Usually I try to situate Weltschmerz somewhere. Place and time provide context and added meaning for the cartoons -- and at times inspires the actual humour. Although in my mind, I see Horst and Cosmo walking to a subway station from work, this time I put nothing in the background to clutter it up and distract from facial expressions and dialogue. The punchline may be a übergeeky, but I like this cartoon's spare talking-heads style.
The pressure to be "cool" is pervasive, like the air we breath. (Yes, it turns out, even asphyxiation is a cool, at times deadly, high for some teens. Here I set out to do a light, silly cartoon and didn't intend to touch on this topic, only realizing in retrospect this interpretation. For more info on the dangers of the "choking game," go to thedbfoundation.com. Kids, don't choke yourselves!) The Catch-22 of attempting to "catch" and define cool is weird. If something becomes too cool, it becomes uncool, only to become cool again some years later. The only escape is to tune out of pop culture, as Horst contemplates next week. Only then are you blissfully ignorant of your uncoolness or coolness. Yet for some, this sort of ignorance is death.

Next week: How Cosmo keeps effortlessly surfing on the cutting edge.

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