Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
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So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
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Is that a real Brave and the Bold Ace? Like, can I buy that at Target?
That’s a Krypto The Superdog Ace, which you can buy at Target.
…many years ago.
Curses!!
Buy a Makerbot. You an then build your own. Pretty impressive device for only $1299.00
Too much for anything casual.
Drop by a hackerspace, most of us have 3D printers you can use, and folks that will help you use them.
I like how both of them are kind of doing the totally wrong thing.
I think we’re both learning here.
Actually, I think Ethan has the right idea here.
How stylish! Batdog done tastefully!
batman beyond did ace tastefully.
When Ace took on the dogfighting ring I spent the entire episode waiting for someone to say “Looks like Ace just took a bite out of crime”. They had the perfect moment for it too.
like I said, they did him tastefully.
“Good bad dog.”
You know, I was fully expecting another Batman gag instead of a continuation from yesterday. What’s the opposite of “Damn you, Willis”?
¡Sill Iwu oynmad!
Oh great. The Cthulics are here.
ACE BATDOG WGAH’NAGL FHTAGN
Gosh, Drew, it’s like you don’t WANT to make this work.
Then again, I lived in Jacob’s apartment [not literally, but metaphorically], so this small request seems like nothing to me.
I don’t think its a won’t, but a can’t.
i wonder if he has toyphobia, because he seems really unsettled by that dog
It’s probably not a toy phobia. He’s likely just a neat freak.
A neat freak shouldn’t have any problem putting one item neatly placed on one of the many vacant surfaces in his clean room, er, uh, apartment. Or get a shadowbox for the toy if frame shops are in consideration. He wants a framed, matted picture in the closet as an option. Counting the glass that’s practically more degrees of separation from the actual object than anyone in this world can possibly be from Kevin Bacon. He has the damage.
Honestly, I don’t think it’s any kind of mental disorder. I believe he just thinks that toys are dorky and for kids. He’ll accept it in his boyfriend, but he doesn’t want to personally be associated with it, you know?
He was also really unsetled by another dog figure, so maybe he is afraid of dogs
Maybe. Many of the characters represent different types of collectors. Maybe he collects phobias, like Adrian Monk. But just the ‘having stuff’ phobias so he is still functional so long as he can avoid coming into posession of things he has to look at. That could be why the apartment and his wardrobe are all from Target’s blue period – so when he is home he can unfocus his eyes and it all blends together into just one thing so it doesn’t seem so bad that he has to own any of it.
Is Drew not openly gay???
No, but he is openly bi.
Wait, is this an “inside the closet” joke?
Some day I will be able to use the word “closet” without it being construed as a gay thing. Sometimes a closet is just a damn closet.
Unless that closet has Ace the Bathound in it.
Then it’s the best closet.
It’ll never happen man – sorry…
I can offer you a hug as a conciliation…
Side note: Some people reading seem to think that Drew is gay and as a bisexual myself it is quite annoying… [eye-twitches] VERY ANNOYING…
Honestly, I only know he’s bi because of comments like this. I don’t recall a strip where he mentioned being bi, and his only love interest that I remember seeing was Ethan. I’m not saying you’re wrong for being annoyed, just that it’s reasonable from my perspective for people to be thinking of him as gay.
See following comics:
http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/01-no-thanks-to-eharmony/talktalk/
http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-12/06-bi-partisan/bi/
It was mentioned. He even discussed it with Leslie (she looks like every girl he’s ever dated?). And as another Bi guy, while you’re saying is perfectly reasonable and it’s fair to forget it as something that really doesn’t come up that much and isn’t really important to the comic at all, I’m with Mikey on thinking it can be pretty irritating.
Considering quite a few readers mised that Mike and Amber’s relationship wasn’t one of blackmail anymore them forgetting Dew is bi is pretty understandable considering it’s only been brought up like twice.
It ain’t gonna happen man. It’s just like the phrase “who you gonna call?”
It’s not going to be usable ever again…
Hmm… Interesting meme challenge…
“Who you gonna call?”
“Why not Zoidburg?”
(V) ;,,; (V)
Nope… Chuck Testa.
No… he is dark sonic.
C’mon, David. It’s one thing to just use the word “closet,” like in the sentences “This apartment has lots of closet space” or “That’s the closet, the bathroom’s down the hall” or “I have a dozen Unicrons in my closet, next to my wedding-guest clothes.”
It’s another to have a bisexual man refer to something that he wants to keep hidden, and seems to regard as shameful or upsetting, as “inside the closet.” But it sweetened the punchline for me, so don’t worry about it.
Reminds me about the Demetri Martin bit about rainbows. It went something like …
“I like rainbows but I’m straight. Whenever I wear a t-shirt with a rainbow on it I have to writer “not gay” under it. However I don’t want people to think I’m a homophobe so I put “but supportive” under that.
When you think about it, it’s pretty weird that one group just went and took refracted light. Pretty greedy, gays”
What about a cigar closet?
You brought it on yourself Willis with all your orientational plot twists.
His sexuality may be out in the open, but his love of toys isn’t.
Knew Drew was as crazy as everyone else. He just hides it a little better (and doesn’t show up as much).
I think Drew’s problem is he’s afraid of being seen as even a little crazy.
Well at least he’s willing to compromise. However I think this is in direct correlation to how much Ethan penis he’ll be getting tonight.
Yeah. Great compromise he’s giving there.
Look into BatDog’s eyes, Drew.
Do you see the dissapoint?
Ace totally disapproves of Drew in that last panel.
Ha! Issues! Boo-yah!
Aw come ON, Drew. It’s just one toy… he gives the impression that he hates all toys, action figures, movie/game/show memorabilia EVER. he just comes off as SO unfun.
Oddly I don’t think he’s trying to. It seems he is being honest about him liking Ethan being happy in his environment and generally does want to have fun in that environment – but…
It seems toys aren’t hated so much as they unnerve him…
I think his issues are starting to take light. Will they mark the end of Ethan and Drew?
He seems scared of the toy, rather.
Oh – what a twisted issue to give him given Ethan’s toy-collecting taht risks morphing in a problem! Can they beat this or is it doomed to failure!?
[gasps] Perhaps he was attacked by an army of evil toys as a child! That is perfectly rational and realistic! [eye twitches]
So Side from Toy Story grew up to be Drew?
Seems legit.
You have my Sword
And my Bow
AND MY AXE
And My Bat hound.
Drew if you don’t want that Ace the Bat-hound I’ll gladly take him…..
I KNEW he had issues! Maybe he’s a former hoarder, or lived with one. No zeal like the zeal of the converted.
Oh man, they’re in Coffee of Doom, which (aside from being a nod to Questionable Content) is the same place they had their first date. This could end up really well, or turn really ugly.
(And you can TOTALLY put Ace on the flatscreen, Drew. Ethan did it before.)
Y’know, part of me loves the crossover aspect of them meeting in Coffee of Doom, but part of me just gets really confused about the geography. Are we in San Francisco or Northampton? Damn you, Willis!
Read the comments (especially the one by Willis) in the following strip.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/01-no-thanks-to-eharmony/drew/
Ah, right on. Now I won’t lose any more sleep over that. Wish I’d seen if before bed, though.
This is good.
Now I want to know if he’s a germphobe. Damn you Willis.
Erm, saying that as one. I’m not a neatfreak, but I would be that scared to be offered a toy, even from my s.o., without it being in packaging…
Guys, srsly, he’s probably just a neat freak. Don’t over analyze. We don’t have anything to go on other than what we’ve been given, and what we’ve been given is that he doesn’t have much (if any) stuff in his apartment. He’s probably just very, very, VERY tidy. One of those guys who doesn’t want anything left out in the open. No decor.
But it’s no fun unless he has boatload of problems or issues!
Maybe a guy dressed as Batman killed his parents in a dark alley.
That would have made the Batman cosplay sex REALLY arkward I think.
On the other hand, a single toy on display on a shelf by itself seems to me link something totally acceptable to a neat freak. Sure, everything must be cleaned, have a proper place, etc. But what we’re seeing here is a desire to have nothing around, as opposed to just wanting to be clean. That’s something totally different and a fair bit weirder.
I just wonder if it’s not his apartment and he doesn’t want to put stuff in it so the true owners don’t realize he’s squatting.
But I’m insane.
You think that’s crazy?
You should see Drew’s mother! She’s so jealous of her precious little boy that if she ever found any evidence that he had a meaning emotional relationship with someone else, she would track down the owner of that Bat-Hound and murder him in the night, then hide the pieces in the old abandoned mineshaft at the edge of town!
Of course, nobody has seen Drew and his mother in the same place at the same time, ever since that one dark day, many years ago…
~rocking chair creaks~
this is the best possible reason
But it wasn’t just his apartment. He freaked out about the stuff in Ethan’s house, too. His reaction to another person’s living room goes a lot deeper than being tidy.
I think this is the defining moment for bringing those phobias to the fore.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/toys/
Notice in this and the next one his specific aversion to the canine in question.
Also that it is sitting on top of a flat-screen TV.
But if Drew’s has OCD, then that means he’s wrong and Ethan’s right and Ethan doesn’t have a problem so I don’t have a problem, don’t you see?
Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if Drew was actually suffering from OCD or something similar that wanted his space EXACTLY the way he wants it, no disruption.
If that’s the case, methinks Drew should’ve mentioned this to Ethan by now. How do you go dating someone for as long as these two have and something THAT important isn’t brought up once?
It is possible that he is undiagnosed.
This is actually a really interesting turn of events! Ethan responded in the most mature way possible, and now the onus is on Drew.
Well, it depends. Maybe Drew’s family was murdered by Ace the BAthound,a dn that’s why he’s bothered.
Well, it’s what they get for walking through a place called Superhero Dog Crime Alley.
>This is actually a really interesting turn of events! Ethan responded in the most mature way possible, and now the onus is on Drew.
Ethan called Drew a “jackass”.
I vehemently disagree with that being mature.
Side note: They’re having this convo at Coffee Of Doom.
Oddly enough, it’s the “frame and matte it” line that stands out for me. I know it’s probably just the punchline, but it seems like he’s not just a neatfreak, but the type who wants a magazine-like house. My stepmother’s like that. It’s not a comfortable place for anyone who likes cozy clutter to live.
Maybe it’s not that he’s OCD or a super-neatfreak, but just that he wants things to be tasteful and considers toys tacky and childish. (Or possibly he’s just afraid that it starts with Ace the Bathound and ends with his place being a second storage unit.)
That was my thought, too. It seems like he just really wants control of his environment. Putting something that you do not care for at all on display in your home is a bit intrusive and discomforting. On the other hand, though, he’s already been intrusive in Ethan’s living space by pressuring him to limit his clutter. They do both seem to be hitting a wall, here, even though they are clearly trying.
Well, I figure if Ethan’s thinking of a future together as in living together and all, that usually means making a home they can both feel comfortable in (usually). If Drew can’t accept any toys at all on display in his home, then…is it over-dramatic to say they don’t have a future together?
I don’t really mean “controlling his environment.” I mean…tasteful. My stepmother would sooner live in a hotel than use the sort of comfy, slightly-tacky decor my mother favors, and both of them will never be fans of my “nicely framed comic poster” style of home.
To be fair, Ethan, you picked a pretty ridiculous toy. (To a non-collector, anyway.)
I’m not a collector, and have no idea how rare or valuable a batdog toy is, but I’d be happier with one of those in my living room than a generic batman or superman toy.
I mean, it’s an animal rather than a person for one. That makes it instantly more tolerable to me for some inexplicable reason. For two, it would make a conversation starter (“WTF is that thing?”)
I think that’s part of why I think it’s fairly ridiculous. Given that Drew not only doesn’t care about toys, he actively dislikes them, I don’t think he’s going to be wanting to explain Ace to anyone.
A generic Superman? He’s not going to have to anyone ask about it. It’s just Superman.
Ace the Bathound is disappointed in you.
It’s a reference to when they first started dating. Ethan is offering Drew the chance to make a symbolic gesture.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/toys/
http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/dog/
I know their relationship needs drama to keep things interesting in the strip, but if you actually break them up, you need to be aware that I will use my Super-Gay-Best-Friend Powers to convince My Little Ponies: Friendship Is Magic developer and producer Lauren Faust to divorce her husband Craig McCracken, which will destroy her emotionally and creatively, thereby ending the show.
Also, did you know the person behind MLP:FIM was married to the creator of the Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends? How awesome is that?!?
You’re bluffing. Even evil has to have SOME standards, you fiend!
I’ve always wanted to give 4chan more reasons to hate me!
You mean Craig McCracken? The guy you just mentioned? Yeah, he created Power Puff Girls, and is close friends with Gendy Tartakovsky, who created Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory. They each worked on each others’ shows.
They also both worked on Two Stupid Dogs.
Well isn’t that cute…
BUT IT’S WRO-
Actually that’s pretty cool.
Sorry to break it to ya dude, but Faust already left FIM for the most part. Though apparently she’s gonna be working on a Wonder Woman short now.
(I’d post a link, but, you know, google)
SUPER BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, starring Supergirl, Batgirl, and Wonder Girl.
I am so there.
Yes, I know this, but thank you
for ruining my bit.Oop, sorry dude!
Ouch. Critical fail, Drew. You rolled a 1. Let’s see if you get a saving roll next strip, because it looks like this is it.
More like “you rolled all 1′s on 6d6?” in the original Star Wars RPG.
Noooo Drew
I’m really sad now.
Actually, this could be good. It’s showing he has a problem in a way he can’t deny.
Houston, we have a problem…
And given this is the second time he seems unerved by a dog figure… is Drew afraid of toys… maybe he is not but just to keep all the bases covered…
Drew, you are failing at compromise.
Admittedly, I wouldn’t want that particular figure hanging around either, it’s kinda scary. O_O
C’mon Drew just relax about this one thing… I mean, jeez
For crying out loud drew, just put the toy up somewhere, if I’m understanding Ethan right all he wants is for your space to feel more like a home and less like a museum (to be fair a house/flat with no clutter just doesn’t feel lived in).
“Ethan… toys killed my parents. It’s time you knew.”
Well, that’s what they get for walking through a place called Toy Crime Alley…
After walking out of a theater showing Childs Play.
Drew I am disappoint.
YES! YES! YES! Finally Drew has a flaw! Finally he’s less then perfect, and rolling his eyes at everyone else’s foibles. I don’t know if it’s really a neat freak thing, or weather he’s simply embarrassed about the idea of being an adult owning toys, but the flaw makes him much more human in my book. And I love it! It immediately makes him more endearing to me, and makes me actually hope he and Ethan can work things out.
Thank you Willis.
*takes out keychain. Looks at firefly Serenity ship pewter keychain* Nope.. I don’t know what obsession is
Okay, NOW Drew is being unreasonable.
Well, Ethan. You know what to do. Drop Drew like the shit he just proved himself to be.
Gonna have to agree. Plus, I’m officially shipping Robin and Drew. I think they deserve each other. Matter of fact, ship ‘em off to a deserted island and just let em destroy each other. Love the strip though.
I wouldn’t wish a neat freak (which is what I’m guessing Drew is) boyfriend on someone like Robin. Or Vice Versa
I’m with Drew, I’d never put a dog hero toy on display in my home either. Hell, I’d never own one as they are stupid and I hate all kinds of super pets. Wouldn’t mind assembling my own Justice League line up on my television but a single dog hero is too far.
I dont think Drew is an ass, he just isn’t a toy fanatic and shouldn’t have to pretend to be one to make Ethan happy.
I wonder if Willis reads the comments on comics and thinks “Wow these people are more neurotic than the comment AND way off base.”
Ethan isn’t asking Drew to pretend to be a toy fanatic. He’s asking him to allow him to display a toy in Drew’s home to make him more comfortable there. Just like he’s put away most of his toys in plastic totes to make Drew more comfortable in his home. It’s about give and take. If Ethan has to change for Drew, shouldn’t he be willing to do the same for him?
Having ONE toy in an apartment isn’t pretending to be a toy fanatic, it’s accepting a gift from someone special to you. Ethan is asking him to accept one small part of him into Drew’s personal space. While it may seem to be a big move for their relationship (based on their eccentricities), Ethan is not asking Drew to fill his apartment with toys; he’s simply asking Drew to accept one small toy, as a sign that he can accept Ethan as a whole, toy collecting hobby and all. The way Drew’s been reacting makes it seem that he wants nothing to do with that part of Ethan, but grudgingly puts up with it because it makes Ethan happy, and he thinks he can “fix” it.
Ethan’s not without faults in this relationship, but as far as I can see, he’s really not asking anything more than a show of commitment to this relationship, through a single small compromise.
Ethan didn’t ask Drew to be a toy fanatic, he asked him to tone down his own fanaticism. Ethan asked of him the same thing that was expected of him.
Remember, it was just pointed out that Drew’s apartment feels barren. He has nothing out and when offered a fairly light compromise, he wants to shove it away and out of sight.
I don’t think he’s an ass, but I don’t think he should expect Ethan to stop being a fanatic just so he can be happy either.
If my boyfriend gave me an Ace and said: “Put this somewhere,” I would jump up and down and hug him forever.
As it were, my boyfriend would walk in, stare at it for five minutes, shake his head and turn on Castle or Firefly or something on BBCA.
So it goes.
All good relationships start with the acceptance of Ace the Bathound.
I think we have the start of a new pop psychology movement here.
“…and what I want to leave you all with today is the willingness to take the Ace the Bathounds in your own relationships out from the depths of the closet. Challenge yourselves to display them prominently. And you, too, can Ace your relationship.” *credits roll – fade to pledge drive*
Ace disapproves!
Aw, they’re so cute. Wait, since when were they living together?!
They’re not. And if Drew can’t handle a single display of Ethan’s possessions, then they never will.
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, BATDOG!
He doesn’t want Ace the Bathound?
Dump him. Don’t look back.
Hmm, will we be getting some background on Drew soon? This is getting interesting.
he is being silly about his toys. Him having an hording problem in his home is one thing but pushing it on his bf’s house is another. If I was his bf I would dump him
Wow, you just don’t get it.
If their relationship is ever going to move forward, they need this. Because if Drew and Ethan are ever going to live together, they need to be comfortable in the same home.
Get it? Yeesh.
I am not sure whose eyes are more piercing: Bathound’s or Ethan’s.
I don’t think this is about Drew being a neat freak. I think this is about Drew not wanting to appear childish, or silly.
I went through a phase in my mid-twenties where I became concerned about being ‘an adult.’ I stopped writing science fiction because it was time I wrote something ‘real.’ I stopped buying toys and the like because it was time I put childish things aside. I stopped going to cons because I wanted to be grown up.
But, none of those things were adult. What they were was shame and fear — a sense that somehow the things I liked, liked to do and liked to be were somehow inferior to ‘normalcy.’
Then, I actually grew up, and learned to embrace myself as I was.
Drew may not like these things, legitimately. He may think they’re stupid, legitimately. And he may see them as something he indulges in Ethan. But I think his reaction to the idea of having Ace the Bat Hound where people could see him in his apartment is triggering that kind of fear of society, of seeming ridiculous. Of looking silly.
In short, it’s a form of immaturity that comes from being afraid of looking immature.
Nicely played, Willis. Nicely played.
Dude. Far too many words to say “Damn you, Willis!”
Wait, that’s what we’re here to say, right?
Yeah, it does seem like he’s just embarassed about the toy thing, not just being a clean freak. He can act unanxious about it when he’s spending with with Ethan at toy fairs or at the store or with his friends, because that’s an environment where that’s “normal”, but if he puts puts something like that in his home, it makes it seem to other people that he’s into that stuff himself. I mean, come to think about it, have we ever seen any friends or family of Drew appear in the strip yet? Do they know about Ethan?
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” –C.S. Lewis
I think that’s preeeeetty much Drew’s deal, myself.
It’s not a bad thing, to put stuff on top of your TV. For a good year(?), I had three stuffed animals on top of my TV, and then when I moved those, I put some figures and put them around the TV.
It seems like something dear to Ethan, and if Drew can’t seem to accept that…
A good friend of mine was homeless for a while in high school. She and her mom and sisters literally lived out of their car and couch surfed at friends’ houses. One of her sisters is a borderline Hoarder now, but my friend collects nothing. She has a few pieces of art that hang on the wall, but she has no shelves. She does not own books, or sculptures, or vases, or candles. She doesn’t even have that much in the way of clothing. She recently bought a really nice book case for her living room and has nothing to put on the book case other than a few DVDs and her WII.
It’s entirely an emotional reaction to living out of a car for over a year as a kid. On some basic level, she doesn’t trust that the life she has is stable, that she won’t have to pack everything up and take it with her. So she doesn’t have knicknacks and mementos because why bother? She’ll just lose them, or they’ll be taken from her.
Drew, right now, is reminding me of her and I’m really curious as to why he’s like he is. Thank you so much for creating characters with depth and nuance. It’s really wonderful.
Out of all the supposition, inferences and wild ramblings THIS may be much closer to the truth [as written by Willis] than anything posted as yet.
Then again he may have grown up in a toy factory as a child slave making all those toys that stared at him day and night. THEY have eyes. They are always watching me. Someday THEY will get me and do horrible horrible things.
This is a really interesting theory. How else would someone get used to living with very few possessions? Military service? Parents who were on the run from the government and constantly moving? Maybe he’s secretly married and this isn’t his real house. Maybe…ok he probably just likes cleanliness and order. But I like my other ideas better.
It doesn’t look like just being a neat freak, or not wanting to look silly. He seems to actively have a problem with the toys. I’ve known people who were neat freaks, and so long as the toys were clean (ok, boiled), they were ok. I’ve known people who didn’t want to look silly. Fine. Tell them how much the things are worth, even once you’ve taken them out of the packaging. It gets unsilly fast, and they relent. Their eyes light up like Ferengi being told they can have very expensive trinkets of gold-pressed latinum all over their home.
There’s something else going on here. Drew’s uncomfortable to the point of fear. Someone really traumatized him over toys when he was a kid, maybe. Perhaps beat the crap out of him for being too girly for liking “dolls” just because he had an action figure or two. Or a hundred. Or his parents were some of those real nutbars who force their kids to play with non-gender-specific toys, or gender-variant toys, to avoid “causing stereotypical bonding” and it caused him to get abused by his peers.
The judgemental Bathound face in last panel. Oh my god. How do you say no to that AND mopey Ethan?
It’s possible that Drew suffers from Ataxophobia, the fear of disorder or untidiness. This is more than just being a neat freak. Someone with ataxophobia suffers fear and anxiety when confronted with any sort of clutter. Look at Drew’s reaction up there. He’s stressed at the very notion of a single action figure invading his otherwise neat and tidy, uncluttered space. A neat freak could probably handle a clean shelf with Ace the Bathound on it (so long as both were kept dust-free), but to an ataxophobic, it’s unnecessary clutter.
Personally, I dated and lived with someone who called himself a ‘minimalist’ — he wanted to be surrounded by nothing but clean lines and surfaces. My action figure collection, neatly displayed on shelves, drove him nuts. I don’t know if he was actually ataxophobic, but we were together a year before he ran away to be with another ‘minimalist’.
On the other hand, there could be a whole host of other phobias going on, and we’re only seeing one symptom. Maybe Drew has an irrational fear of small, plastic representations of comic and/or cartoon characters. They come alive at night, you know.
well if it’s in the closet Tom Cruise will have somthing to look at
Some people are too obsessed with double meanings. Like the man says,sometimes a closet is just a closet.
Also, as a long time reader, but non toy/doll/figure collector, I firmly believe that Drew just doesn’t want Ethan’s toys visible in his place because, frankly speaking, it’s embarrasing to have that stuff around when “normal” people come over. I know this because I am a comic collector and no one in my various circles shares this passion or even understands that it’s not “just for kids” so all my comics are neatly boxed and out of sight.
So you decry double meanings, then say Drew is embarrassed by Ethan’s socially acceptable toy habit, instead of the text of him being worried about Ethan’s possible addiction and being really neat.
I think you’re projecting your own anxieties and experiences onto the strip.