How Heathcliff Went Weird
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Heathcliff's 20-year transition from newspaper comic into web comic has been surprisingly graceful, even if it feels like it went off the rails. That's because it kinda did. Here's how (and why) that happened.
/ discord
/ camwing
CXC 2022 panel with interviewer Andrew Neal, and Heathcliff Artist/author Peter Gallagher:
• CXC 2022: Heathcliff i...
Script, VO, editing:
Cameron: / @thecamwing
3D intro, thumbnail, custom effects, animations, and additional editing:
Sam: / @invertedhorse
Music licensed through Storyblocks
This comic is like, a complete twist on the phrase "Show, don't tell."
I'm reminded a lot about Steve Purcell's Sam and Max, specifically the games in which a lot of the funniest moments from the game are in which they subvert the phrase to be "Tell, don't show" where a character is telling a story so absurd, but it's taken to be true and when asked why or how, it just how it is. And a lot lf the funniest moments come from these inteactions.
I feel as though Heathecliff subverts the phrase in a completely different way, to "Don't show, Don't tell" in which the absurdity of the single moment tells you very little about how things happened and will happen, and it's up to the reader to interpret everything from almost nothing, which is entertaining and funny at the same time.
Now I want a Heathcliff point and click adventure game where all the puzzles are setting up the shenanigans you see in the comics
Heathcliff saved my life once
I was choking on a piece of rubber when Heathcliff walked by. I asked if he can help with my predicament. He simply said "ham" and then I stopped choking, my tumour is gone and I'm no longer bald. Thank you Heathcliff.
Ham
@@alex.g7317you just gave it all back to him... congratulations... you monster
@@alex.g7317same
Ham
Ham
heathcliff perfectly embodies the energy of "everybody's paying attention to garfield, let's just fuck around and have fun since we don't have to impress anybody"
Heathcliff is sit-com in its purest sense. The situation is the comedy
Wow, that's an excellent way to put it
I expect a pile of Jimmy fan art on my desk by this Sunday.
Jimmy!
This reminds me of a reddit post about some dudes who went camping, and a man dressed like in 1880 came out of nowhere, said "Hello !" and walked away. I think it was pretty funny, not the scene, but what made this scene happens, the fact it happenned, and all the confusion around this. I feel like Heathcliff is about that feeling
I feel like I've only ever heard of Heathcliff, like how old people hear of Minecraft. Everything I learned, heard, and saw in this video are things I did not know, and yet, I was infatuated.
@7:58 Just the music in sync with the editing.. chef's kiss.
Sometimes we just need a cat that does things sometimes
Heathcliff is the comic that is genuinely funnier the less panels you have read. But it also gains a new taste through multiple tastings.
Im a Peanuts man at heart, but I gotta appreciate what Heathcliff does as a comic. Could have easily turned into a Garfield knock-off but it carved its own niche and you gotta respect that
Can't be a Garfield rip-off. Heathcliff came first.
"Puppet Heathcliff likes you" is somehow more sinister than the opposite statement.
really outdid yourself on the production quality here! great stuff
16:36 “It’s what’s for dinner” is actually a cultural reference! There was an old pork council commercial (I think around the “the other white meat” era) that went “Pork: it’s what’s for dinner.”
Heathcliff isn't really a comic that invites you, but you're free to tag along if you want to discover its absurdity
Thank you for forcefully placing my eyes to the lens, wide angled, to gaze upon only Heathcliff. You don’t know what your missing until you see it for yourself. I used to be a man who enjoyed drawing Garfield in absurd ways, but oh how naive I was.
Heathcliff was there all along.
It's pretty funny how fan art of Garfield has turned into this weird, absurdist reversal of everything the comic is built on, whereas Heathcliff is just... actually like that. It truly is a thing of beauty.
Insane production value wtf
Credit goes to my brother Sam for that, he really went all out with the effects library on this one.
This is why I subscribed. I don’t even need to check the topic of your videos anymore, I just click the videos. At this point, I know it’s always going to be interesting and surprising. You made me genuinely fascinated with a boomer newspaper comic from the 70s. You’re a sorcerer.
hey Camwing like the videos but this isn’t Zelda :/ nice try though! You got it next time
I really enjoyed your Heathcliff video series. Thanks! I do a comic strip myself, but it only comes out once a month, and just in one local newspaper. It's supposed to start coming out twice a month soon. Being born in 1970, Heathcliff was an early influence of mine. When I was in fifth grade, as Garfield was ascending quickly, I said, "Screw Garfield!" and decided that Heathcliff was the orange comic cat for me. I remember getting "Heathcliff Rides Again" through Scholastic Books and reading it over and over, copying the art style. My own comic is called Jack the Woodchuck. It takes place in the forest and also includes a toad, a heron, and some other creatures. It more closely resembles Winnie the Pooh than Heathcliff, but I have been thinking about doing some sort of single panel strip also, and submitting it to some magazines. Thanks again!
I appreciate the amount of effort put into this.
Now I know that I like Heathcliff more than Garfield. Danke! 🧡🖤🧡
Heathcliff was named after Bill Cosby
Years ago I saw Heathcliff referenced by Hot Dad is a couple songs, specifically "Let's talk about ham" and "Children love the meat truck" but otherwise I hadn't looked into the comic. Then recently while listening to an episode of "Behind the Bastards" about Dilbert creator Scott Adams where guest R. K. Milholland mentioned offhand that "Heathcliff's been really weird in the last 10 years." He didn't say this as an indictment nor praise, just a fact to put out there. So I just looked up the most recent comic and it's Heathcliff at a lemonade stand like table that says "bro" and around him are kids with balloons that say "bro" and he and the kids all have this satisfied grin on their faces, as if they just solved an issue and are enjoying their contentedness. I have no idea what it means or if it means anything but it made me giggle and happy. A microdose of abusdity. All of his comics seem this way, this sort of non sequitar wholesomeness that is augmented by the cartoon's pleasant and colorful but still fairly benign aesthetic. It's like peanuts and far side met in the middle with a cute cat as the grounded center. I like it and I'm glad it exists.
I think that's how a lot of people either discovered, or re-discovered this series. For me, it was an episode of The Adventure Zone podcast, where one of the characters was a talking cat named Heathcliff, and the name drop made everybody laugh. So I looked it up out of curiosity, and what I found was a mixture of confusion and fascination.
They didn't talk about how weird the comic had gotten, that was what really surprised me. I had no idea it wasn't your bog standard newspaper comic, so I thought for sure I just... didn't get it. From then on, it became my goal to try and understand why the comic made me laugh, even if I didn't understand why, and years later now, here we are.
Seriously? Defending Overwatch 2? I expected better from you.
This video was amazing, definitely altered my perception of Heathcliff. The whole comic definitely has this X-factor fourth dimension sort of thing I may never entirely comprehend, but you have taught me to embrace the shortcomings of mortal consciousness
oreng cat
Camwing, I came across your channel last week and I want to say that this is a good channel.
I was not expecting to like this video as much as I do.
I read a theory once that Heathcliff is actually the series Jon Arbuckle writes and draws, and I think it makes way too much sense.
I just watched Nope for the first time so the garbage ape makes me nervous, too.
YES
The other two Heathcliff videos were what brought me to the channel, I'm so ready for this
Anyone here played hangcliff? It's a wordle like daily Heathcliff game.
12:52-13:41 Jimmy is my favorite character in the comics. Does Garfield have a frog? Hell no, he doesn’t.
I always get excited whenever I see a new Heathcliff comic that features Jimmy on Instagram. I shared this with friends and acquaintances. Do you think he's cute while others are confused about why i like this frog. My response, "Because it's Jimmy."
I’m pretty sure the helmet just means you’re about to tear into whatever is on the helmet that’s why it is food
And even if it’s not food it’s still means you are about to go crazy in it that one time he had a “dirt” helmet and about to walk outside and the comic said they where worried about that just means he’s about to go crazy in the dirt
I’m short the helmet is there to protect you and the words are just there and tell others what about to dig into
H-Heathcliff..? Where are you, Heathcliff..? Must I rid this world of all of its Catherines to finally meet your embrace..?!
This series is by FAR my favorite of yours, it's immediately clear how much passion and hard work went into it. Personally waiting with notifs on for your next project like this.
I'm glad to hear it! There's a really good chance that the RUclips algorithm will have no idea what to do with this video since it's so different from the stuff that propelled this channel to where it is, so hopefully all the good vibes it's getting will help it find an audience.
I found this video after getting frustrated with a Heathcliff strip. I now see the error of my ways. I’ve taken the Ham-pill.
Oh wow I just finished the previous video
great timing!
Got here early bois 😎
first!....wat
really good video! love your stuff!
what a lovely video about a comic ive never heard of in my life (also gesundheit)
The music 🎶 🤌
Heathcliff Heathcliff no one should
Terrify the neighborhood…
I love my Jimmy shirt. I also have a Jimmy pin on the breast pocket of my work jacket.
Criminally underrated channel. This video is up there with the greats, and I hope you keep making more of theses video essays on not just games but art in general.
banger video, I am officially converted to being a heathhead
After going through the videos, it’s kinda interesting how easily Heathcliff “clicks” for someone like me. My RUclips watching days usually consisted of that classic “lol random” humor of the 2010s, stuff like Gmod videos or SMG4’s channel consisting of Mario, but he’s very stupid and obsessed with spaghetti.
Heathcliff clicks because I don’t necessarily need the context. I can let my ADHD brain wire a few ideas, maybe giggle slightly, and consume the next one almost immediately. I don’t like the Sunday comics as much because it sets up the jokes.
The presentation of this video is really cool. The continuous murder board shot, the 2020 comic panels synced with jazz, really underrated honestly
came from the community post, and yeah this is a good video. i like the music sync and the subtle edits like taking characters out of panels. the intro feels super slow in comparison to the rest of the video though, and isnt (imo) a great first impression. also maybe a personal nitpick but the depth of field was cool but feels like it messed with my eyes at some point, especially trying to read some of the text :( also definitely a missed idea was having like a red string connecting different pins but thats just me i think lol.
this was meant to be a comment to help boost the channel but hopefully i dont sound too complain-y, i just ramble sometimes. good video! liking and copy link-ing
@camwing you dont know how much meta has actually spent developing Horizon Worlds. Its a really small part of every thing they do in their reality labs. The nine billion number includes acquisition of a whole company and all their other vr projects. And it's not 9 billion all at once, that's over several years. Do better.
Actually, as a publicly traded company, Meta is required to disclose their operating and R&D costs. All you need to do is look at their publicly disclosed shareholder meetings. It shows that they spent at least $4 billion of those dollars on the development of the meat tank.
i grew up with a bunch of faded anthologies of the original gately run of comics, and realizing the comic was still going on a year or so back i was delighted. the new comics are absolutely different, but even the original run had its "what lead to this situation?" "what's gonna happen?" type of appeal that makes me adore the modern run just as much as the original. i was a heathcliff kid, not a garfield kid, and i WILL be annoying about it.
"In the future humor will be randomly generated!"
- _Larry The Cumcumber 2003_
You're like the alternate universe version of Quinton Reviews but with Heathcliff instead of Garfield and the videos are short instead of long
I have awaited this video for several months. Its arrival pleases me
Honestly kinda mad that your heathcliff videos are getting sooo fewer views than the gaming ones. These videos are... immaculate. And I think the gamer video essay market is just a lot more.. oversaturated. Yet I'm still glad I ended up finding your videos even if it was through those.
It's me
It's him!
THE VIDEO MAN HAS RETURNED!
stop making botton of the barrel videos please
i defenalty will
everything clicked at 10:27. The officials standing like mannequins pretending like they were thinking they were being philanthropic, heathcliff's smugface thinking his little scam worked, the welfare cash bag on the side, the orphans not having a thought between those eyes... it's not random situational skits, it's environmental storytelling.
excellent work!!!! great vid
So it's just boomers inventing shitpost... Got it
heathcliff is cow tools and i'm in love
10:30 what day is this comic from, i love it very much and want to save it
March 11, 2009
@@GeneralDibsTHANK YOU
Not the video i signed up for but the video i need
100% watching this in the morning
dont hurt himb :(
As someone who grew up knowing Heathcliff as "that cartoon show I keep confusing with Garfield." And I never really looked into it more than "Yeah, it's based on a comic strip, I guess."
Seeing these absurdist masterpieces in panel form here, was quite eye-opening. I might have to get into the deep end.
Also, the lighthearted blunt approach to motivations is so closely related to David Lynch ("I like seeing women come out of darkness and into the light" and "I like electricity") and Junji Ito ("I thought sharks would be scarier if they had legs") that I cannot fault the logic.
Now where my subscribe button could be?
CAMWIIIING!!!
I didn't know shit about Heathcliff (I kinda have embedded in the fog of my memory the TV show style illustrations that I saw somewhere, definitely not in TV).
Suddenly, one day, I discovered you, camwing. This RUclipsr that talks about videogames and animation with good sense of humor and an animated avatar that I absolutely adore. Cool. Gonna watch ALL HIS VIDEOS. In two days. Because why not.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, I found myself watching this video-series, learning about Heathcliff. Not understanding what the hell was going on in those comics and pondering if there is some information deep inside the lore of this character's world that I need to understand them. And as I watch the series, something suddenly clicks. I found myself laughing. I get it. You made me get it in 60 minutes without barely reading any comics. Without understanding the lore. I just kinda got it.
So of course I'm gonna read every Heathcliff comic ever made in the next two days.
Thanks, I guess?
Another great video!
I genuinely cannot believe I have found someone with the same appreciation for this comic series. This sounds like a bit but genuinely, thank you for showing me that other people feel this way. My personal favorite comic is the one of Heathcliff on the back of a hippo captioned "the neighborhood is changing", look up the caption and Heathcliff and you will find it, in case you haven't.
I swear, Garbage Ape would fit right in with the weird-ass Ruby Spears cartoons at that time they made "Heathcliff".
Although "Cats and Company" was the forerunner of "The Big Bang Theory".
This is insanely well edited
16:00 he has ham on the mind
The Heathcliff comics in the last few years feel like they've been written by an AI.
So Gallagher strives to avoid over-explaining? I think if he read a comedy manga he would wither away.
I've only ever seen the animated show, dubbed in french (I'm French) and my memories of that are pure confusion
Hey bro can you make a video about subnautica?!?! A review/retrospective type thing.
I have been enlightened to the world of Heathcliff. Before I thought he was an orange cat, now I am aware he is beyond our comprehension.
I was thinking about heathcliff and wondered “is there a good youtube video about heathcliff” and here i am
"An industrial quantity of gravy" is my phrase of the week.
HeathCliff somehow embodies the phrase ‘The Titular Bitchular’ even more than Garfield, his arguably more popular fellow archetype of comics
And what’s funny is Garfield is almost famous still today by its many PERMUTATIONS on the standard comic- Gorefield and Horrorfield and Garfield Minuses and Garfield abstracted to oblivion and yet HeathCliff never NEEDED that because the absurdity is right there on the page
10:28 His plan was to dress up like mice to lead the mice out of City Hall like a pied piper.
Bro.
TFW Garfield attempted this type of humour with bungee dog.
Thank you for burdening me with the knowledge of bungee dog. I had no idea it existed until just now.
I must be the reason why.
Why? Why and what Are u the re-round and round we go driven by our egos
I love this video almost as much as I love heathcliff
Oh so *this* is Heathcliff.
I wonder what his stance on Heath bars is.
i didn’t expect to find a three-part video essay series about one of my favorite comic strips, heathcliff, from a video about low reviewed steam games, but i’m so so glad i did, these were excellent
I fr thought he was gonna say "Who is he, athcliff?"
Everyone loves a visit from the Garbage Ape
I’ve heard about Heathcliff, but never checked it out myself. This really makes me want to go do that! I came for your gaming videos, but this one earned my subscription.
I’ve only ever seen anything about Heathcliff when it’s compared to Garfield (which I grew up with), and your exploration of Heathcliff as its own thing has actually got me thinking about the two comics in comparison, funnily enough.
So: both comics started in the 70s, both are about striped orange cats with enourmous metaphysical powers, and they both show that completely implicitly. They’re improbably convergent, but somehow the mood of each is totally opposite.
Garfield, even before I saw the halloween 1989 strips or found the online community, has always felt a little off. There’s something unplaceable about it, like every cartoon is tainted by the presence of an unseen evil. Like, take that ham helmet panel and replace Heathcliff with Garfield, and your horror interpretation would absolutely come to mind first. If you haven’t already, check out Super Eyepatch Wolf’s “What the internet did to Garfield”. Everything showcased in that video resonates with me, and watching it for the first time really put together the pieces of what I had always been seeing in Garfield.
Heathcliff, on the other hand, seems a lot more inviting in a sense. From every cartoon you’ve shown in this video, something feels more open on some metaphorical level. It shares Garfield’s mundane absurdity, mysterious air, and rigid format, but for some reason Heathcliff is missing one thing: the foreboding feeling of not only reading a Lovecraft story, but also being a character in one.
"Explain yourself"
"No."
How fucking big is this pinboard
I only knew Heathcliff from the TV show because my disabled brother watches it on a daily basis. I had no idea there was a comic behind it; Let alone an ongoing one!
as a fellow heathcliff scientist, this is so great
I love this video and I love heathcliff
Do you have a link to that "his plan worked" comic? I find it really funny and wanna share it with some friends.
heathcliff-images.storage.googleapis.com/heathcliff/2009-03-11.png
@@camwing Thanks dude
Heathcliff Heathcliff, no-one should
Terrorize the neighborhood