happy birthday?

...I didn't read this while eating breakfast like I normally do. Yikes.

that was a piece of poop.

Life is art.

Just that simple.

Best piece in a long time. The ironic fortune cookie of doom for the art world.

A visual joke only art majors will get?

You underestimate the level of art knowledge the customary late-night bathroom scan of outdated newsmagazines confers on an individual.

Got it. Smiled.

Thought that the biological images were just a tad creepy and unnerving. Then remembered how some folks responded to Pollack's canvases.

Smiled again.

Usually I like Carol Lay's stuff but this one I don't understand at all...

The woman's pregnant, the baby's born, then gloved hands are pushing away booze and a car? What's that? Maybe "don't drive drunk"? Then a typical Pollock-style splat followed by a doctor holding up a baby by its ankles, covered by scribbles? Maybe it's just me but I don't get it.

By the way the ethnic slur is "polack", i.e. Polish. Pollock's close, but no cigar, as they say.

Died whilst driving drunk, hence the booze and blood. I guess the cartoon is saying he was born, lived, and died by the splat.

This is a WayLay I actually like - gruesome, (darkly) humorous, yet poignant, like much good art. Usually I don't bother with WayLay, it lacks the craft and care of Lay's other work (like "Good Girls"), but I'm glad I made an exception today.

Never was an art major, but I did pay attention in high school. And I like art. Does that make me an art geek too? Probably.

Starting at the top left. Then it makes more sense.

I gotta agree - this is very cool, but definitely a bit on the obscure side for the mainstream.

Very nicely done.

It just wasn't funny or clever.

...I just didn't want it.

I think WayLay has officially moved from "Weekly comics I'll check if I'm bored" to the realm of "Comics I actively pass over". Yup, we're talking about the same realm as Garfield, For Better For Worse, and Luann here.

I used to appreciate the little smile "Story Minute" would bring, including those clever ironic snake-biting-its-own-tail bits, but WayLay has descended over the last two years. Unlike Keith Knight and Tom Tomorrow, Carol Lay seems to be moving a more abstract direction, and though I can respect it, I don't really care to read it. It certainly doesn't entertain me at all.

Maybe Salon should consider one of the other excellent semiregular webcomics around.

I'd recommend Partially Clips

http://www.partiallyclips.com/index.php?id=1473

or

Wondermark

http://www.wondermark.com/d/250.html

...she's reaching. What do a pregnancy and slapping a newborn's ass have to do with splatter? Unless it's meant to represent the tumult inside mother and child...

Plus, time really jumps around here. The first three images take place over a span of 9 months (give or take), and the last two cover the rest of his life. Surely Carol could have spared a little more space for the interim.

I'm sure any comic done on Mondrian would be easier, at least in terms of panel placement.

At least it was a break from the usual bad puns and relationship whining of WayLay. I kinda liked it.

I get it-- Jackson Pollock's life mirrored his art, from life to death. What I don't get is whether or not Ms. Lay is making either a positive or negative comment on Pollock's life, or is this simply an ironic aside. Seeing as Jackson had his problems with women and Ms. Lay has certainly had her problems with men, I'm going with... negative.

I thought it was hilarious, especially after reading everyone else's letters and coming across the one that said (roughly) "he was born, lived and died by the splat." Also, I love Carol Lay's composition; she always has really nice, clean lines in her cartoons. I don't get some of the more surreal ones, but they're cool. Way to go, Carol, your subtlety and wit inspires female cartoonists everywhere (or at least me). Keep up the good work.