Stop making me think things!

I thought I'd let you all in on something fun. The following is an exchange of emails between myself and an unsatisfied reader (let's call him 'Uncle Crank') regarding the above comic.

From: 'Uncle Crank'
To: tony@fminus.net
Subject: Mon. Jan. 14 - F MINUS

Of all the possible ways to interpret the intended humor in this comic, all are in extremely poor taste.

Please have Tony Carrillo call or e-mail me, in case I missed something.

Thanks

'Uncle Crank'

From: tony@fminus.net
To: 'Uncle Crank'
Subject: Mon. Jan. 14 - F MINUS

I'm interested to hear your interpretation of this comic, 'Uncle Crank'.
-Tony

From: 'Uncle Crank'
To: tony@fminus.net
Subject: Mon. Jan. 14 - F MINUS

The convict is obviously locked up for "deep frying" someone or something other than food. If you wanted the reader to believe it was an object such as

someone else's i-pod, you should have stated as such.

Please advise

Thanks

From: tony@fminus.net
To: 'Uncle Crank'
Subject: Mon. Jan. 14 - F MINUS

'Uncle Crank',
The comic displays no indication whatsoever of what was put in the deep fryer. The object being fried depends entirely on the imagination of the reader. If you are offended, Mr. 'Crank', then you are offended by your own ideas. If believing that it was an i-pod being fried allows you to enjoy this comic, then I suggest you do so. Any offensive idea you apply to my comic beyond what is actually there is completely out of my hands.
Thanks for reading F Minus!
-Tony Carrillo

I'll let you know if he writes back!

Hope For America

This comic ran recently:
I wasn't sure anyone would be able to associate with it because it is so specific to my own personal experience. In high school my friend Jordan and I would do exactly this. We'd put a few stones (for weight) in an empty McDonald's cup, tape it to the roof of his car, and drive around the neighborhood. Then we'd pretend to be oblivious as well-intending strangers would desperately try to invent the sign for "cup on the roof". Good times.
As it turns out, we weren't the only ones. I've been getting emails from other bored weirdos like myself. Sean, in Tucson says he's been driving around with a Wendy's cup taped to the roof of his car for weeks. He even send me a picture (By the way, this is exactly the kind of car you should be using to do this): Rod, another reader, does not recommend using epoxy to attach a mug to the roof, because you will eventually want to remove it. Thanks for the tip Rod!
Anyone else out there doing this? Maybe with another item? Briefcase, baby seat, grandpa... the options are limitless!

I'm not the only one.

Check out this article on Yahoo news this morning.
"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."
It just proves the point I made in a previous blog.

Chuck Norris always gets F Minus. Always.

The newspaper I read, the East Valley Tribune, has a section called the Vent on the editorial page. You can call or email the vent and leave a short anonymous opinion about anything you want, and every day they print about fifteen of them. When people get to be anonymous, they get pretty brutal. Depending on the day, the Vent will make you laugh, cry, or want to evacuate the Earth and start over in a Mars Biosphere when you find out what people are really thinking.
For the last several days there has been a discussion about F Minus. It was sparked by a letter to the editor (an actual letter) praising F Minus. This is unheard of, because typically people don't express their opinion when they like something. The editorial page is mostly "I hate ____".
The very same day, a Vent comment was printed right beside the letter with the opposite opinion. It said that F Minus was the worst cartoon on the page, and didn't make sense 90% of the time.
As I've mentioned before, it's a pretty bold statement to say a comic strip doesn't make sense. If you get the joke but don't think it's funny, that's one thing. But to say it doesn't make sense assumes the problem lies with the cartoon rather than you. There is always a chance that the jokes are going over your head because you are "comically short". This has nothing to do with actual height, as we see in this comment response a few days later:
"Are you kidding? F Minus is one of the funniest cartoons! I am only 9 and I get it."
The debate continues today, both for and against F Minus, and I'm loving every minute of it. But the point I wanted to make is regarding one of the comments printed today:
"...F minus is more likely to be the grade point average of the cartoonist who draws it."
Since F Minus first started in my college paper back in January of 2003, I've been getting hate mail. Mostly good mail, but still lots of hate mail. The number one, most common hater comment is F Minus is an appropriate title, or this comic gets an F Minus, or the cartoonist deserves an F Minus, or some version of that. I am so tired of hearing the same old obvious insult. It is not original! It is not clever! Please haters, please come up with a new way to criticize my comic!

In a side note, my favorite comment in the paper so far: "Chuck Norris always gets F Minus. Always."

Vent comments: (480)898-8606 and vent.evtrib.com

Thank you, internet.

Here's an example of an F Minus idea I got immediately after watching an amazing video on the internet.
The video; A karate expert breaks three boards with one spinning kick:


And the comic:

New Papers

F Minus has a couple new papers! The Register Guard (OR) is giving F Minus the guest slot for two months. They'll be taking your comments here. The Raleigh News & Observer will be adding F Minus and a few other strips to their lineup. Read the story here.