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Agnes (comic strip)
Encyclopedia
Agnes is an American syndicated
comic strip
written and drawn by Tony Cochran. It was first syndicated in 1999. It is currently syndicated by Creators Syndicate
.
-aged girl living in an Ohio trailer park
called "The People's Court
" with her kind yet weary grandmother (whom Agnes refers to as “Granma”). We are not told what happened to Agnes' parents or how she came to be in her grandmother's custody. Agnes is poor and not what one would consider a classical beauty, yet is a dreamer and schemer, whose limitless imagination and ambitions are constantly brought down to Earth by her limited resources and social standing.
Agnes is constantly confronted with the harsh realities of the life of the poor working class but still manages to find the optimism
to carry on, frequently with a bit of sarcasm
and wit using surprisingly sophisticated vocabulary.
A typical strip will show Agnes finding new schemes in hopes of getting rich or attaining celebrity
, or just using her imagination to get through everyday terrors and frustrations. Although quite intelligent, Agnes does not do well in school; she frequently exasperates her teachers and finds herself in the principal's office. Her social interactions are generally limited to Granma and neighbor/schoolmate/confidant Trout, both of whom constantly pop the balloon of Agnes' dreams with hard facts and wisdom.
The heir apparent to a long history of American hucksters, Agnes can seemingly find potential profit and fame from items one would usually consign to the garbage dump. She is always going from one “get rich quick” scheme to another, be it a medical breakthrough (one of her inventions was a balm for bugs) or a new untried, unheard of fashion accessory. She also attempts to create new characters and mascots for various holidays, most famously “Kaloopa Queen of the Snow Leopards,” who she hopes will become a new symbol of Christmas
.
Acutely aware of her personal aesthetic limitations, she frequently hopes that Granma will buy her various high-fashion garments or shoes, though is usually limited to whatever Granma can find that is practical and on sale. Agnes’ lack of marks of classical beauty are emphasized by her inanimate yet frequent companion, a Barbie
-like doll named “Miss Glitter”.
Practical and pragmatic, Agnes’ grandmother most likely did not imagine her golden years being spent living in a trailer, working a dead-end factory job and raising her precocious granddaughter. Granma’s no-nonsense way of dealing with life’s everyday disasters is described by Agnes as “mixing tragedy and farce.” Barely eking along from small paycheck-to-paycheck, she still manages to keep Agnes reasonably fed and clothed, though certainly not to her granddaughters’ fantastical standards. Poor but proud, Granma may live in an old trailer but insists on it being kept neat and tidy, much to Agnes’ (who especially despises folding towels and having to make her bed) chagrin.
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
written and drawn by Tony Cochran. It was first syndicated in 1999. It is currently syndicated by Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate is an independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns for daily newspapers. It was founded in 1987 by Richard S. Newcombe, and is based in Los Angeles. Creators was one of the first syndicates to allow its clients to maintain creative control of their material...
.
Overview
Agnes chronicles the adventures of an elementary schoolElementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
-aged girl living in an Ohio trailer park
Trailer park
A trailer park is a semi-permanent or permanent area for mobile homes or travel trailers. The main reasons for living in such trailer parks are the often lower cost compared to other housing, and the ability to move to a new area more quickly and easily, for example when changing jobs to another...
called "The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
" with her kind yet weary grandmother (whom Agnes refers to as “Granma”). We are not told what happened to Agnes' parents or how she came to be in her grandmother's custody. Agnes is poor and not what one would consider a classical beauty, yet is a dreamer and schemer, whose limitless imagination and ambitions are constantly brought down to Earth by her limited resources and social standing.
Agnes is constantly confronted with the harsh realities of the life of the poor working class but still manages to find the optimism
Optimism
The Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view." The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best." Being optimistic, in the typical sense...
to carry on, frequently with a bit of sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
and wit using surprisingly sophisticated vocabulary.
A typical strip will show Agnes finding new schemes in hopes of getting rich or attaining celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, or just using her imagination to get through everyday terrors and frustrations. Although quite intelligent, Agnes does not do well in school; she frequently exasperates her teachers and finds herself in the principal's office. Her social interactions are generally limited to Granma and neighbor/schoolmate/confidant Trout, both of whom constantly pop the balloon of Agnes' dreams with hard facts and wisdom.
Agnes
Within a body consisting of skinny legs, a large nose and huge spectacles covering the majority of her face lays the creative mind and indomitable spirit of the strip’s protagonist, Agnes. Born into poverty and seemingly abandoned by her biological parents she has lived a nomadic life with her grandmother in a rather old and decidedly sparse trailer. Having settled down on the fringe of an un-specified town she is also on the fringe of life. Agnes does not accept or believe that she will always remain unattractive, poor and a social outcast; quite the contrary, she can imagine a multitude of scenarios that will allow her to escape her humdrum existence.The heir apparent to a long history of American hucksters, Agnes can seemingly find potential profit and fame from items one would usually consign to the garbage dump. She is always going from one “get rich quick” scheme to another, be it a medical breakthrough (one of her inventions was a balm for bugs) or a new untried, unheard of fashion accessory. She also attempts to create new characters and mascots for various holidays, most famously “Kaloopa Queen of the Snow Leopards,” who she hopes will become a new symbol of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
.
Acutely aware of her personal aesthetic limitations, she frequently hopes that Granma will buy her various high-fashion garments or shoes, though is usually limited to whatever Granma can find that is practical and on sale. Agnes’ lack of marks of classical beauty are emphasized by her inanimate yet frequent companion, a Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
-like doll named “Miss Glitter”.
Granma