Yo Zingerfans. It’s time to look at how your characters interact with each other. In reading comic strips, I see a lot of ’surprise’ responses to what one says to another, especially in the final panel of a strip during that crucial punchline.

You know how it goes. Your characters have a little dialog and when character A says the punchline of the gag, character B gets all wide-eyed with a puckered mouth (or similar expression) whether an exclamation point or question mark appears above their head or not.

Yeah ok, I get it. Character B was struck by the unexpected irony of the funny line. But here’s the problem. It’s like they don’t know each other as if gag after gag of funny lines, character B is caught off guard every time. Come on now! This creates a disconnect between your characters, and thus your reader.

Remember, you are writing for your reader, not character B.

Think about how a character would actually respond to someone they know (or sometimes not know) when someone says something funny, ironic, unexpected. What is their personality and relationship with the other? This kind of depth is what actually strikes a chord with your readers. That bit of reactionary realism is what gives your reader the freedom to form their own response to the gag.

The surprise calls attention to itself saying “Hey reader, this was an unexpected line. See, this other character thought so.” Of course, the surprise expression might actually be appropriate depending upon the characters and situation. But characters might also be annoyed, roll their eyes, ignore the other, laugh, have a blank expression and so on.

All too often I see surprise inappropriately overused. Are your characters too surprised by each other?

I recently posted about getting to know characters in comic strips. What happens when you know them is that you can predict how they will react in certain situations, especially the ones they’ve been in before. Like when Calvin steps up to the door and announces that he is home while Hobbes is poised on the inside ready to pounce. The situation is predictable and yet it’s repeatedly funny! Or at least it’s supposed to be.

This predictability is quite an interesting dichotomy. One thing about humor in general is the use of the element of surprise which is what happens or is said in the last panel of a comic strip. That’s the way it works. There’s always a punchline, a zinger at the end. But the more you know a character, the more you understand the nature of the final panel even before you get there. Yet it’s funnier that way. Why? Perhaps it reminds you of the first time you laughed at that similar situation. I think it’s like listening to a friend tell a funny story that you’ve heard several times, and maybe the details have changed a little over numerous tellings, but you still like the outcome nonetheless. It’s not only the zinger that tickles your ribs, rather you find humor in watching a friend go through the motions for a laugh. Well known characters do that in comic strips.

Have you ever started laughing before you got to the last panel?

One of several reasons why you people love comic strips is the characters. Take me for example, my alligatory eyes, my alligatory disposition, you love me!

Ahem, seriously now. When you first begin reading a specific comic strip, you find humor in it or you like the drawings or you relate to the situation somehow. But at first, you don’t truly know the characters. Sure you might be able to immediately perceive certain characters’ qualities like stupidity, snobbery or laziness but you still don’t know him. After reading a comic strip daily or weekly or as often as you may, you eventually get to know the them like a good friend. This may take at least several months of reading.

Think of a strip that you’ve read for years. I assume you know its main players quite well, how they think, act and relate to each other. No other character driven artform achieves this kind of bond between you and itself. Certain kinds of literature accomplishes it, few movies do it. Comic strips can last years, even decades and it is this longevity that allows you to get to know the characters in a unique way.

What are your favorite characters?