Editing 417: The Man Who Fell Sideways

{{comic
| number    = 417
| date      = 2008-04-30
| title     = The Man Who Fell Sideways
| image     = the man who fell sideways.png
| titletext = Strop 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}}.

"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 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".

==Transcript==
:[A man standing, with a dotted line perpendicular to him and a 30 degree angle going downwards]
:Narrator: From a young age, gravity pulled him wrong.
:[The same man bouncing around his house]
:Narrator: Sometimes east, sometimes west.  When he was restrained, it grew erratic.
:&lt;WHAM&gt; &lt;WHAM&gt;
:[Man bouncing
:rolling on the ground]
:Narrator: So he fell.
:Man: AAAA
:&lt;THUMPA&gt; &lt;THUMPA&gt;
:[Man bouncing
:rolling on the ground in a desert]
:Narrator: Constantly
:Man: AAAAAAAAA
:[Man bouncing
:rolling off a rock on the ground in a desert]
:Narrator: Over land...
:Man: AAAAA-&lt;THUD&gt;-A
:[Man bouncing
:rolling on the ground in the desert]
:Man: AAAAAAAAA
:[Man bouncing
:rolling on the ground in the desert]
:Man: A-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAAAAA
:[Man bouncing
:rolling on the ground in the desert]
:Man: AA-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAAAA
:[Man under the surface of a body of water]
:Narrator: And sea.
:Man: AAAAAAAAAAAA
:[Man still under the surface of a body of water]
:Man: AAAAAAAA
:[Man temporarily standing on the surface of the body of water]
:Man: AAAAAA
:[Man under the surface of the body of water]
:Man: AAAAAAAA
:[Tree in the savanna, with the man off the panel]
:Narrator: He found, where he could, food-
:Man: AAAAAAAAAAAA
:[Tree in the savanna, with the man still off the panel, but zoomed out so that part of the man&#39;s bounce
:roll path is visible]
:Man: AAAAAAAAA
:[Man upside-down, still bouncing
:rolling in the savannah, with a gazelle galloping away from him]
:&lt;GALLOP&gt; &lt;GALLOP&gt;
:Man: AAAAAAAAA
:[Savanna with a tree in it]
:Man: AAAAAAAAAAA
:[Woman standing, with the man off screen]
:Narrator: And love.
:Man: AAAA-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAAA
:[Woman standing, with the man off screen]
:Man: &lt;THUD&gt; ACK &lt;CRASH&gt;
:[Man crashing into woman]
:Woman: Hiwhat&#39;syourname-
:&lt;WHAM&gt;
:[Woman on the ground, with the man off screen]
:Man: AAAAAAA-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAA
:[Woman speaking to another man]
:Woman: I met this guy.  He knocked me over and tumbled into the distance.
:[Woman speaking to the same man from the previous panel, with the man&#39;s hand to his mouth]
:Woman: We only shared a few seconds, but in his panicked scream I heard something beautiful.
:[Woman speaking to the same man from the previous panel]
:Woman: I think... I think I&#39;m...
:[Woman speaking to the same man from the previous panel]
:Man: Falling for him?
:Woman: I wasn&#39;t going to say it.
:[Woman at hospital with doctor, giving birth]
:Narrator: She never saw him again.  But nine months later...
:Doctor: Okay, push!
:[Woman at hospital with doctor and new baby, who is bouncing
:rolling away]
:Doctor: It&#39;s a gir-
:Woman: !!
:Doctor: Whoops!
:Baby: Ga! Ga!
:[Baby bouncing
:rolling out of hospital]
:Baby: WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE
:[Baby bouncing
:rolling in front of a sunset]
:Baby: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
:Narrator: The End

{{comic discussion}}
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{comic
 | number    = 417
-| date      = April 30, 2008
+| date      = 2008-04-30
 | 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.
+| titletext = Strop originally conceived in conversation with Jeph Jacques. Soon to be a major motion picture.
 }}
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 [[File:A Matter of Some Gravity.png|right]]
-This comic is humorously built-up like a short drama story, about a man (Cueball) with an unusual physics condition.
+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.
+"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."
+"Over land ... and sea", might be from the song "Nature Boy" by 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 [http://jephjacques.com/post/11265563239/qa-dump-09 blog] 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.]
+:[A man standing, with a dotted line perpendicular to him and a 30 degree angle going downwards]
-:From a young age, gravity pulled him wrong.
+:Narrator: From a young age, gravity pulled him wrong.
-:[Cueball bouncing around his house.]
+:[The same man bouncing around his house]
-:Sometimes east, sometimes west. When he was restrained, it grew erratic.
+:Narrator: Sometimes east, sometimes west.  When he was restrained, it grew erratic.
-:''WHAM WHAM''
+:&lt;WHAM&gt; &lt;WHAM&gt;
-:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground.]
+:[Man bouncing
-:So he fell.
+:rolling on the ground]
-:Cueball: AAAA
+:Narrator: So he fell.
-:''THUMPA THUMPA''
+:Man: AAAA
-:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in a desert.]
+:&lt;THUMPA&gt; &lt;THUMPA&gt;
-:Constantly
+:[Man bouncing
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
+:rolling on the ground in a desert]
-:[Cueball bouncing/rolling off a rock on the ground in a desert.]
+:Narrator: Constantly
-:Over land...
+:Man: AAAAAAAAA
-:Cueball: AAAAA-''THUD''-A
+:[Man bouncing
-:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]
+:rolling off a rock on the ground in a desert]
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
+:Narrator: Over land...
-:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]
+:Man: AAAAA-&lt;THUD&gt;-A
-:Cueball: A-''THUD''-AAAAAA
+:[Man bouncing
-:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]
+:rolling on the ground in the desert]
-:Cueball: AA-''THUD''-AAAAA
+:Man: AAAAAAAAA
-:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
+:[Man bouncing
-:And sea.
+:rolling on the ground in the desert]
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAA
+:Man: A-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAAAAA
-:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
+:[Man bouncing
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAA
+:rolling on the ground in the desert]
-:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
+:Man: AA-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAAAA
-:Cueball: AAAAAA
+:[Man under the surface of a body of water]
-:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]
+:Narrator: And sea.
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAA
+:Man: AAAAAAAAAAAA
-:[Tree in the savanna, with Cueball off the panel.]
+:[Man still under the surface of a body of water]
-:He found, where he could, food-
+:Man: AAAAAAAA
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAA
+:[Man temporarily standing on the surface of the body of water]
-:[Tree in the savanna, with Cueball still off the panel, but zoomed out so that part of Cueball's bounce/roll path is visible.]
+:Man: AAAAAA
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
+:[Man under the surface of the body of water]
-:[Cueball upside-down, still bouncing/rolling in the savannah, with a gazelle galloping away from him.]
+:Man: AAAAAAAA
-:''GALLOP GALLOP''
+:[Tree in the savanna, with the man off the panel]
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA
+:Narrator: He found, where he could, food-
-:[Savanna with a tree in it.]
+:Man: AAAAAAAAAAAA
-:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAA
+:[Tree in the savanna, with the man still off the panel, but zoomed out so that part of the man&#39;s bounce
-:[Megan standing, with Cueball off screen.]
+:roll path is visible]
-:And love.
+:Man: AAAAAAAAA
-:Cueball: AAAA-''THUD''-AAAA
+:[Man upside-down, still bouncing
-:[Megan standing, with Cueball off screen.]
+:rolling in the savannah, with a gazelle galloping away from him]
-:Cueball: ''THUD'' ACK ''CRASH''
+:&lt;GALLOP&gt; &lt;GALLOP&gt;
-:[Cueball crashing into Megan]
+:Man: AAAAAAAAA
-:Cueball: Hiwhat'syourname-
+:[Savanna with a tree in it]
-:''WHAM''
+:Man: AAAAAAAAAAA
-:[Megan on the ground, with Cueball off screen.]
+:[Woman standing, with the man off screen]
-:Cueball: AAAAAAA-''THUD''-AAA
+:Narrator: And love.
-:[Megan speaking to Hairy.]
+:Man: AAAA-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAAA
-:Megan: I met this guy. He knocked me over and tumbled into the distance.
+:[Woman standing, with the man off screen]
-:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel, with Hairy's hand to his mouth.]
+:Man: &lt;THUD&gt; ACK &lt;CRASH&gt;
-:Megan: We only shared a few seconds, but in his panicked scream I heard something beautiful.
+:[Man crashing into woman]
-:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel.]
+:Woman: Hiwhat&#39;syourname-
-:Megan: I think... I think I'm...
+:&lt;WHAM&gt;
-:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel.]
+:[Woman on the ground, with the man off screen]
-:Hairy: Falling for him?
+:Man: AAAAAAA-&lt;THUD&gt;-AAA
-:Megan: I wasn't going to say it.
+:[Woman speaking to another man]
-:[Megan at hospital with doctor, giving birth.]
+:Woman: I met this guy.  He knocked me over and tumbled into the distance.
-:She never saw him again. But nine months later...
+:[Woman speaking to the same man from the previous panel, with the man&#39;s hand to his mouth]
+:Woman: We only shared a few seconds, but in his panicked scream I heard something beautiful.
+:[Woman speaking to the same man from the previous panel]
+:Woman: I think... I think I&#39;m...
+:[Woman speaking to the same man from the previous panel]
+:Man: Falling for him?
+:Woman: I wasn&#39;t going to say it.
+:[Woman at hospital with doctor, giving birth]
+:Narrator: 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.]
+:[Woman at hospital with doctor and new baby, who is bouncing
-:Doctor: It's a gir—
+:rolling away]
-:Megan: !!
+:Doctor: It&#39;s a gir-
+:Woman: !!
 :Doctor: Whoops!
 :Baby: Ga! Ga!
-:[Baby bouncing/rolling out of hospital.]
+:[Baby bouncing
+:rolling out of hospital]
 :Baby: WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE
-:[Baby bouncing/rolling in front of a sunset.]
+:[Baby bouncing
+:rolling in front of a sunset]
 :Baby: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
-:The End
+:Narrator: 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]]
-[[Category:Comics with babies]]