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"Newt and John" Comic - Episode 22 - "April Fools Day"
Created By Mike Hogue - April 1/2010, Transcribed April 9th / 2010
Characters:
John - A red Ant with big glasses and a red bow-tie. John is a brainy Scientist and Inventor.
Newt - A green Newt with six orange spots on his back. Newt is John's sarcastic Roommate.
Setting: John's House - Kitchen - Daytime
Panel 1 - John is taking a can of McFizz Soda from the top shelf of the refrigerator.
Panel 2 - As John opens the can, it explodes in his face! Newt rushes in, pointing at John and says "April Fools!". John nearly drowns in the blast of soda, and yells "My Sinuses!"
Setting: John's House - Bathroom - Daytime - Later
Panel 3 - In the bathroom, John is about to lift up the toilet seat.
Panel 4 - Colourful Springy Snakes fly out of the toilet making a "Sproing!" sound. John leaps in the air, and lands in the sink and screams "Ack! SNAKES!". Newt enters pointing at John, and says "April Fools!".
Setting: John's House - Kitchen - Daytime - Even Later
Panel 5 - John is carrying a bowl of "Puffy Cheez" snack food away from the open bag on the counter. He looks around cautiously to avoid any more of Newt's pranks.
Panel 6 - John steps into a trap-door built into one of the square floor tiles. His bowl of Puffy Cheez Snacks goes flying into the air. Newt Zips into the scene to point at John and says "April Fools!".
Panel 7 - John is standing in the trap up to his chin. The Puffy Cheez snacks are scattered on the floor around him. The bowl is upside-down and empty on the floor next to Newt. John looks angry at newt and says "This isn't funny, Newt! One of these pranks will go too far!" Newt replies "Aw, come on, ya wimp! It's the one day a year I'm allowed to be a Prankster!"
Panel 8 - Same scene as the previous panel. John is mad and pointing angrily at Newt, and says loudly "Well, knock it off!". Newt looks the other way, scratching the back of his head and says "Ok, Ok. That's the last one... I promise."
Setting: John's House - Living Room - Daytime - Later Still
Panel 9 - John is sitting on the sofa, reading a book called "A Big Piece of Pi" with a content smile on his face. Newt is sneaking up behind the couch, raising his hand, and ready to cause trouble.
Panel 10 - Newt quickly grabs John's Antennae, and pulls with a "Yoink!" sound, popping John's head off completely with a loud "Pop!". Newt has a confused look on his face, as his friends head dangles from Newts left hand.
Panel 11 - Newt has come over to the other side of John, and is on the sofa hunched over and looking at him. John's disconnected head is upside-down next to his lifeless body. A single white neck-bone sticking out of his torso. The book has fallen to the floor as his arms fell to his side. A puzzled Newt reacts by saying "Omigosh! Is that really why he wears a bow-tie all the time?" Trying to make sense of what has happened.
Panel 12 - Newt looking sad, with a single tear has picked up John's lifeless head. John's torso falls over with a "Flop!" sound. Newt realizes the situation and cries, "John was right! I went too far... and now I've killed him!"
Panel 13 - As we cut in closer on Newt holding John's head and crying... John's head begins to make a ticking sound. "Tick. Tick. Tick."
Panel 14 - Moments later, John's head explodes with a loud "SPLAT!". Newt is instantly covered with sticky black Tar. Thinking his friend's head has now exploded, He has a completely surprised look on his face. Directly over Newt's head, two panels open in the ceiling, dropping white feathers and a yellow banner on him. John rushes in pointing at Newt proudly yelling "April Fools!"
Panel 15 - Newt is stuck to the sofa. Completely covered in black tar and white feathers. The yellow banner is now draped over newt like a sash. It reads "JOHN RULES APRIL FOOLS!". John jumps up on the sofa to face Newt. John has a big grin on his face. Unable to move, Newt says "You really are an EVIL SCIENTIST, John." John holds up a small camera and says "It's the one day a year I'm allowed to be! Now say Cheeeese!"
THE END.
Original Comic Created and Transcribed by the artist, Mike Hogue (c) 2010
Comic Website: www.newtandjohn.com
Artist's Commentary
Happy April Fools Day!!!
Man, it feels good to be a Prankstah!I thought of this story last week, and have been working on it daily to get it done in time for April 1st. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Newt and John are always trying to out-do the other with their comments... now it's a battle of wits with practical jokes!
Some of these jokes evolved while I was doing the artwork. I originally thought to have the slinky-snakes pop out of a drawer in the kitchen, but I thought the toilet would be funnier. It gave me the opportunity to have john leap in fear into the nearby sink. This is the first time showing the bathroom in this comic series. It was designed for the next comic I'm planning to post, but I decided to use it for this episode as well. I also like that it breaks up the layout, colour and location for the series of pranks at the beginning.
The final prank that John plays evolved as well. Originally, it was just going to be a sticky glue. When I used the colour of john's fake head as a base colour though, it looked more like blood... not the direction I wanted to go. So, I turned it all black and went for a classic "Tar and Feather" gag. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the book that John is reading is called "A Big Piece of Pi"... I wasn't sure if the text would show at web-resolution.
April Fools Day has a long history... but April Fools Day pranks are a tradition on the internet as well. Many websites post outrageous claims, or new product ideas that sound almost too good to be true, but many believe they are real. Here's a complete list of every website prank that has been recorded... shown in order of popularity:
April Fools Day on the Web.
Some of these new products became so popular and the demand became so great, that they actually started to manufacture them. My favourite example is the Star Wars Taun-Taun sleeping bag. The Thinkgeek website creates fake products for April Fools Day every year, but they didn't expect so many people to want their sleeping bag. But,why not?!.. It's a great idea! Click here for the Product page. Here's an Article from the New York Times telling the whole story.
I hope you enjoyed this episode... pass on a link to your friends! Look for new "Newt and John" comics in the weeks to come! No Fooling! Take a moment to subscribe to this website's RSS FEED for instant notification when each comic is online!
If you've just discovered this comic, take some time to enjoy all the episodes in the ARCHIVE. Come back soon to see what else can happen, when Two Roommates take on the Universe!
All the best,
Mike Hogue - Commentary originally written April 1st / 2010