Some things-like Nelson’s dancing-are just too funky to draw, and are best left to the imagination. Looks like he may be off the hook for the moment.
Next time… Oh, what to say? How about “Robespierre being Robespierre?” I think you may be amused.
So, I tried something new here. I was going to show Reade and Nelson throughout, but then Tristan said (while I was rewriting): “Let’s make pancakes. Mom likes pancakes,” and I thought it’d be fun to show the two of them instead. What do you think?
I think everyone in this strip is too adorable for words.
I think you are absolutely right. I just love how Tris and Izzy came across, both in the writing and in the finished strip. It was a lot of fun to hear them talk, and choose just which bits to put in.
As always, I think you tell great stories. I believe that Showing Reade and Nelson throughout would have been fine, But I also think showing Tristan and Iseult adds an extra dimension.
Of course, Nelson’s dance would probably still have been too Funky to Draw. 😉
Hey Jim!
Thank you for that. As always, you’re right. Showing Reade and Nelson would’ve been okay. It would’ve been a more serious strip, and frankly, not very much fun to draw (and really hard to make visually interesting).
Besides, we wouldn’t’ve gotten to spend as much time with these two.
Oh yeah, it would’ve been too funky. There are some things that the Internet just isn’t ready for.
Three things:
Showing Tristan and Iseult watching Nelson’s happy dance is far better than showing the happy dance.
I picture Nelson’s happy dance as looking a whole lot like Snoopy’s happy dance. You shouldn’t even try drawing that.
What in the name of all that’s good and holy was Reade thinking when she named a brother and sister Tristan and Iseult? She owns a bookstore! Has she never sampled the merchandise???
I agree-no matter how strange Nelson looked, it wouldn’t’ve been as crazy as you could imagine. Sometimes less is more.
I used to be a radio DJ, and everything there was based on spurring the audience’s imagination.
As to Izzy and Tris’ names, well, in her defense, she was the dad at the time. It’s possible that their biological mom overrode her objections.
Ah! I was unclear on the order of events and on parentage — I assumed they were adopted after the transition. (Now that I look, Tristan’s hair should have told me otherwise.)
Perfectly understandable, my friend. Yeah, Izzy’s choppers and Tris’ mullet (business in the front, party in the back) were both gifts of Reade’s.
And it was only one panel, but we saw Reed just before he got married here.
Nope! Nuh-huh! Don’t agree! You made the perfect choice as for which pair to depict. Tristan’s silliness (especially the “boxing guy” comment since it would have needed to be explained) and Iseult’s expressions would have been lost otherwise.
Don’t second-guess perfection, Charlie, your comedic instincts outweigh calculation every time. ^^
Oh, Delta-v, you are today’s favorite person in the world. Thank you. Yeah, I think it works better focusing on the lighter half of each scene. I did have to show the angsty Reade in that one panel though.
It was also a lot more fun to draw!
Fun Fact: Tris was supposed to say something else in that panel. But once he put on the cooking mitts in the previous one, that became the natural thing for him. So, really, he wrote that “boxing guy” line.
Sometimes you just gotta go with what feels right.
I really like the ineraction between Izzy and Tristan superimposed over the conversation Reade and Nelson are having. As usual, you masterfully show and don’t tell–it really works here.
Aw, you’re too kind, mj. High praise coming from the creator of two of my favorite comics, Black Ball and The Vatican Assassins.
But yeah, I’m really happy with how this worked out. Those two don’t get enough screen time, and they’re a lot of fun to watch (and write).