Veteran Red & White reporter Jon Wandke conducts an interview with none other than Kap creator himself Noah Vawter on the semiotic, symbolic, and cultural import implied in the nomenclatures of the main characters.

JW:
why is that guy a roll of tape?

NV:

1) Basically, Mr. Scotch Tape passively rounds out the imperative, "Hey, you! Cap that goddam shampoo when you're done, uh?" The imperative of many english verbs equalling the affinitive fans this cliche.

If it was "Kap the Shampoo and Ween the Peen", people would get tired. Tired of being ordered around.

2) Adding the prefix "Mr." references the subtle Mexican diminutive form, a funny pages staple.

"Hey, meeester, I think you've got a weeasel in your underpants." Where Kap is an action hero, likely to exhilirate (sp!?!) those around him, readers can feel much more at home, can relate better to an older (Mr!), calmer sort of fellow. which leads to #3.

3) "Scotch" suggests Scottish, and Scottish suggests English, and English suggests sophistication. Nevermind there is no one in the world who perceives Scotch Tape as dangerous or untrustworthy, a charming young, older, gentlemanly, rational, practical spirit with a large, comforting moustache serves as a reliable straight man, whether he's grounding the whole scene in reality requesting a "scary cheeseburger" or gently nudging Kap along, "Kill the King! Kill the King!"

quick sidetrack:

Oh wait, I get it! He says, "I even bought a balls costume." balls is meant to be an adjective (Hey, those are balls), not a noun. It's kind of obnoxious of the authors to say one thing ("balls") and do another ("Hamlet"). Especially when the response to "Hamlet", by another "member" of the "comic" is "balls!" Hmmm.

I'll bet thou thoroughly, though, through similar trainwreck understandings throughout, no one realized the "spy"'s real name is "Directions." Probably because it wasn't capitalized. (Let's ask directions). [a typo]

Sorry about that, now, onto the questions:

JW:
also, who put that sticky note on the last panel?

NV:
Who put the stick it on the panel? This rhythmic phrase (say it aloud, it's catchy), perhaps destined to be a disco favorite for years. Again, with all of the references to FUNK in early/late disco music pop-song hit favorites, and with everything (Who put the stick-it) coming out, people, in general, began, mostly, to realize, among all kinds of "things", and catch on. But they weren't catching onto anything. You see, when you say "DO IT" (on the pannnnnn-el) when you are a kid and giggle over the Nike ads, "Just do it," everyone knows you're talking about "doing it." Remember? (a.k.a. Riding the doing it, as heard in censored versions of the Breakfast Club), they had to begin referencing "It". Naturally, stick it is considered obscene, so they put it someplace....where vague disco funk ambiguity belongs, and came up with a bassline. They rest, as they say, is disco history. They got a band and recorded in a little studio in St. Louis in 1972 "Who put the stick-it (huah!) on the pannnel!" It shot into the top 10, and this little well-known band began playing all over the United States.
To summarize: Asking this question is like asking, "Who wants to get down?"


JW:
You make an extremely strong and multifaceted case for Mr. Scotch Tape being a character that the audience can relate to. In fact, you almost go so far as to say (three times!) that one of his main roles is to comfort the reader. Clearly he is a character the reader is supposed to identify with, possibly at a very personal level. And yet, Mr. Scotch Tape's donning of the alleged "Hamlet costume" is by far one of the most jarring events in modern fiction.

The so-called Hamlet costume is nothing more than male genetallia, FACING BACKWARDS, placed atop the "head" of Mr. Scotch Tape. "Why is this so jarring?" a reader might wonder. But that would have to be a really really dumb reader. A cock and balls has nothing to do with Hamlet, the Shakespearean Dane. It looks more like Sherlock Holmes' deerstalker cap than it does anything that relates in any way to Hamlet.

My question is: What's the deal?

NV:
Mr. Reporter, sir. You make some decent inquiries into Hamlet's costume.

Here is the version I came up with after the original reply I received from one of the authors was partially devoured during a flash-flood: Hamlet's costume is ACTUALLY a rip-off from another famous comic! Can you (hagar) guess (the) which one it (Horrible) is? It's Hagar the Horrible! Remember his buddy, part of his mighty fighting horde! Part of his force for leading to.....The Future. Well, actually not him, but his gorgeous daughter's shy boyfriend is named, yeah, HAMLET. And that first guy, not the poet with the flowers, he wears a HELMET JUST LIKE MR. SCOTCH TAPE (awwwww, he's so cute and comforting, thanx for the moustache)'s ! Indeed! Notice the inverted-funnel shape! Regard the metal rivets! They're not always drawn so well, but then again, it's obvious the authors were professional artists and had important artist things to do and rendering metal rivet drawings on a characters profile, which was the stolen and merged product of two different characters anyway, in a professional manner, is not one of them! Toad Bay Hem Lay Mat Bak At Sem!

Anyway, just like the mighty Hagar (the Horrible) is meant to be a HORRIFIC force, toppling enemies, so is KAP (the Shampoo) meant to be a.....FORCE, championing the causes of bored teenagers everywhere! Challenging the american bounds of holiday ritual! Devouring them whole in their ragtops at the drive-in! With twenty million eyes! and rubber fangs!

JW:
The above also calls into question Mr. Scotch Tape's motivation for the costume. He's not stupid. He must know it's >Thanksgiving, and not Halloween.
>
> My question is: What's the deal?

NV:
Wow! What a hard-ass you must be! Would YOU pick on your friends for wearing the wrong costume to the wrong occasion! GEEZ. I'll bet you wish you had a friend like KAP THE SHAMPOO! Kap responds hip to every such situation. He simply suggests his friend put on the Halloween costume. But, sorry if I offend you there a little bit You sound like you need loosening up a little, buddy, why not check out some nice DISCO MUSIC.

So, now, is it really all the hard to imagine getting two holidays confused? After all, from certain perspectives, they are merely two different rituals. E.g. Days, on which one must do something else, as opposed to what one normally DOES. As one matures, s/he becomes more used to these rituals...you know, you start to feel Christmasy, and she slaps you. Anyway, just before you feel Christmasy, you feel Thankgsvivingy, and shortly before that you feel Halloweeny. So, what does it matter if you jump the gun, after all, Mr. Scotch Tape, despite being much, much older, isn't THAT MUCH older. So, you celebrate a holiday a little before it's time?! He's just so EAGER TO PLEASE, PLUS HE'S COMFORTING GODDAMIT, JUST LOOK AT THAT MOUSTACHE.

Anyway, to put this in perspective, consider the world-realm into which the FICTIONAL (or is it?) comic thrusts the reader: 1) It's a major american ritual holiday, (be it Thanksgiviing, or Easter or whatever in goddam hell it is, just put on the damn dress and let's go to Church) and neither one of the two HEROES has a family anywhere in sight! In fact, despite the alleged holiday (who's to say Kap is correct! Maybe Mr. Scotch Tape is correct and the REST OF THE WORLD has gone insane.), neither is doing anything like eating fancy meals with their families! The ritual is LOST. No families, no fancy food. Just a desperate trip, and an attempt to live the American culture with a close, comforting friend.

Now, naturally, for purposes of engrossing the reader, and hitting their piggybank (hey, the authors have to eat, too), we mixed in all that spy stuff (remember? the guy named Directions!). TO summarize: 1) He got the holiday wrong because you're facing the destruction of american family and culture here. 2) You need to listen to more disco music. Might I suggest a neo-funky tune from 1972 entitled, "Who Put the Stick-It on the Pannnn-el?" ?

Or did you just ask because you were attracted to the gorgeous exclamation point?