I would love to take credit for this line, but I found it; I did not think of it.

The Class Menagerie by Vince Suzukawa is a humorous slice-of-life comic that ran for a few years around 2000. It focuses on a small group of college students and follows their lives and adventures in their dormitory.

While I have difficulty picking one favorite character -- it is usually "whichever one is in the spotlight for a given comic" -- I definitely have a fondness for Scott Sorrell, the (loosely) designated Straight Man of the comic. Like a good Straight Man, Scott usually lets the others steal the laughs, with his punchlines frequently being more subtle and based in commentary, which I greatly enjoy.

I also like the general character of Scott. In a cast specifically created for conflict (the comic series dedicates a whole story about the importance of conflict in humor), he usually gets along with everyone... or at least all the men. When he is himself, he is relaxed, easy-going, and companionable. When he is around women, he is typically just a horny narcissist, constantly acting superficial and saying what he (usually wrongly) thinks women want to hear. However, when he drops the facade, he can be good company even to women. Notably, the comic repeatedly portrays him getting along easily with Cindy because Scott respects the mutual attraction between Cindy and Tony and considers her off-limits.

Despite his Straight Man status, Scott does have lessons to learn about his own conflict-inducing shortcomings, which are mainly based in his vanity and willingness to lie to present himself in the way he sees as best. Generally, he is best served just being his true self, and there is a story about this topic, but he still has his flaws of narcissism, dishonesty, and personal insecurity at the end of the comic series.

This is a lot of character analysis about a character I probably like best because he majors in mathematics, like I did in college. Scott hides his major because he feels it makes him less attractive to women. I was (and still am) proud of my major, no matter how many times confessing it opens the floodgates of hate against my beloved subject. I also get "You must be so smart!" a lot, so the topic hardly embarrasses me.

Anyway, despite my spouse's stance that "You can tell it is math humor because it isn't funny," I like math humor, such as math pick-up lines. This one made me laugh the instant I read it. I considered using another line I found, "You must be my integral because I see myself in the area beneath your curves," but that seems better delivered to a woman than to a man. While the comic series never depicted Scott with another mathematics major, and certainly never with a female mathematician, I imagine he probably did not hit on them much, not as readily recognizing them as women as he would in another context. So, instead, my Zeal drops him a line.

Category: Fan Art

Labels: Fan Art, Female, Male, Iguana, Lynx, The Class Menagerie, Scott Sorrell, Math Pick-Up Line

Characters: Zeal Sharpclaw