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Here's why 'twitter' is a bad word in 'Tina's Groove.'
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Tee-hee. She said "Twitter." (seattlepi.com)
Ha, ha, ha! I get it! You used 'twitter" as part of a joke in your comic strip! So of course, your comic is now all of those things that are so important to those oh-so-hard-to-reach comics readers: it's hip and cool and makes use of all the hot new lingo that's out there! From now on, "Tina's Groove" is my first read on the funnies page, because the writer found some way to work "twitter" into the story. Next thing you know, she'll write something about "Facebook" or "online video" or "LOLcat," so I've just GOT to keep reading!
One can imagine why Rina Piccolo, the creative force behind "Tina's Groove," might have opted for this sort of joke - which, by the way, has little to do with Twittering and everything to do with seeming relevant by offering what few 95 year old comic strip readers remain some exotic taste of current slang and modern jargon. "Tina's Groove" is really just a pen-and-ink version of the old "Alice" sitcom. Tina is Alice, her blonde friend Suzanne is Flo and that really weird hostess Monica is Vera.
Which is to say, there's not a lot more you can do with a strip about three restaurant workers and their trials and tribulations: yes, this customer is silly; the guys in the back can be a little dim; sometimes the manager really gets me angry; boy, I sure hope this date works out. It's quite telling that a number of the regular customers at the cafe in which Tina works seem to be doddering old malcontents who have nothing better to do than harass Tina about the quality of the food she serves them.
So, sure, bring on the "Twitter" and the "OMG" and other crazy banter. Because at this point, Ms. Riccolo, all you can do is sneak kooky-but-irrelevant references to modern life into your strip, or you can have Tina land a permanent boyfriend and maybe even marry him. Because if you do that, you can take the six overused situations that keep popping up in "Cathy" and graft them into the plots already bubbling up at "Tina's Groove." We'll be reading!
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