Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
QC Character Total Appearances
raoullefere:
Here is the data for the first 500
Faye 405 0.81
Marten 403 0.806
Dora 196 0.392
Pintsize 118 0.236
Steve 71 0.142
Raven 62 0.124
Ellen 54 0.108
Ms. Reed 25 0.05
Jimbo 16 0.032
Natasha 16 0.032
Amanda 13 0.026
Sven 8 0.016
Sara 8 0.016
Alan Turing, FBI 4 0.008
Lorena Torres (Realtor) 4 0.008
Amir 4 0.008
Jeph 3 0.006
Dora's Cat 3 0.006
Martin's Boss 2 0.004
Pizza Girl 2 0.004
Angus 1 0.002
Tequilla Monster 1 0.002
Marten and Faye are in a statistical dead heat at 81%, with one or the other coming out ahead in the raw numbers every batch of 25. Dora continues to rise, but Pintsize is holding steady at 24%. I think, though, that he's verging on being the most frequent supporting character, having been replaced in the 'main' cast by Dora. Still, Pintsize has a good lead on the top of the remaining supporting cast, which is still Steve at 14% (down 1 percent, more or less). The other big change is Raven, who is now breathing down Steve's neck, so to speak at 12%.
I've a quandary, though: what of the turkeys (and later, the eagles)? I considered counting the characters they mention as having 'appeared.' As of now, though, I'm leaving these episodes out, though not excluding from the count, since that would be too tedious even for me, Any thoughts?
Doug S. Machina:
Curious that Faye appears slightly more than Marten, as he's the nominal main character.
I also applaud your good work.
Michael Nehora:
Nice work. If you have the time and continuing interest, I'd be curious to see a breakdown for strips 501 through 1000. This is mainly because I get the impression that Hannelore, despite having debuted rather later than Raven, has since overtaken her in appearances by a wide margin. Which, I suspect, is no coincidence, as both women arguably have a similar role in the strip--the "quirky but strong and loveable" character who gets off to a rough start with one or more of the main cast, but soon wins their respect and friendship.
In Raven's case, Faye and Dora (especially Faye) initially have little respect for her because she's ditzy (to put it kindly), boy-crazy like a teenager, and a trend-follower. But after days/weeks of working alongside her, they come to see that she's genuinely kind, sweet, and often has keen insight into people, and so they count her as a friend. Still, one gets the sense that there's only so much even a writer like Jeph can do with a "noble simpleton" character.
Enter Hanners, who gets off to a rocky start with Marten, who sees her as a provider of unsolicited relationship advice, then as "crazy," and even a dangerous stalker. But he, along with Faye and Dora, quickly warm up to her because under all the mishegoss is a good person, and one whose vulnerability and insecurity they can all relate to. And from a storytelling and characterization angle, she's much more complex and versatile a cast member than Raven. She's inconsistent in her OCD (multiple ear piercings and she smokes) but unapologetic about it. She wavers from painfully shy and timid, to confident and brazen, and back again. Hanners also shows more willingness than Raven to expand her horizons, for example taking up drums and jamming with Deathmøle. So that's my theory as to why Hanners has--if my hunch is correct--usurped Raven's role in QC. But I wouldn't mind seeing the frequency stats, because it might just be that Hanners makes a stronger impression on me than Raven has in the latter 500-odd strips. (I still like seeing Raven, don't get me wrong, but if there were QC Oscars, Hanners would get my vote for Best Supporting Actor.)
raoullefere:
I plan to not only go to 1000, but to keep this current. I don't know that I'll get the rest done before next weekend, but I will be working on it when I've a chance.
Here's a question worth considering (it's kind of why I started this). What percentage of appearances makes a character main cast, supporting cast, minor supporting cast; etc.?
Also, things I have noticed:
Dora calls many people 'kid' or variations
We never know what Steve does for a living
When Raven first appears, she doesn't appear to be a 'noble simpleton.' It is apparently a personality she assumes after she gets tired of wearing black. Also, since both of Raven's parents are scientists, my guess is this, just like the Goth episode of her life, is an act.
WIth the possible exception of Hanners, every character who speaks about her/her past fudges it. Faye, Marten, and Raven have all done so:
Raven claims she has stretch marks from being an early bloomer; Dora later says Raven was heavy, but lost weight.
Marten's early comments about his parents don't bear out when his mother makes an appearance (For one, how could they still drive him crazy during Thanksgiving when they've been divorced for over ten years and are good friends? It's not impossible, but somewhat unlikely.).
Dora has done things she won't discuss, such as stealing boyfriends, apparently (Sven seems to be the only one who knows about this).
Dora is shocked that her mother sends her a vibrator, yet when we meet Mrs. Bianchi, she openly smokes pot (It may be only me that sees this as a bit inconsistent).
Some of this is just revisionist stuff, though. Which backs up Jeph's claim that he 'makes it up' as he goes along. I still think he does a wonderful job of capitalizing on minor comments, turning them into entire arcs later on.
raoullefere:
At 550 we have
Marten 442 0.80363636364
Faye 439 0.79818181818
Dora 218 0.39636363636
Pintsize 125 0.22727272727
Steve 77 0.14
Raven 76 0.13818181818
Ellen 54 0.09818181818
Ms. Reed 25 0.04545454545
Jimbo 19 0.03454545455
Natasha 16 0.02909090909
Amanda 14 0.02545454545
Hanners 14 0.02545454545
Sven 12 0.02181818182
Sara 8 0.01454545455
Alan Turing, FBI 4 0.00727272727
Lorena Torres (Realtor) 4 0.00727272727
Amir 4 0.00727272727
Mieville (Dora's Cat) 4 0.00727272727
Mr. Whitaker 3 0.00545454545
Jeph 3 0.00545454545
Martin's Boss 2 0.00363636364
Pizza Girl 2 0.00363636364
Winslow 1 0.00181818182
Angus 1 0.00181818182
Tequilla Monster 1 0.00181818182
Winslow 1 0.00181818182
I only post this because of something interesting: Faye and Martin are now down to 80%. Why? Well, one or the other is in almost every episode, but not both, due to the comic 'splitting' to follow each of their lives. When neither appears, Dora is the focus, or else (much rarer, now) Pintsize. Dora has almost double appearances on him now, though.
The other interesting thing is that Hanners is off like a rocket! In 50 episodes she has managed to overtake characters who've been around for 200.
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