December 3, 2024:
1993 21st Century Archives National Lampoon #SC2 Vaughn Bode Prototype
Thinking about all that this card encompasses kind of led me to a big old knot of feelings and suppositions and what-ifs that are difficult to put into words. I suppose that for those born before a certain year, the work of Bode and Crumb and Bakshi and National Lampoon and the intersection of these and others like them... that was the pre-Internet Internet. You could be into something weird and there were enough of you that enjoyed something offbeat, and by seeking it out you became part of an unspoken collective. Today there are multiple outlets in multiple forms of media for just about any niche thing or attitude or obscurity out there. But back then, there wasn't as much of the weird, and fewer opportunities for accessing the weird. I would like to have experienced the thrill of being part of the secret club, but at the same time I enjoy the practically unfettered access of today.
I sometimes get on my kids for sitting there and watching short-form videos, but I probably should just back off and realize that these are today's equivalent of the Cheech Wizard of yesteryear. It's hard to see because there's just so much more of it now, and the vast majority is derivative and just plain sucks, but there are probably some gems hidden among the junk.
Just some incoherent musings on the dark corners of art and entertainment. I hope you enjoy the card.
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