Lesson 13

So let's take a look at some of these sidewalk reality moments

We have the opposed orange cats, of course. When the birds say it just got real, they are highlighting the perceived tension between two similar cats in similar locations in the newspaper in a similar genre and the same medium. that perceived tension has become real tension now that they are not just in the same paper but in the same single panel.

with the monkeys and the banana suit, The perceived tension is between monkeys and something that monkeys are known for eating. except it's Heathcliff representing that thing. There's an interesting idea in things getting real as Heathcliff is donning a costume, a false action. ceci n'est pas une banabna. The connection between monkeys and bananas becomes real here simply because it is being pointed out by the comic itself

with the ham helmet, we've got actual pigs facing off against Heathcliff. The perception is that normally the helmet tells you the desire, and we know Heathcliff loves to eat honey-glazed hams You know what I mean? And these pigs are the primordial state of a honey-baked ham you know what I mean? Being led to believe Heathcliff is about to process some food You know what I'm saying. But that brings us an interesting insight, Heathcliff is not looking for pigs, he's looking for ham. There is no ham on the page but it has been created in our mind by his helmet. You know how in cartoons, a hungry character will look at someone and that person will transform into a ham hock? That is what his helmet is doing for us to these pigs.

So for today's strip.

All these other things, those were real. suddenly though things have gotten too real. We see Heathcliff walking away from the Moon (the moon: a source of wisdom, intuition, and abstraction). He is facing away from the illusory connections of the moon and walking forward to face reality. He's wearing his real helmet because now it's real. We don't need to have two opposing forces to manifest these sort of ideas into the comic. It doesn't have to be Garfield versus Heathcliff, it doesn't have to be monkeys want a banana, it doesn't have to be ham transmutation.

reality simply is. Period, done. and facing that sort of abject reality can be a little scary. It can feel too real once you have done the deconstruction. There's not actually a rivalry between Garfield and Heathcliff, there's not actually a banana that these monkeys want. these pigs are not yet hams. Heathcliff doesn't need any of that for it to be real.