"Before the ink
could dry on the Notre Dame/Saint Mary's Observer, we would flip to Michael
Molinelli's astute, hilarious and custom tailored Molarity comic strip and the
adventures of Jim Mole- his exploits, foibles and triumphs. Nobody was funnier
than Michael and his comic take of the universe via South Bend, Indiana
provided entertainment and enlightenment to get us through those long
winters." Adriana Trigiani, author of
The Shoemaker's Wife and Big Stone Gap
As the central character of Molarity, Jim
Mole, was a student always in search of meaning, purpose and love. It is
through Jim's eyes that we see life's absurdity and experience some of life's
more frustrating moments. Jim spent a years study in Rome but it was never
clear why as his college major was never revealed. Decades later, Jim's search
for meaning, purpose and love continue as a Notre Dame Professor in the
Department of Undeclared Major. He teaches numerous courses on Western
Civilization which gives him a platform to comment on everything from history
to movies and television. As the strips super ego, Jim questions everything
especially about himself as he feels inadequate being on the professor side of
the classroom.
Trivia Questions: (A) How did Jim get rid of the Woodstock Nation that moved into his dorm room? (B) When Jim rescued Chuck from the Turkish prison what did he pay their Turkish guide, Poh'mad, for his help? Contact us if you know the answers. No matter what Jim did, Chuck Mason ends up being his roommate. Chuck was a throwback college anarchist rebel when he came to Notre Dame. That is why he was an anti-government major. As the strip's id, he lived in a world on the edge of reality. Chuck has been suspended and expelled from Notre Dame and also spent a little time in a Turkish prison for smuggling hashish. After a short bout of Yuppyism, from which Jim and Mitch saved him, Chuck found a living as a conceptual artist, living off of federal grants and rich cognoscenti patrons. Trivia Questions: (C) As an undergrad Chuck took over a campus building and threatened to blow it up. That building no longer exists. What was the name of that building? (D) When Chuck escaped from the Italian prison he befriended a sheep with whom he spent two months in a box while they were mailed back to the USA. What was the name of the sheep? Contact us if you know the answers. The typical male Notre Dame student was embodied in Mitch. He excelled in high school academically and in sports which is how he got to Notre Dame, where he suddenly found himself ordinary. As the strip's ego, his own ego never could deal with the realization of his unrealized potential. He played on the football team but never made starter, although somehow he earned a monogram jacket. To add to his sense of inadequacy, Mitch starting dating Cheryl. Because of the number female students was limited as ND converted to coeducation, odds were that she would exceed him academically. She did. Their male-female banter became an important feature of the strip. He first proposed to her by hiring a plane to carry the message around Notre Dame Stadium during one of the games. After graduation and through today, Mitch is a minor coach on the Notre Dame Football team. He and Cheryl did get married and they have three children. Their eldest son, Lou, attends Notre Dame. Trivia Questions: (E) What was Mitch's number on the football team? (F) What is Mitch's last name? Contact us if you know the answers. Cheryl was introduced in the strip where a roommate of Jim's (the short-lived Doug) calls to say he had a blind date and could not meet her. Jim got bold enough to pretend he was Doug which worked until Cheryl read his laundry tag. While Jim was in Rome, Cheryl and Mitch became a couple which allowed the strip to explore male-female relationships. Cheryl was the kind of girl most men want to date: smart, strong and pretty. Consequently she ended up having the fewest flaws of all the Molarity characters. This meant that Mitch could say all sorts of funny sexist things and as long as Cheryl enacted revenge, it was okay. After graduation, Cheryl and Mitch married. Cheryl became an 80s superwoman with a career and family while Mitch's career went nowhere. Eventually she found her way into the Notre Dame Business School as an adjunct professor. Trivia Questions: (F) When Mitch proposed with to Cheryl with the airplane message, what was Cheryl's response? (G) In a Molarity Redux, Mitch spends months trying to vacation in what locale? Contact us if you know the answers. Brenda was Cheryl's roommate and the kind of woman most men would not dare to date. A little too beautiful, vain and self-centered, most men at Notre Dame would not be socially adept enough to get started. Immediately after graduation, while Chuck was in his Yuppy phase, they married. But when Chuck was deprogrammed and resumed his anarchist ways, it was only a matter of time before they divorced. Their daughter, Denise, is now a student at Notre Dame. These days, she is still single but able to live off of Chuck's lucrative NEA grants. Trivia Questions: (H) A week's worth of cartoons were devoted to Cheryl trying to help Brenda with a particular personal problem. What was the problem? (I) In a Molarity Redux where does Brenda find herself on December 21, 2012? Contact us if you know the answers. Dion Wicker III was a new character replacing the rarely seen fourth roommate Doug. Dion was a conglomeration of some of the richer and more privileged students at Notre Dame. His money meant he did not have to worry about paying tuition or getting a job when he graduated. This gave him a very unhealthy disinterest in studying or bonding with other students. He was sent to Notre Dame by his father to see how the lower classes lived and he did not like it. With Jim and chuck in Rome, Dion became the important foil for Mitch's adventures back in South Bend. Dion's money and preoccupation with his family's industries keeps him from making many appearances in Molarity Redux, although his daughter, Athena is a student. Trivia Questions: (J) Dion got arrested by campus security because they find what contraband item in his car? (K) How did Dion get into Medical School? Contact us if you know the answers. Bonus Question: (L) Name the Dolphin that appeared in the strip. Contact us if you know the answers. We will return the e-mail with your score. 0-3 Must read more Molarity now! Like and Follow Jim, lest your life have no meaningful joy. 4-6 You have found perfect synchronicity with the stars and planets. 7-9 Michael Molinelli kneels before you in appreciation for your kind attention to such a trivial matter. 10-12 Get a life! |
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