In which Penny Dreadful takes a break in her busy schedule to celebrate the 1-YEAR anniversary of the strip with a moment of self-reflection.
NOTE: Today’s strip is a blog entry. If you’re disappointed by that, come back Friday, or here’s the most recent strip (http://dropthecow.com/2012/06/04/the-little-things/).
The one-year anniversary of anything seems a natural point for some introspection. This is especially true of a strip birthed from a concept such as “dropping the cow.” my daughter and chief proofreader expressed surprise yesterday that I’d been doing the strip for a year now. I don’t think I’ve ever pursued any non-job, non-family effort for this long ever before.
Concurrent with this milestone, I’m reading several books: How to Make Webcomics by Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett, Brad Guigar, and Kris Straub; Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (yet again); Essential CG Lighting Techniques with 3ds Max, by Darrin Brooker, and finally a bunch of miscellany on the Uncanny Valley theory as it applies to robotics. This particular jumble of input provides a compelling background against which to ask a few reflective questions.
What am I doing with this strip? Why am I still doing it? Will I still be doing it this time next year? Does anybody really care?
Answering that last question first… well, not really. I am immensely grateful to the few loyal readers I’ve gathered, who’ve stuck around despite my being too busy to read their – or anyone else’s – strips much at all. Seriously, thanks, all of you.
Still, loyal though they are, my readership remains relatively small. But is that why I started doing this? Not really. I just wanted to make a strip that I myself would like to read.
I started this incarnation of DtC to fill a few voids I’d long lamented in the comic scene: strips that meshed with my particular job scene and view of corporate America, well-done 3D/CGI strips, answers to the question, what happens when a hacker has to go straight? A fourth area here is strips based on the premise of LEGO® blocks coming to life. Since then, I’ve discovered there is a broad base there, many of the best of which are represented in that Brick Comic Network drop down to the left.
I’m certain to date myself when I confess to war-dialing from my high school in the early 80s – before I knew there would one day be a name for that activity that would one day be a crime. Yes, I was a teenage hacker! 🙂 At the same time that my buddy, Jim Redacted, and I were sneaking about in local computer systems for fun, not profit, I also was creating a weekly ASCII character-based animated show called “The Uncle Chucky Show” on the school’s Commodore PETs. Since that time, I’ve held to the belief that these cool new toys (computers) could be used to produce art. My college art professors, Greg & Doug scoffed at my ideas, but the gave me my art degree nonetheless…
So, taking the long way around to those questions… Are 3D/CGI comics viable? I think so. Many of the ones I’ve seen so far suffer from the Uncanny Valley syndrome. Rather than launch into that, I’ll refer you to the Wikipedia article on the subject. This obviously wasn’t an issue with Uncle Chucky, and I don’t believe it’s a problem with Penny Dreadful and crew. The iconic Lego minifigure is instantly recognisable (and the design trademark has expired, or I’d be in hot water), and represents a singularly sympathetic character image, as explained by McCloud in his discussion of icons and iconic characterisation in chapter 2 of Understanding Comics.
This version of Penny, Johnny, and the others is probably the 5th that I’ve done, but the first one that worked for me. I can draw – and have done so professionally – but I still like the idea of CGI comics.
So, why not use one of the more “realistic” versions I’ve done over the years? Today’s strip image gives the answer for that. It’s just not as good. If it’s good enough, CGI tumbles into the uncanny valley for me. Slapping a word balloon into that image would be lunacy.
Why not create stylised CGI characters, like Pixar does? I’ve done that, too, but they just weren’t as funny to me. The mental image of a stiff, plastic minifig Penny smacking a user with a cricket bat still tickles me at a level that nothing else I’ve tried does. Am I lazy in using the Lego minifigure? Am I just intrigued by the idea of toys having lives of their own? Maybe on the first count, definitely on the second.
The past few weeks, I’ve been struggling with what to do with the strip. Should I change it up and draw with a pencil? The occasional sketches I’ve peppered in have met with positive response. I haven’t drawn much in a while, but it’d come back, I’m sure. Should I work toward an adaptation of my unfinished Penny novel in Webcomics form? Either one of those would be too much a departure, and I’m still having fun in the strip’s present form.
I guess that’s what it all comes down to. I’m having fun. I’m learning. I can’t ask for much more than that, can I? If people read it, I will thank them – and I’ll try my best to reward them with the best stuff I can produce, even if it’s just a few folks.
Thanks, everyone, for a great year! See you this time in 2013!
I always had my suspicions. A small inkling in the back of my mind. But now it’s been confirmed.
Penny is hot.
LOL – I’m sure she’s flattered to hear that! You know, Penny’s not been dating much since that Roy incident…
That is an excellent render. But I agree with you — LEGO figs are inherently funnier.
Also, congratulations on reach one year! Gosh, it doesn’t seem that long.
Thanks, Louise! It really doesn’t seem like a year to me, either; I’m having way too much fun.
Only 1 nitpick…the blue hair holders on each side of her head are missing the loose ends. Other than that, very nice.
And lol@ wardialing, i was part of the generation that came slightly after that era, enter dos, 3.1, and 95.
Details, details! Oh – wait, you mean “the tails” 😉 Yep, you’re right, it’s the little things, isn’t it? I was relying on the stray hairs to sell the effect; I then left it and got WAY too occupied with figuring out depth-of-field and glare filters and so on. In many cases, I’d rush and do a re-render, but given the render time on this baby, I’ll just toss out a “my bad” and call it artist’s license. 😀 (Oh, and way to make me feel old, Bri’ – LOL)
You could always Photoshop them in.
…or would that suggestion be sacrilegious?
Oh, I dunno… If I say it’s sacrilegious, do I look less lazy? 😀 Welcome aboard, BTW!
BTW @Sue, wanted to let you know I’m fascinated by the Reynes, and can’t wait for the OBS hiatus to end!!!
Thankyou 🙂
I’ve been doing a fair bit of scriptwriting of late behind the scenes, and Purple is already starting to write her own material.
…and without wishing to sound too much like a mutual appreciation society, I would like to say how very impressed I am with the way DtC looks. I did some modelling and rendering in the early days of 3DS (R4, before it became Max), so I certainly appreciate the amount of effort that would go into producing something to the visual quality DtC – irregardless of the humourous content!
I’m lovin’ Penny’s Tshirts… and her name, btw. Brilliance.
Well done.
Thanks! It helps a lot to hear that. That’s something I’ve been struggling with lately: whether doing the strip with Max is somehow “cheating,” instead of drawing by hand – something I just don’t have time for these days. I draw very slowly, and I’ve only got so much time. That’s why this thing only came together, despite a decade of attempts, when I hit on a concept that meshed with a 3D/CGI presentation.
#Purple: Isn’t it funny how characters have a way of taking over? I’m starting renders on a big story arc (coming up in July) that I never would have anticipated when I started this thing. I can’t wait to see how your strip develops!
#T-Shirts: In addition to the downloads, I’m planning a section where folks can download printable versions of her shirts (male & female) for their own minifigs as decals. Each strip will have a “Penny’s shirt of the day” bit, as well. They were a whim at first, but seem to have caught on. Of course, some are not my own designs, so I’m working on how to address that properly.
by the way, I do apologize….my adhd kicked in before I finished the end of the article. I think that the current setup looks very nice. Pencil drawings maybe could be a “feature” at times, but I’m not sure how much longer that would take you then currently.
Yeah, that’s the thing. I am pre-e-tty slow when it comes to drawing. I’m sure I’d get faster as i got back into the swing of it, but it really does all come down to time.
Grats on 1 year, that’s awesome. I hope in this next year you get a bunch more readers and continue making this comic for years to come. Keep up the good work this comic is amazing!
Thank you!
So, that is her hair after all. I was wondering if it was that or if, true to her character, she was using some sort of ninja sword as a hairpin.
Yep, it’s her hair! Although the secret sword idea has merit, Penny’s largely a “blunt force trauma” kind of gal 🙂
While the occasional pencil sketches (and other non-CG-Lego elements) do get a good reception, I think part of what makes them special is that they’re something out of the ordinary. For me, the CG-Lego nature of the graphics fits much better with the betimes-surreal nature of the plot than a more ‘realistic’ appearance would. In addition, the Lego Penny is the one we all know and love by now – to see her in drawn form almost seems as out-of-character as to see a friend in Lego form.
What do you mean? I see all my friends in Lego form 😉 Any road, I’m interested in seeing the reception of the half-dozen strips I’m working on now, where I take a (semi-logical) detour away & around the CGI Lego stuff… Coming your way in December!