142. Mark Marek Comic Strip

February 4, 2009

Q: There was a quick comic (6 frames maybe) which as I recall was called something like New Wave Comics in an issue in the 70s about a fellow that gets dumped by a girl and then goes on to do all of these achievements and make tons of dough and in each frame he is doing a tag line of the sort “I made it Sue Ellen” and in the last frame it is the girl’s headstone showing she had died a long time ago.

A: Mister Ree says: “The comic that you are looking for appeared on page 67 of the April 1981 (Chaos) issue. The woman’s name was Michelle Anglin. Also, I believe that might have been the very first appearance of [Mark Marek’s] ‘New Wave Comics.'” Thanks, Mister!

Comments

The comic that you are looking for appeared on page 67 of the April 1981 (Chaos) issue. The woman's name was Michelle Anglin. Also, I believe that might have been the very first appearance of "New Wave Comics."

—Mister Ree

February 17, 2009 4:02 pm

Oops. I forgot to mention that Mark Marek was listed as the author.

—Mister Ree

February 17, 2009 4:04 pm

Thanks, Mister!

—Mark Simonson

February 18, 2009 1:25 pm

What a great comic that was! It still reverberates to me; a bitter truth indeed! Not everyone gets the girl, or revenge for getting screwed.

—Bob Cortona

July 7, 2009 4:13 pm

Now I'm confused! I went and bought the April 1981 issue, since that comic was one of my all-time favorites. But it's slightly different.. I distinctly recall that one of the frames had him busting his arse working any type of job to get ahead, all the time motivated by the thoughts of Michelle Anglin... this one frame was of him working in a restaurant washing dishes. Since I was working at a cafeteria at the time it stuck in my mind. I was also relatively certain it was published between January 1977 and May 1980, but this is less certain than the dishwashing. So is there a sequel (or a prequel) to this saga of pain, irony and being a loser?

—Bob Cortona

July 13, 2009 1:29 pm

The "New Wave Comics" strip in the September 1981 issue shows a guy washing dishes hoping to "rise to the top". In the last frame, it's 36 years later and he's still washing dishes. Maybe you've combined this one and the other one in your memory?

—Mark

July 13, 2009 4:19 pm

Mark, Man, you're exactly right! I think those two guys were brothers...! And the older I get, the more I have to wonder at what the memory does to us. And it's your lot to deal with a bunch of late-term baby boomers who already have problems with their memory :-)... Thanks for all you do on this site...

—Bob Cortona

July 15, 2009 1:22 pm

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