It usually happens when I'm drawing her in a new pose or something. Most commonly, it's when I start doodling Cartoon Melissa from the body up, not from the head down. The scale is off a little, but I don't really notice it until it's too late...
Melissa is adorable, and completely un-fat. However, this conversation's happened several times in Real Live (TM), and I welcome my cute girl to the strip officially by lovingly poking fun at her through that hideous blob in Cartoon Tony's doodle in the final panel.
Get a good look at that thing.
It's terrifying. In fact, here's a better look.
Yes, I am a big Ren & Stimpy fan. Why do you ask?The punchline kind of hinges on just how repulsive I could make the exaggerated, ultra-chubby Melissa monster. I really thought about how to carry out that final panel...but just went with what I have. I wanted Melissa's reaction, but also to show off the charicature. This meant either doing some weird perspective thing, or actually making the picture Cartoon Tony's holding up relatively close to scale with Melissa's head. I went with the latter.
Turned out okay, though.
Hey, and why didn't I include Murray in the background of the second or third panels? Hmm...laziness? Forgetfulness? I'll white wash the issue and just say I wanted to focus on the two major human characters and the Fat Melissa Doodle instead. Murray would've been too distracting.
(Cough.)
Yeah...that's the ticket!
I received a slight nudge from my Lead Comic Tester to tone down the language.
He and/or she took offense to "whipped it out," saying it made the character less sweetly innocent and the punchline less surprising/cute.
He/She/It wants cartoon Tony to come across as an incorrigible goofball who is prone to wacky tangents spawned from his overactive imagination.
I just wrote that line originally and it made me chuckle.
Here's the third and final attempt at this strip. Nothing I make is ever perfect, and certainly no art is ever truly finished.
Just messing around, here.
I haven't even begun the actual STORY strips, yet!
Keep the feedback coming, people. And enjoy this kinder, gentler version of "Why Not?"
Okay, I couldn't live with myself having posted a half-assed comic strip.
See the original and find out why I re-touched it in the post below.
I added quite a bit...not the least of which is shading and the spots on my boxers I neglected the first time around.
You have to admit, dogs are pretty lucky with that whole "the world is my toilet" thing. Sure, things like plumbing and toilet paper and Sudoku make going to the bathroom an experience...
...but sometimes, you just gotta' get down to business and GO.
At times like these, I'm often waiting for Murray to sniff out the perfect pee or poo spot...and although I've never given into the urge to "water the bushes" under cover of night, the thought has crossed my mind.
I don't think the second panel quite worked out like I wanted it to. What I should've done is added a fourth panel, and made the third into a "take" shot, where I'm actually considering it. Second panel's facial expression would have to be more "joking," and then there's the "Hmm...wait a second!" moment...
...and the same payoff.
Pretend I did it right, and hopefully enjoy what's there, anyway!
Isn't peeing cartoon Murray cute? I worked on that for a while.
There's an old, running joke about how I "hate" Bailey and wish to let him out the backdoor, never to be heard from again. It's a mean-spirited joke, to be sure, but let's get one thing straight: I don't actually HATE Bailey.
He's just a miserable little monster who gets on my nerves sometimes, mainly due to the putrid stench that arises from his green potty almost immediately after every changing. This rabbit can really unleash some hideous, toxic substances, and that toilet doesn't stay "clean" long.
Bail used to be almost kind of halfway cool, before Murray came along.
Now, he just grunts and thumps and sheds his way through a grumpy, poo-filled life...awaiting his next offering from what I can only assume he sees as his evil, murderous "food apes."
