Sometimes we need other eyes on our work to help us make good decisions. A simple example, for me, is spelling. I often need someone to look over the words for spelling errors. When I am close to my art the letters are just graphic elements and not actual building blocks of words. Its hard to turn that frame of mind off.
The same holds true about comics. Sometimes I go too far making a statement and I need another set of eyes to help me roll back the idea. For instance is today’s comic. The police man is asking Karen if she is sure the WoodChucks are vandalizing her property. Seems obvious, right? They are woodchucks so they must chuck wood. But, the point of the comic is to not assume. The original has another panel where the Emo kid asks Sid what he is doing with all that wood. Its really Sid who is the perp in this case. Karen’s prejudices and proximity to her neighbor make her blame the wrong party.
I had someone look at it and tell me I went a little too far. Audiences are intelligent and don’t need to be spoon-fed. Also, a cute idea does not always need to be turned into a statement on society. I actually have another comic for that kind of thing.
If you notice in the final comic there is a little too much dead space. I should have put clouds in the sky or made everything larger to fill the space. However, I was at the point where the internal editor wanted the comic to go to the presses so other things could get completed. Also, one little detail is I should have changed the Wood Chucks mailbox top right point to a rounded instead of a corner. It will haunt my OCD for weeks to come.
Stay safe out there!
