years like Sonic Shuffle (made by the same folks that handled Mario Party), Pac-Man Party and Disney Party (and to a lesser extent Crash Bash). The sheer number of Mario Kart imitator lead to more Kart racing games with quality, as we've seen with Crash and Sonic Racing (not to be confused with Sonic R).

Because of the lack of long-running Mario Party imitators, Mario Party is still the undisputed king of party games that marry board game and a mini-game collection.

(Yet we still haven't got a interactive element like a stage or item from Mario Party in Smash Bros)

Even though Waluigi has already enjoyed getting a lot of appearances in games, I still feel grateful whenever Waluigi gets to appear in a new game. It's also fortunate that he appeared early enough that he's a guaranteed inclusion in the roster, such as in the Mario & Sonic games and the Mario Party games. Some cases like Mario Kart 7 was unfortunate though.

My reasoning is due to how unique of a status Waluigi is. He's never appeared in a Super Mario (main series) game, but he's appeared far more often than a lot of characters that first appeared in Super Mario, so much so that he could feasibly stand beside the other main Mario characters. Moreover, spin-offs aren't inherently something to dismiss because they are complimentary, not derogatory to the main series. Unlike most of the characters that regularly appear in spin-offs, Waluigi gets to be something a lot of characters don't get a chance to be: playable. Yes, being playable improves the appeal of the character especially if the video game is fun, which is the case for most Mario games.

I suppose it's true when they say that Waluigi is hardworking: he may not have the privileges that many characters have (appears in Super Mario), nor does he appear in a game that is treated with importance (RPGs, character-focused series like Yoshi and Wario, and Super Mario), but he still has frequent playable appearances where he shows his character (here's where the "hardworking" part comes in) and I felt that it payed of.

Seeing how Waluigi gets a lot of push back when it comes to Wario and being playable in Smash only made my case clear. Sure there are people who didn't like Waluigi as to enjoy his exclusion, but at the same time the existence of detractors means that the appeal of the character is large enough to have them, as evidenced by those who actually like the character! It's unfortunate that there are quite a few people who were verbally uncool with Waluigi's unplayability in Smash, which I was disappointed with because it provided detractors ammunition to strengthen their case. Similarly there's Daisy who get a lot of dislike, but still, I do not wish for that to happen to other people's favourites like Rosalina, Geno or Fawful.

It's a bizarre thing for me to mention, maybe even lampoonable, but I just have to get it out there.

I recently learned that both Garfield and Space Invaders debut on the same month: June 1978. There isn't a specific day mentioned for Space Invaders unfortunately, but Garfield debut on the 19th of that month. It's amazing because within the history of newspaper comics, Garfield is somewhat younger than the middle of the timeline, but Space Invaders is practically early in the timeline of video games.

It's fascinating that despite being one of the main characters, Jon is bereft of the merchandising blitz that Garfield and his animal friends received. It's another way Jon is the opposite of Garfield, since he's relatively free of merchandising. I know Jon is not exactly the most appealing character in terms of design, probably because he might not look that great in 3D. Even Wario and Waluigi have official plushies and figurines despite their more "ugly" design! At most he's got a few figurines though.

I can't tell if Peach is analogous to either Manny Mouse of the X-Mickey comics or Eurasia Toft of some of the Mickey Mouse comics, since Peach was a replacement of the Mario's original girlfriend Pauline (who I would say is analogous to Minnie Mouse). Manny Mouse is essentially a recolour of Minnie Mouse with some slight differences, while Eurasia Toft is a taller and more human-like figure that shares the same species as the hero. Images of Manny and Eurasia respectively:



(Side note: X-Mickey also has a Goofy-lookalike who is a werewolf)

This was a thread I made years ago: https://www.marioboards.com/threads/35001/

But somehow a zygote/foetus analogy gets mentioned in relation to Mario, like as though Donkey Kong is unworthy of being treated as an important hallmark for Mario. I think times has changed now that Mario is proud to reference his Donkey Kong origins.

(Forgot to mention that even Captain Toad is proud to reference Donkey Kong compared to even Mario at that time, until I think Super Mario Odyssey)

For just the reason of loving Mario reciting video game titles (such as Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour), sometimes I like to imagine it if a game has Mario as the main character saying the game's title. Some example (even though the original game doesn't necessarily have the character reciting them):
- "Mario and the Pirate's Curse!"
- "Mario Unleashed!"
- "Mario's Mansion!"
- "MarioWare Incorporated! Mega Microgame-ses!"
- "Mario Raving Rabbids!"

Apologies for the lack of responses, but a sickness got in the way starting from last Friday (2/8/2019), and this one felt severe (dengue fever). I can't say I have fully recuperated yet, but I am hoping that my health life goes back on track not long after that.

Above: Jon (comic strip); Below: Garfield (comic strip)



When I heard that Jon was the star of his comic before it was determined that Garfield is the better one, I suspected that Jon reading the bachelor magazine was from the older strip. Turns out my suspicion was true.

Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e6qIhEusfMgSJ9-e_R-Vgh4Vrlq93-aw/view

Maybe you're aware already, but have you ever checked out this repository for obscure manga? There's some obscure Mario manga hosted here. It's a really fun site to browse, not just for Mario fans. I think it already interested some wiki editors. Ganbare Mario and Dr. Mario-Kun are my favorites so far.

Seems like Captain Toad for Switch is free for a week (5 Aug to 12 Aug), provided that you have access to a Japanese account to download the game, plus have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription. I would likely take advantage of this privilege by basically rushing through the game, since I am yet to play the new Odyssey-based levels. Unfortunately I don't have a Wedding Mario/Peach/Bowser amiibo so I can't unlock those levels immediately.

I don't think the DLC levels are available, which is a shame.

Thank you for reading.

P.S.: I have already created a Marioverse thread about this.

I like that Nintendo acknowledge that Mario came from Donkey Kong (arcade) in 1981, instead of implying that Super Mario Bros. was when Mario truly began. I like to think that when Metro Kingdom references Mario's arcade past, and also that Nintendo released the Donkey Kong (arcade) game on the Switch, they could refer to Donkey Kong as Mario's true origin.



(Odd that Mario Bros.' sprite is based on the NES version rather than the Arcade version, though)

Thank you for reading.

Every glance I steal at your avatar, I keep getting reminded of this.