The Astonishing Excursions of Helen Narbon &Co., Chapter Twenty-One.
December 4, 2011 ~ 8 Comments
I like this installment. It’s a pretty long one (five pages); I must have had a lot of free time that week.
Man, it’s a good thing I switched to doing these recaps in a typed font instead of hand-writing them (or getting Andrew to write them) like I did in the early installments. It’s legible and everything!
I really enjoyed drawing Victorian Dr. Narbon. Check out her iguana-headed parasol, intended as a weird nod to Mary Poppins.
Never change, Madblood.
Yes, the Narbons come from Italy. The Narbonne region is in southern France, but All’s Well That Ends Well, the play from which I got Helen’s name, is set in Florence. So the Narbon family is Northen Italian.
All I can say is, it took forever to draw all those little lines.
I think I would be awesome at writing romance novels, provided they starred brain-swapping octopus men. It’s too bad Dave can’t be this smooth himself, either here or in regular Narbonic continuity. Regular Dave seems to do okay, though.
I’m sure I was thinking of Gilbert and Sullivan with the last line here. It’s a line from “Here’s a how-de-do!” from The Mikado. ETA: I misremembered; it’s actually from Iolanthe. Which is my favorite G&S operetta for some odd reason.
Even as the most physically imposing creature on the stage, Davenport finds himself utterly bereft of clout. It’s downright disgraceful.
Is there such a thing as an ugly kettle of fish? I suppose a pot of bouillabaisse would be pretty hideous, at least to the surviving relatives.
It isn’t, actually. The song includes “here’s a how-de-do,” “here’s a pretty mess,” and “here’s the state of things.” No fish.
Poor Davenport.
It’s from Iolanthe, in “Strephon’s a Member of Parliament.”
Please, please, please write romance novels with brain-swapping octopus men. I am begging.
“ci ha dato il fuoco” = “He gave the fire” according to Google Translate
“She provided the spark”, perhaps? I don’t know how gendered Italian pronouns are, or how good at handling them Google Translate may be.