David Carradine Dead

[Anders]

It looks like suicide.

www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7757144&page=1

"Carradine was reportedly found naked in the room's closet hanging from a rope, possibly from the curtains, according to the Nation and police."

[jbhelfrich]

It looks like auto-erotic asphyxiation.

[jensaltmann]

www.webcomicsnation.com/jensaltmann/fail/series.php

Usually, when a celebrity dies whose work we've enjoyed, we go, "Fuck. Bummer." Things like that.

I don't know about you, but when it's a celebrity whom I've met, it's a bit more personal for me. I met David Carradine at a con some time ago, and I have a signed "Q The Winged Serpent" DVD booklet to prove it.

Anyway. Carradine had been at that small-time movie con in conjunction with the then fairly new Kill Bill 2 movie. From what he told, it had not been a good experience. Something had gone wrong with his flight from LA, so he had had to spend the night sleeping at Heathrow Airport. The airline had lost his luggage, so he had been unable to change before coming to that con. He had barely had enough time to get from the airport to the con for his signing. No time to rest, no time to eat.

Despite that, he stayed about two hours longer than he was supposed to, because the line was so long and he didn't want to let his fans down. An hour later, he had been scheduled for a Q&A with his fans. Barely enough time, again, for a little bit of rest and some food. He apologized for how he looked, and that he wasn't at his best (which is why I know all the above -- he told the relatively few fans in attendance). As we were not that many, we gathered almost cozily around him for his Q&A.

Based on the day he had had, he had had every right to be cranky and cantakerous. Instead, he was very warm, friendly and funny. David Carradine was the only person I've met so far who I would describe as having a magnetic and charismatic personality.

That is why it actually made me sad when I heard of his death yesterday (more so than the usual "Fuck. Bummer." reaction), and why I felt the need to make a tribute strip.

I re-used an old Made of Fail strip that worked fine visually. I pasted the original word balloons over with blank paper and wrote the new dialog. My one regret is that I didn't have enough time to create something completely new to honor him.

[Anders]

It was a fine tribute. Thanks for making it.