Did you know that gambling on tennis is absolutely HUGE internationally? Your first thought when I say this is surely ‘wtf, that can’t possibly be true’, but it is! Apparently it’s because tennis matches are going on almost literally at every second of every day everywhere. Like, there are tournaments going on every weekend, and it’s something that a TON of people are wagering money on. Certainly surprised me when I found this out in passing that one time that may or may not have actually happened.
Character: Norah
CUPS 36: No Biggie
Skyping someone from the bathroom when you’re hungover is just the most obnoxious sort of call you could ever make. I’ve simultaneously been pooping while on the phone a solid forty times in my life, but this whole thing that Rita’s doing is just straight up rude as hell.
CUPS 32: A Toast
Thirty-two strips have come and gone in the CUPS saga. Thirty-two is not a remarkable number. It’s not a particularly huge number, nor is it a multiple of ten. IT’S NOT EVEN A MULTIPLE OF FIVE. So, by all accounts, the thirty-second strip of this comic is not something to comment on, but here goes:
Thirty strips is a bit of a ‘magic’ number, historically, for humor comic strips. Back when newspapers were where you wanted to be, you needed to have thirty strips done in order to submit to the syndicates. Nowadays, of course, with the internet, you could have a quarter of a strip done and put it online to share with the world, but that thirty number still sticks out in my mind as significant.
This strip is my favorite to date artistically, and one of my favorites in terms of storytelling as well. I think it’s a big deal, to me and the overall story going on, and so I’m making note of it. There have been some good strips in the last ten or so, and there’s some pretty fun stuff coming up, too. So, bit of a humblebrag happening here, but, you’re reading this strip and hanging out on this site, so you must be sort of interested in this stuff, too! I guess what I’m getting at with all of this is that I think CUPS is heading to bigger and better things than even I could have imagined when I started. Thanks for being here, you, you’re making the whole thing worthwhile.
CUPS 29: Natalie Imbruglia
True story: Natalie Imbruglia came out with a new album like a month before I drew this strip, unbeknownst to me. I think the ‘Natalie Imbruglia as a very random but also very recognizable one-hit icon from twenty years ago’ joke is still pretty legitimate, even despite that fact.. Natty Im’s new joint somewhat may have blown the cover off of my quaint little joke, but… Shout out to Natalie Imbruglia anyway. Keep doing your thing, girl.
CUPS 26: D+
This Café Mange Savoureux is perplexing. They go with a rustic brick motif for the wall decor and choose to go sans-tablecloth on all the tables, yet their servers all wear bow-ties, and the establishment name is in French. I mean, like, what even are they? Get this place on Bar Rescue, stat.