So, even though I've got a premise and I'm starting to name the characters, I still don't have a name for the comic. I suppose that will come in time.

Even though they're looking fairly well done, I don't consider these character designs to be anywhere near final. In fact, I imagine I'll be tweaking them quite a bit over the course of the comic's run itself.

One thing that I can already tell will be giving me trouble is Otto's boots. I like 'em a lot, but I only really know how to draw them one way right now and they hike a third of the way up his body. Not very flexible. I need to find a similarly built character with similar boots in somebody else's comic and see how they handle that. It seems very likely the tops of the boots are going to shrink a bit.

I'm also not sure about Reg's legs. They're too realistic for a stuffed animal, let a lone a cartoon character. On the other hand, I know I can draw them well from any angle and in any pose.

Of all the characters, this guy here is the one most likely to be revised before I start production:



But the bandaid on the nose stays!

click to view larger image



*Note: I'm not calling the strip "Character Interaction" even though that really is the theme of the whole thing. I was just naming this one file as an example.


Also, I like how the character names roll: Winston, Moe, Tillie, Otto & Reg

While I was in the kitchen, Terra started desperately meowing at me. Oh, it was so important! And when I looked down, I saw that her food dish was empty and her water was low. So I poured her some more water and went to get her food.

When I came back with the food, she let out another desperate yowl. Ah, she was so in need!

Then I scooped the food out of the bag and poured it into the bowl with rattle. She looked at it. Then she looked back up at me.

"Rrrr?" she said.

"Yep, there you go!" I said.

"Rrr?" she repeated. "Rr."

I got the distinct impression that she wasn't disappointed by the fact that the food wasn't wet or moving, or that the water wasn't Kitty Chardonnay. She was clearly complaining that she had nothing more to legitimately complain about. "B-but, you filled my dish!" she muttered. "I could burn the building down."

She ate a few scraps, "rrr?"-ed once more, and now she's off somewhere in the apartment, nursing her lumbago.

Apparently, she's something like 126 cat years old.

Before I settle down to wrapping up today's graphic design work, I've got some names in my head for this new comic:

Stitches (right out, already used by a yaoi furry comic)

Stuffings
All New Material
Stuffed
Get Stuffed
Funny Beeswax
Stuffed Beeswax
Glad rags (used by a 1920's comic, but OK)
Gutters & Glad rags
Funny Stitches
Get Stitched (just getting it out of my system)
Cross Stitched
Cross Stitching
Unstitched
Sewn in Stitches

I don't think I quite like any of these.

Part of the idea is again, go for something silly or cute or old timey, but that also carries a vaguely political double meaning.


Finally, here's something unrelated that's just creepy:

http://inventorspot.com/articles/creepy_stuffed_animals_feature_your_childs_face_17461

I've picked the name of the comic, and now I just have to see if the domain is available.

More later.

The kids names will be Molly Wolliker and Thommy Tinkerton. I think.

Do they sound like names that have been used together before?