Editing 417: The Man Who Fell Sideways

{{comic
| number    = 417
| date      = April 30, 2008
| title     = The Man Who Fell Sideways
| image     = the man who fell sideways.png
| titletext = Strip originally conceived in conversation with Jeph Jacques. Soon to be a major motion picture.
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:A Matter of Some Gravity.png|right]]

This comic is humorously built-up like a short drama story, about a man with an unusual condition.

It might have been inspired by the {{w|Uncle Scrooge}} adventure comic "{{w|A Matter of Some Gravity}}" ([http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=D+96001 Inducks]) by {{w|Don Rosa}}, in which {{w|Magica de Spell}} makes gravity pull sideways at {{w|Scrooge McDuck}} and {{w|Donald Duck}}.
The same topic is covered by 1996 graphic novel ''{{w|L'enfant penchée}}'' (''The Leaning Child''), but, as it was only published in English in 2014, it’s very unlikely to be a source of inspiration for this comic.

"Soon to be a major motion picture" in the title text might refer to ''{{w|The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)|The Curious Case of Benjamin Button}}'', a film released later in 2008 (and based on a short story), in which the protagonist Benjamin suffers of the impossible condition of aging backwards.

"Over land... and sea" might be from the song "Nature Boy" by {{w|eden ahbez}}. Nat King Cole sung (the most famous version) about "A very strange, enchanted boy. They say he wandered very far, very far over land and sea."

The title text mentions {{w|Jeph Jacques}}, who runs the webcomic ''{{w|Questionable Content}}''. Jeph has also described the creation of this comic in his [https://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/11265563239/qa-dump-09 blog] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240511203429/https://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/11265563239/qa-dump-09 archived]) while working at [https://ezplaytoys.com ezplay company].

When Cueball hits Megan, he knocks her down and knocks her up, in what is probably intended to be a visual form of {{w|antanaclasis}}. Megan tells [[Hairy]] about a person knocking her over and tumbling into the distance. She hints that she is falling for him, which is a joke regarding Cueball's condition.

The baby shares his tendency to be pulled sideways by gravity, but this apparently does not start until she is born, because Megan and the doctor do not seem to have been expecting it.  If gravity had affected the unborn fetus in the same way, Megan would have been able to feel it, would have noticed that her uterus was hanging differently, and would have had difficulty balancing due to the sideways forces.  

The last panel is a reference to the opening scene of ''{{w|The Lion King}}'', called 'The Circle Of Life'.

The first part of the comic has some resemblance to this much later comic: [[1376: Jump]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball standing, with a dotted line perpendicular to him and a 30 degree angle going downwards.]
:From a young age, gravity pulled him wrong.
:[Cueball bouncing around his house.]
:Sometimes east, sometimes west. When he was restrained, it grew erratic.
:''WHAM WHAM''
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground.]
:So he fell.
:Cueball: AAAA
:''THUMPA THUMPA''
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in a desert.]
:Constantly
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling off a rock on the ground in a desert.]
:Over land...
:Cueball: AAAAA-''THUD''-A
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]
:Cueball: A-''THUD''-AAAAAA
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]
:Cueball: AA-''THUD''-AAAAA
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
:And sea.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAA
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAA
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
:Cueball: AAAAAA
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAA
:[Tree in the savanna, with Cueball off the panel.]
:He found, where he could, food-
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAA
:[Tree in the savanna, with Cueball still off the panel, but zoomed out so that part of Cueball's bounce/roll path is visible.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
:[Cueball upside-down, still bouncing/rolling in the savannah, with a gazelle galloping away from him.]
:''GALLOP GALLOP''
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
:[Savanna with a tree in it.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAA
:[Megan standing, with Cueball off screen.]
:And love.
:Cueball: AAAA-''THUD''-AAAA
:[Megan standing, with Cueball off screen.]
:Cueball: ''THUD'' ACK ''CRASH''
:[Cueball crashing into Megan]
:Cueball: Hiwhat'syourname-
:''WHAM''
:[Megan on the ground, with Cueball off screen.]
:Cueball: AAAAAAA-''THUD''-AAA
:[Megan speaking to Hairy.]
:Megan: I met this guy. He knocked me over and tumbled into the distance.
:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel, with Hairy's hand to his mouth.]
:Megan: We only shared a few seconds, but in his panicked scream I heard something beautiful.
:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel.]
:Megan: I think... I think I'm...
:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel.]
:Hairy: Falling for him?
:Megan: I wasn't going to say it.
:[Megan at hospital with doctor, giving birth.]
:She never saw him again. But nine months later...
:Doctor: Okay, push!
:[Megan at hospital with doctor and new baby, who is bouncing/rolling away.]
:Doctor: It's a gir-
:Megan: !!
:Doctor: Whoops!
:Baby: Ga! Ga!
:[Baby bouncing/rolling out of hospital.]
:Baby: WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE
:[Baby bouncing/rolling in front of a sunset.]
:Baby: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
:The End

==Trivia==
There is a [https://youtu.be/Rew-Q1b7kdo fan made animated version of this comic].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]