winstein

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.