By Bob
Burden and David Boswell One hopes that the phrase "exhausted the English language" is overused. A casual glance through any decent dictionary seems to indicate the English language as being fairly well supplied with words. One cannot help, then, but conclude that the phrase "exhausted the English language" is intended to indicate that an attempt to describe a particular book or event has tired out the English language. The commonality of the phrase thus makes us question the fitness and conditioning, and thereby the very health, of our native tongue. As this concern is probably groundless one would hope that the phrase would be reserved only for genuine instances in which describing a book or event actually does exhaust the English language, describing events such as the Flaming Carrot and Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman team-up. The idea that two of the most independent, idiosyncratic, and entertaining comic characters ever made would be combined in one adventure, with Flaming Carrot creator Bob Burden doing the writing, and Reid Fleming creator David Boswell doing the artwork, is something few can honestly claim to have ever imagined, even casually. This being the case, the event in question being so exceptional, one feels fairly certain that the native tongue won’t begrudge the exertion. Many publications have struggled with the difficulty of how to accurately convey their contents on their covers. This struggle does not occur because people in the publishing industry are unaware of the adage ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ but because people in the publishing industry are aware that most people ignore that particular adage. Some books take a page from recipes and list their contents as if they were ingredients. David Boswell has in fact noted on past covers that "thrills, adventure, and romance," were among the contents of his work. The Flaming Carrot and Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman team up advertises the presence of "Christopher Walken, Vampires, and The Girl From Ipanema." To those familiar with the past work of Burden and Boswell these contents are as openly informative and suggestive as a listing of the ingredients flour, baking powder, milk, eggs, and oil, are to anyone who cooks breakfast frequently. Indeed, saying the words "pancake ingredients" to an experienced breakfast cook is much the same as saying "The Flaming Carrot and Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman team up ingredients" to Burden and Boswell readers. Said readers would expect to find Christopher Walken, Vampires, and The Girl From Ipanema contained within without needing to see the cover. Why did Burden and Boswell
choose to advertise these ingredients then? One can only suppose that these were
the only words which could describe their joint project without unduly straining
the English language. And certainly, no two people could create something as
funny, entertaining, and diverting as Burden and Boswell have just done without
caring about such things. |
