[0436] More Than This
└ posted on Monday, 10 December 2012, by Novil
You can listen to More Than This on YouTube and read the lyrics for More Than This on AZLyrics.
- Sandra: I drew this picture for you.
- Vanessa Carlton: Wow, you put a lot of effort into it. Thank you!
- Vanessa Carlton: Do you have a favorite song?
- Sandra: “More Than This”! … After my mom’s death, I often listened to it with my dad. It’s such a beautiful song.
- Vanessa Carlton: If you wait 15 minutes, I can play it for the two of you.
- Sandra: Wow, thanks!
- Caption: Meanwhile, at another concert
- Manager: Your last tweet has been retweeted 17,900 times. This represents an increase of 15%!
- Katy Perry: Cool.
Awwwwwwwwwwwww.
Did I put enough w’s?
I’m not sure I get it. Somebody please explain it to me.
@ Strife:
The author is picking on Katy Perry for being too mainstream, I guess?
Huh. That’s pretty cool. I wonder if she actually does stuff like that?
@ Strife:
its saying that venessa carlton would do something sweet for an avid fan but katy perry is more concerned with superficial (i pray thats the right word) nonsense like how many tweets she got because im guesing shes more mainstream than vanessa. its funny because its probably true
I don’t get it…
@ Strife:
Real interaction with fans versus fake interaction with fans.
Even more so considering that retweeting isn’t even replying to a message – it’s simply rebroadcasting it to the people that follow you. For many celebrities, Twitter is a one-way communication tool (oh, and many celebrities’ Twitter accounts are ghost-written by staff – some of whom don’t even disguise themselves and write in the third person).
This strip… was so perfect…
mittfh wrote:
This.
The comic isn’t aimed at Katy Perry personally or her music. She’s used as archetype.
Greetings from Czech Republic!
I discovered Sandra and Woo this weekend and I read every strip at least twice. Your work is amazing! Characters, drawings, story… Oh, I like it so much! And, what is worse I simply fell in love with Larisa! 😀 She is the best character, and I regret that I don´t know anyone like she…
I look forward the next strip!
(PS – sorry for my english, as I wrote, I am Czech)
All right, Richard, your cute little daughter has managed to get you a private song playing from Vanessa Carlton.
So don’t do anything that’ll justify a restraining order.
Wonderful strip and thanks for the link to the song
it is a beautiful song
(we put down our Cockatiel and this song is perfect for him)
I am wondering what the significance of the last panel is exactly. XD
– “You! You’re that… you’re that, that, that… talking raccoon! I thought I’d been slipped some acid or something!”
– “Well, I can assure you he’s real. And house trained.”
– “I don’t bite, either. And I’m a BIG fan! Sign, er, scratch my belly?”
It’s not Katy Perry if there isn’t something firing out of her breasts.
@ germanvisitor:
It’s a way of showing the difference between an artist who loves their work and loves the people who appreciate it, and someone who loves the masses.
Very sweet comic, in fact there have been a few touching ones that I often flick back to in S&W.
@ Novil:
Oh, now I get it. Thanks.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Where is Richard,were he physically restrained by security guards?
@ Thiago:
Sorry, “was he …”
That song has so many feelings relevant to what I’m feeling recently. Graduating college right when I feel like I’ve found my place and having to move literally across the country from all these great people who I love. *sigh*
Anyway, the last panel probably isn’t as clear as it could be. It might make it more clear if in the comic the transition box read “meanwhile, at Katy Perry’s concert” or something like that.
I waited after a Death From Above 1979 concert a few weeks ago and met the band. It was a pretty big deal to me because they’re one of my favourite groups. They chatted with us, asked us where was a good place to get drinks, and told us they’d be there in about an hour if we wanted to keep chatting. Sure enough, an hour later they showed up and it was easily one of the best nights I had in a long time. I’ve got even more respect for them now for actually hanging out with their fans outside of the shows and getting to know their audience.
I just wish more artists shared that same passion.
Not sure if I get it. Is it saying how some preformers are impersonal? Not getting the joke.
Now this comment will be downthumbed 30+ times because I didn’t kiss the butt of the comic. Hey, at least I didn’t make a sex joke, because that’s TOTALLY not appropriate for THIS comic.
Is it wrong for me to start shipping Richard and Vanessa? I know that Richard is like this silly fan and his actions are probably not need to be taken seriously. But I feel bad for him, he’s a nice and sweet guy who lost the love of his life a little bit too early (At least he still have Sandra). I know Vanessa is not the type who don’t want to get tied down with marriage but…. well…. not all men are assholes…….
Richard reminds me of Konata’s dad from Lucky Star. That guy also lost his beloved wife. One of the most touching moment in that series was when Konata and Sojiro having a conversation about Kanata. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEknypxwaj0
This is so sweeet!
… But now i’m just waiting for V to realize who sandra’s dad is. how will this go?
Novil wrote:
I hope there are no Kate Perry fans reading this comic. The angry posts will detract from the real message of this comic.
I know she’s just an archetype but I just hoping that she actually more than just a face created by music industry to mine money from her fans. I’m not Kate Perry’s fan and I don’t really enjoy her songs but I don’t want to judge her based solely on gossip news and tweets.
@ Nick/Tyrong:
Oh Nicky Nicky Nicky, still butthurt toward the puberty arc? I think the message of this comic is pretty clear for me. In PR field nowadays it’s easier to mine publicity from Facebook, Tweeter and other social medias. For several artists gaining a large number of retweets is like gaining an achievement. Sometimes the tweets are done by staff and not the artist herself.
So that’s why people love sincere artists more. For example the British stand up comedian Eddie Izzard found out that one of his fan want to attend his show but fell ill before the show and hospitalized. So he decided to came to the hospital where that guy were treated and doing a personal stand up comedy for him. There’s also this Japanese comedian who after the recent Japanese tsunami, he rent a truck, fill it up to the brim with food and other important stuff and drove the truck himself to the disaster area. He done this anonymously but several people recognize him.
@ Nick/Tyrong:
Actually, you are more likely to get ‘Thumbs down’ from the wonderful crowd here due to the second half of that comic. No need to go there. The group here isn’t going to hate you for not getting it. Explainations will occur instead.
For example, see Strife’s comment. No hate, plenty of help with understanding it.
So please, next time just let us know you didn’t get it, without going off and adding the un-needed extras… including the pre-emptive self-pity.
As far as the comic itself… I liked it. Not everything has to be a laughfest for an online comic. I really feel like this one hits the mark with how celebrity is. Some are great people, and they do wonderful things for those they can. All too many are only concerned with their own success. Sadly, it is hard to tell without meeting them in person. Then again, sometimes they have to deal with over-eager fans like Richard (Vanessa is hereby forgiven for any security actions and/or restraining orders involved in the next few comic strips!)
I am not sure that using a real-life singer as a negative example is a wise decision. It creates unnecessary controversy and, as others have said, detracts from message itself, even if bashing singers and/or fans is light-years away from your actual intention.
@ AckAckAck:
Oh cool. I get it. Thanks.
@ Robert:
Actually some time before I asked the same question, not getting a joke, and got 15+ downthumbs. So… yeah.
This is the first strip I read where it is confirmed that Sandra’s mother is dead.
I like it when a strip reminds the reader a little bit of background story. 🙂
Hey Novil, i just made an account (yay for my first post) And boy, the story is amazing. i read all 435 in less than a week! (how i found the time… well, dont you tell my mother!) you manage to link it all together while being fairly separate. and the jokes are not to obvious, for instance i didnt get this one until i read the comments.
Good thing she denied her dad, or else Vanessa would have recognized Sandra! 🙂
@ Neveko:
I think it works fine even if you do not know who the other singer is. I don’t really know who Katy Perry is (just a name I run into sometimes), so there’s no difference for me; I think for people like me this actually works better the way it is.
I read this strip 3 times before reading the transcript. I thought the strip was saying that it was Vanessa who was the fake by acting one way when face-to-face while really being superficial in every other situation. The strip itself didn’t really make it clear that the last panel was a different person and not just a different concert by the same person. I agree it doesn’t matter about the name of the person in the last panel, as the point is the contrast between the two personalities, but I think it might have helped if the strip said “another artists concert”.
In relation to the poll on social networking, I do sometimes share strips manually. It just comes more natural than using buttons, I guess
@ Bill Murphy:
It was the subject of comic #25, but I don’t think it’s come up since.
I had to read it a couple of times to get the joke. And it’s so true, too!
Hey if either of them are actually like that in real life, more power to Vanessa, and down with Katy lol. Not a fan of either of their music but a good person is good in my book. 🙂
What is Zooey Deschanel doing in panel 4?
speedy wrote:
Speedy – I’d not worry about your English. You write English better than many “native speakers’ of my acquaintance…
In fact, I find that common when talking with people from overseas (which I do fairly regularly – oddly enough, mostly because I’m a Jeep enthusiast… ?)
@ Malchus:
Come now – in some cultures, a restraining order is just another way of saying “I love you”…
@ Nick/Tyrong:
It’s downvoted simply because of your need to not shut up after the first sentence.
JKelley wrote:
Speedy – I’d not worry about your English. You write English better than many “native speakers’ of my acquaintance…
In fact, I find that common when talking with people from overseas (which I do fairly regularly – oddly enough, mostly because I’m a Jeep enthusiast… ?)
Oh, thanks. That is good to hear! 😉
And I just listened that beautiful “More than this” song,. It is quite emotional, moving song.
Neospector wrote:
One person voted down, but watch her music videos, I swear to every deity in existence that there is always something firing out of her breasts. In “Firework” it’s fireworks, in “California Gurls” (and even in the concert for that song) it’s whipped cream. O_O
@ Neospector:
I so, so wanna check this out and see if you’re correct, but I’m at work right now 😀
In other news: D’awwwww.
In further news: the sidebar vote. Two things.
1/ Laputa only at #8 (and the other entries at 3, 5-7, and 9-11), but Sen at #1 and Howl at #2? Philistines*.
2/ There’s ANOTHER new one out that I basically missed up until now? AUGH. How do I keep missing (or almost missing**) these? What have I become?
3/ It’s maybe a morbid question, but… no “Grave”? Not every film can be a happy film.
4/ Also, no “Cat Returns”? It’s a lovely, if rather silly little bit of cinema.
4/ And, seriously, given the context of this page and all: No Pom Poko?
* OK they’re pretty decent films, but in your heart of hearts you know it’s the 80s/early 90s ones that bring the awesome and make you squee with joy every. single. time.
** I did at least get to see both Ponyo (eh, s’alright) and Arrietty (pretty fantastic) at the cinema, but totally missed Earthsea… and, now, Poppy Hill. Whatever Poppy Hill is. Is it on DVD? That’ll plug a christmas-list hole if so.
@ tahrey:
Sorry, that somehow became FIVE things … with four numbers. Mea culpa. It’s 2.45pm and I haven’t been able to get my lunch yet.
@ speedy:
Seriously, if you hadn’t said anything, I’d have just assumed you were an exciteable native speaker (an abundance of !!!’s and just one small missing word in the final sentence) 😉
@ Neospector:
Give her a chance, she’s not on stage yet!
And finally whilst we’re at it … the callback to Sandra’s mom (and their visit to her grave in #25) led me to rolling back over this one… strangely still appropriate.
http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2008/12/25/0019-a-merry-christmas/
It’s this kind of ‘gentle criticism’ that’s made me fall in love with this comic. Without attacking, without casting anything personal. Add that little bit of Sandra in and it’s something I’ll remember for a while.
Discovered, this comic strip just very recently, love it. And found a really nice track here as well 🙂