Working Daze

Last updated
Working Daze
Author(s) John Zakour
Illustrator(s)Andre Noel (late 1990s–2003)
Kyle Miller (2003–2008)
Scott Roberts (2008–present)
Website GoComics.com/working-daze
Current status/scheduleCurrent
Launch datelate 1990s; entered syndication December 17, 2001;22 years ago (December 17, 2001)
Alternate name(s)Modern Daze
Syndicate(s) United Feature Syndicate (2001–2011)
GoComics (2011–present)
Genre(s)Humor

Working Daze is a comic strip written by John Zakour and illustrated by a series of artists (currently Scott Roberts) that centers around the working relationships of a group of mostly geeks who work for MMM (which stands for either MicroMacroMedia or MacroMicroMedia [1] ), a D list giant, impersonal software/tech company.

Contents

Publication history

Working Daze was co-created by Zakour and artist Andre Noel in the late 1990s. It began as 2KTOONS and they did a few black and white samples under that name. The panels were picked up by intranetjournal.co and were run occasionally under the title Modern Daze. [2] Picked up by United Feature Syndicate, it began its full color run under the current title on December 17, 2001. Noel left in 2003, and Kyle Miller replaced him starting April 20 of that year, drawing the strip until June 14, 2008. Many new characters were introduced during Miller's time on the strip and readership increased. Scott Roberts took over on June 16, 2008, and continues to draw it today. All three artists delivered different, personal styles to the comic.

Andre Noel era

During the Noel period with the United Features Syndicate, Working Daze appeared six days a week in color online and in black-and-white in a handful of newspapers. At first it was a single panel gag with a caption beneath. During Noel's run, it changed format to employ word balloons, freeing it to have two or more panels as needed. It fell more in line with the traditional definition of a comic strip, although it retained its original dimensions. Noel experimented with different methods of coloring the strip, initially going for a hand-colored look. Later on, brighter, flatter colors were used, indicating that it was being computer colored. The art was fairly detailed, with a good deal of emphasis on backgrounds. The offices of MacroMicroMedia seemed to be located in a large city high-rise, probably an older building. The style was closer to The New Yorker cartoons than to newspaper strips.

Kyle Miller era

Rather than seek an artist who would mimic Noel's style, Zakour went with Kyle Miller, who brought a whole new look to the strip. Miller's style was clean and spare, more cartoony, and the characters were redesigned to reflect that look. Several new characters made their debut during Miller's time, including Carolina, Kathy, and Medusa.

Miller used backgrounds sparingly, often they were only dashes of color. Some readers resisted the change at first, but in time many new readers came on board, and Miller was embraced as a full partner, his style as the true look of the strip.[ citation needed ] He stayed on much longer, ending a five-year run in 2008. His departure came as an upset to many readers, who were even less willing to accept the change than when he came on.[ citation needed ] Zakour announced the change well in advance of the actual event, but many were caught by surprise. Miller is a video game designer, and left to concentrate more time on that work.[ citation needed ]

Scott Roberts era

Roberts had been working with Zakour since they were both a part of the Rugrats comic strip, and contributors to Nickelodeon Magazine . Zakour was hired to write gags for the Rugrats in its final year. Roberts had been writing gags and drawing the feature for five years, originally rotating with other artists and later providing all the penciling. Zakour and Roberts also collaborated on some comic stories for Nick Mag. After the strip folded, they started seeking other projects they could work on together, and peddled a strip that failed to sell. All this laid the groundwork for Zakour asking Roberts to become the new Working Daze artist.[ citation needed ]

Even so, there was a great deal of resistance on the part of longtime readers. Once again, no effort was made to continue the established look. As negative reactions came in, Roberts altered and experimented, trying to find an approach that suited his own view of the characters.[ citation needed ]

But new readers continued to come on board, and the newest were not familiar with the Miller or Noel strips. These readers accepted the Roberts style as the look of the strip. Roberts drew the characters with more attention to anatomic reality, but still cartoony and caricatured, and put far more emphasis on backgrounds. By now it was clear that the company had relocated to an office park somewhere in the suburbs. A key change came in his second year, with use of photo backgrounds. This consists usually of scenes outside the windows of the office, but it can also include outdoor settings, props and set pieces, or images on computer screens. This multimedia approach met with a mixed reaction, some readers disturbed by it, others embracing it.[ citation needed ]

The comments on the Comics.com website increased.[ citation needed ] The gags occasionally touched upon real issues of the workplace or the economy. Sometimes older gags were dusted off, and reworked by Roberts in the new style. These were never meant to be improvements, but simply, a fresh way to look at the same idea. Roberts continues as the artist, and occasionally contributes to the writing as well.

Characters and story

The characters were inspired by real prototypes the creators knew in the workaday world.[ citation needed ]

Roy and Dana were minor characters at first but grew to be the most popular.[ citation needed ]

Books

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References

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