Gearhead Gertie

In today's article we are going to explore the fascinating world of Gearhead Gertie and everything it has to offer. Gearhead Gertie has been an object of study and interest for many years, and its impact on society and culture is undeniable. Through this article, we aim to shed light on the various aspects of Gearhead Gertie, from its history and evolution to its relevance today. We will immerse ourselves in its different facets and closely examine its influence in fields as varied as technology, science, the arts and everyday life. With a critical and insightful eye, we hope to provide a deeper understanding of Gearhead Gertie and its impact on the modern world.

Gearhead Gertie
A selection from the Gearhead Gertie strip on October 17, 2020
Author(s)Mike Smith
WebsiteOfficial site
Current status/schedulerunning
Launch date17 February 2019 (17 February 2019)
Syndicate(s)Comics Kingdom
Genre(s)Stock car racing

Gearhead Gertie is a weekly syndicated comic strip written by American editorial cartoonist Mike Smith. A single-panel, full-color, "joke-a-day" comic strip, it focuses on an older woman named Gertie who is obsessed with stock car racing.

Characters and format

Gertie, an elderly woman with curly white hair and red earrings, appears in every strip. According to the creator, she is intended to demonstrate the wide range of racing fandom.[1]

Each installment's punchline highlights Gertie's "monomaniacal" interest in NASCAR to the point of alienating her friends and family[2][3] She occasionally appears with members of her family, including her husband, who is usually frustrated with her obsession.[4] According to Comics Curmudgeon author Josh Fruhlinger, Gearhead Gertie strips sometimes provide commentary on a recent NASCAR story or controversy, while others give Gertie an opportunity to convey her obsession to an interlocutor who doesn't share or understand it.[5]

Background

From 1998 to 2002, in addition to his syndicated work as an editorial cartoonist at the Las Vegas Sun, Mike Smith published a weekly syndicated strip called StockCarToons.[6] The Gertie character originated in this series.[7] On February 17, 2019―the day of the Daytona 500―he debuted the new strip featuring Gertie. Since 2021, it has been syndicated and distributed by King Features Syndicate's Comics Kingdom digital platform.[6]

Reception

Pop culture reviewer Nathan Rabin described Gearhead Gertie as "mind-bogglingly terrible in a weirdly fascinating way," calling it "surreally lazy" for its narrow focus. He described Gertie's particular obsession with Dale Earnhardt as "something that comes up in strip after strip and, like the strip as a whole, is never funny but weirdly fascinating in its single-minded stupidity."[2]

After several months commenting on Gearhead Gertie on his blog, Fruhlinger noted that "there’s only so much material we can get out of 'Gertie sure loves NASCAR,' so it makes sense that the strip is actually pivoting towards 'Gertie’s husband sure hates how much Gertie loves NASCAR, like you can tell it’s destroying their marriage and every day he dies a little bit more inside, but she can’t see it.'"[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "About Gearhead Gertie". Comics Kingdom. King Features Syndicate. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (June 15, 2022). "The Morbidly Fascinating Monomania of Gearhead Gertie". Nathan Rabin's Happy Place. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  3. ^ Fruhlinger, Josh (March 21, 2024). "Hagar would merely plunder the wabbit's gold". The Comics Curmudgeon. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b Fruhlinger, Josh (November 21, 2024). "What's next, CRANBERRY SAUCE out of CAN?????". The Comics Curmudgeon. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  5. ^ Fruhlinger, Josh. "This lady is taking her LIFE into her own hands here, talking to Gertie like that". The Comics Curmudgeon. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b Degg, D.D. (January 21, 2021). "Gearhead Gertie Panel by Mike Smith Signs With Comics Kingdom". The Daily Cartoonist. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  7. ^ Degg, D.D. (October 3, 2019). "Smith of The Sun (Mike of Las Vegas)". The Daily Cartoonist. Retrieved 21 November 2024.