#51: "I Hate to Say It, Pickles"

Arthur Trope Presents: The Inscrutables

No. 51

“I Hate to Say it, Pickles” 

Slothrop is still going on about the panels being too polished. So #tbt to No. 51, which is a good example of how things look before and after Inky gets ahold of Artie’s sketches. The first panel is Artie’s fourth or fifth sketch. The first few takes didn’t include a vacuum cleaner, but Syd suggested it and everyone liked it. Syd used to have a Dalmatian named Hank that fought with the vacuum cleaner. She had to put him down after he got sick last year. This was right after Artie moved in. So this one is near and dear to her. Artie framed it for her birthday. It made her cry and she’s not a crier. Only cleaned it up and colored it. Swipe right to see Inky’s final. We’ve pulled back from color somewhat lately, bc the aesthetic of the strip leans into b+w, which is mostly Artie’s preference. That’s how he left it with with Marv, anyway. When it was just Marv and Artie sending out the newsletter, color seemed like such an extravagance. But we’re all in the Slothrop era now, it seems, so I guess what’s old is new again, but with a lot more people involved. -Ed.