Lil’ Red tries to be helpful for once, and gives Dummy some suggestions for Bowlerskating. But Dummy seems to be off in his own little world. But is it really Dummy Duck? I’ll give you a hint… No! It’s the weather forecasting look alike… The DopplerGanger!
This is the first appearance of the narrator. Narrators are cool. Arrested Development had a narrator. The Royal Tenenbaums had a narrator. Dummy Duck has a narrator. Two out of three ain’t bad.
Good thing! I’ve been using a ruler to make straight lines for the lettering, so it looks a little better. Question! What do you think of the line quality? Is it too thick? I’ve been using the Sharpie Ultra Fine Point markers for thicker outlines, (except for using the vis-a-vis marker in the last panel for the super thick outline) but I’m starting to miss the thinner outlines from the first couple of strips. Also! Since I’ve started printing and painting the comic at home on 8.5×11 paper, I’ve noticed something. The ink in my printer isn’t waterproof, so if I’m not careful when painting, the ink starts to smudge and the outlines get blurry. These are things most webcomics don’t worry about because most of them are all digital. Times like this I wonder why I decided to do my comic in watercolor. Oh yeah, to make it stand out from the others. Hmm… Yeah, I think the outlines are too thick. I need to keep experimenting with inking techniques until I find one that really compliments the watercolor style. Maybe I should try some professional style equipment with crow quills and nibs and all that stuff I would know about if I knew what I was doing. I kinda like the desaturated almost black & white film noir style in the last panel. Whaddaya think?!
In a *PERFECT WORLD*, it’d be nice if the strip were the same width as that big banner up top.
I don’t think the linework comes through as too thin when it’s sized down like it is in on the webpage now, but when I look at the full 1250×400 image, then…yeah, I think I see what you mean. Keep ‘sperimentin’. That’s what it’s there for!
I think the lined-ish lettering mostly looks great, although it does seem a little too tight in the second panel.
Love the look of that noir-ish last panel. Also, I’m kind of ashamed how long it took me to get the ‘Dopplerganger’ gag. My stoopid brain kept reading it as “Doppelganger”, so I took it literally.
Wow! I got my wish.
Yes! You’re right, it looks much better with the comic as wide as the banner. Although, the larger image makes the thickness of some of the lines more noticeable. I’ll get the hang of it eventually. Also, you’re right about the lettering in the second panel being too tight. I might try to have uniform spacing for all the lettering. Glad you like the last panel! Yeah, the gag is a real thinker. That’s the kind of sharp wit people should come to expect from DummyDuck.com!
The weird thing is that on its own, I didn’t notice the difference in line weight, but when I compare this most recent one to some of the earlier strips (like the 12/26 one)…yeah, it’s pretty dramatic. Thinner est better!
I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but looking at this strip again, I guess my main criticism is that Lil’ Red’s the only really expressive one in the bunch. Dummy and Foo-foo are moving their arms, but otherwise they’re in more or less the same pose with the same flat facial expression. Again, stacked up to the hyperexpressive 12/26 strip (or even just Dummy in the logo bar), this one feels kinda static. A little somethin’ going on in the eyes, adding in a smirk or confused look…I bet that’d make a huge difference.
Okay, back to not-writing a review of The Thing!
You’re totally right, other than Lil’ Red the characters aren’t expressive enough. I could defend myself and say that it’s because that’s not really Dummy, and the look alike is not as expressive as the real thing, but that’s kind of a cop out. But yeah, I’ll try not to do blank expressions over and over. Hey… originally I had fake Dummy facing right in every frame, so at least he turns left in panel 2! That counts for something don’t it? …right? …maybe not. Also, line weights. I’ll do better. Yeah. Okay, back to not-writing next weeks comic!