Actually I’m not sure. Usually a beat panel is the second to last with no action in it at all. But in this one both middle panels have an action (the car going by and then Calvin & Hobbs running) but the framing with action outside the window isolates us just the right amount to still feel like a beat is being taken between the action of the car disaster and moms realisation.
I imagine if I was drawing this I’d have had the car and Calvin both go by in the second panel and the third just being mom thinking. But Watterson such a great artist he can create that feeling of a moment of stillness without it really being there.
I actually think this strip would also work just as well if the first and second panels were switched, making the “I haven’t seen Calvin…” one into the beat.
As you say, it’s testament to BW’s skill that so much can be achieved with such a simple setup.
EDIT - with apologies to BW, just wanted to see how it’d look. I quite like that it makes C&H further away from catching the car :-)
Eh this looks like she’s reacting to the car outside the window (even though she’s looking the other way and her words don’t match). I like the original better.
This is one of my favourite C&H strip. The beat panel just kills me.
For those of us not up on the comic strip creator vernacular, which one is that? I’m assuming it’s one of the middle two.
Actually I’m not sure. Usually a beat panel is the second to last with no action in it at all. But in this one both middle panels have an action (the car going by and then Calvin & Hobbs running) but the framing with action outside the window isolates us just the right amount to still feel like a beat is being taken between the action of the car disaster and moms realisation.
I imagine if I was drawing this I’d have had the car and Calvin both go by in the second panel and the third just being mom thinking. But Watterson such a great artist he can create that feeling of a moment of stillness without it really being there.
I actually think this strip would also work just as well if the first and second panels were switched, making the “I haven’t seen Calvin…” one into the beat.
As you say, it’s testament to BW’s skill that so much can be achieved with such a simple setup.
EDIT - with apologies to BW, just wanted to see how it’d look. I quite like that it makes C&H further away from catching the car :-)
Eh this looks like she’s reacting to the car outside the window (even though she’s looking the other way and her words don’t match). I like the original better.
Yeah, fair point. Agree that the original is better 👍
I was thinking the same thing. It’s the window frame I think, it’s like strip inside the strip.
More or less what I thought it might mean, but it’s good to have confirmation. Thank you for the reply. Full agreement on Watterson’s mastery!
Maybe “last” mangled by autocorrect
I was thinking they meant as in the phrase “skip a beat” - like a dramatic pause that allows for something to happen, or suspense to build.