Fall Out Toy Works gets Jewish

[hatman]

My first post to any version of scans_daily!

I'd actually wanted to start out with Take A Chance, but since those comics are in a box upstairs, I guess that can wait until tomorrow. Instead, for your reading pleasure...

Fall Out Toy Works is a comic book which purports to be based on the "ideas and lyrics" of the band Fall Out Boy, but don't let that sway you either way.

Visually and thematically, it kind of reminds me of Clockwork Girl, but there are major differences. (Including the occasional use of some naughty words.)

It takes place in a futuristic world where AIs are so common as to have almost become passe. A genius toymaker specializing in AI toys is on the verge of bankruptcy when a billionaire comes to him with a proposal - an obscene amount of cash in exchange for a custom, one-of-a-kind AI... a robotic woman who can actually feel love.

It's never been done before. It doesn't even seem possible. And... it's turning out to be even harder than he'd thought. It's one failure after another. He's got the software, but the hardware just isn't capable of making it work. Until inspiration strikes. Which leads him to go look up his old friend the rabbi. A rabbi who happens to have a sideline...





Not sure how funny that is for non-Jewish readers, but I was amused.

(For the record, that scene the only Jewish reference in the series so far.)

ETA:

Glossary:

Manischewitz: Brand of common household Kosher wine,^* often used for blessings and sacraments.

^*Among other things. Their products pretty much fill the Kosher aisle at many grocery stores. But they're best known for the wine.

Goy: Non-Jew, un-Jewish

Shiksa: Goyish woman. Especially as contrasted with the internal stereotype of the Nice Jewish Girl that a sensible Good Jewish Boy should marry (if only he'd listen to his mother).

Comments

[foxhack]

*is completely lost*

The art's nice though.

[hatman]

The art is nice. And the rest of the book would make more sense. These two pages are pretty much aimed at those familiar with a brand of Jewish culture that exists primarily in outer-boro NYC. Which is why it tickled me to see it.

[megami18]

Oy. Sounds like you've never experienced Jewish culture outside NYC. Yiddim are Yiddim, wherever they are.

[greenmask]

I really don't like those speech bubbles. They're just off, somehow.

I am also unimpressed by "a robotic woman who can actually feel love" (original!). But! The art is interesting. It reminds me of Disney's Atlantis, with the odd cartoony type of realism.

[hatman]

Don't know what to tell you about the bubbles.

The concept itself isn't that original, I'll grant. But the art is nice and the story is cute. It's not the Greatest Comic Ever, but, taken on its own terms, it's a fun read.

[philippos42]

This shikker was amused. Helps that I'm a fan of gemstone synthesis. Though it's weird seeing a cultured-diamond maker that partakes of the tropey stereotype of a Jewish diamond cutter.

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

You do know that "shikker" doesn't mean "male shicksa," don't you?

[foxhack]

Maybe he IS a drunkard!

[philippos42]

What? Really? :Googles: Oh, I had that all backwards. I thought "goy" meant "drunk"....

Fine, "goy" then, whatever.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Except that he IS a Rabbi - and presumably an Orthodox one, given his attire (he looks like my idea of an Orthodox Rabbi, anyway, although I'll freely admit I've never met one) - so it's not surprising that he'd be a little more... DIRECT in his Jewishness.

[hatman]

He does vaguely resemble some Orthodox rabbis I've known. Certainly dresses like one. Though I should mention that he's actually a retired rabbi. As for the "direct" Jewishness... I personally read it as coming with a twinkle in the eye.

Maybe it's just that most of my experience with that trope has been from Jews playing to the stereotype. Laughing amongst ourselves. I'd say "hamming it up," but... well... not so much with the ham. ;)

Which is why the scene spoke to me, I think. Felt like it came with a wink and a nudge from the family, something totally unexpected in the midst of a comic book based on a song by a "pop punk" band.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, speaking as a member of the goyim myself, the only Orthodox Jews I've ever seen have been in movies, and I've never met any sort of a Rabbi in person, let alone an Orthodox one. However, I will say that this guy seemed to fit my vague impressions of what an Orthodox Rabbi looks like.

[lamashtar]

Cute, but doesn't draw me in yet.

[hatman]

Cute about sums it up so far, yes. And this was more about sharing an isolated bubble that tickled me than about drawing you in to the larger plot.