Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Questionable Character

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ReindeerFlotilla:

--- Quote from: Meilu on 10 Mar 2015, 22:38 ---I have a problem with virtually every character in the comic and the recent story arc has only made it worse. While characters I absolutely detest seem to have been written out (Angus, principally) I can't say there are any I outright hate that are female, but I know people like many of the women in the comic which likely prevents me from outright hating them. Even Marigold, who is virtually identical in look and personality to one of my exes (a relationship which just destroyed me for years, I might add) I can't hate, or even really dislike... though the most recent comic paints her in similar light.

I'm finishing my second read of the comic before continuing The current arc. I started my first read way back around comic 100 and never went back through it. All of the recent crap has made me feel all judgmental towards the cast, hopefully some of this stuff will pass. Claire is currently the only character I actively like, but I don't care for her current role.

--- End quote ---

Hmmm. I can see how that would happen. I share it, to an extent. I've done a few archive dives over the last few months, and each time it brings up how different a lot of characters are AND how little they've changed. Current Dora and Old Dora, for example. Same great neuroses, less snark. It's funny, because Marten actually comes of as the least changed. He's actually always been pretty smooth, and yet apt to kick himself in the uvula. The biggest thing that makes him seem different is that he's not losing bowel control every time things get all the feels with Claire. Give Claire time to find that spot on his neck, and we'll really see if he's turned into a different person.

To same extent that I miss old Dora, I miss old Claire, and she hasn't changed that much, either. It's the same character, but she's not being shown doing Claire-stuff.

I also figure a lot of that stuff I miss is gone for good. The room for Old Dora snark, and Claire-y Claire-isms was found in the five-six panel, talky format. The four panel picture format has less room for digressions.

pwhodges:

--- Quote from: ReindeerFlotilla on 10 Mar 2015, 22:54 ---was found in the five-six panel, talky format. The four panel picture format has less room for digressions.

--- End quote ---

Jeph's decision to be less talky is completely independent of the design.  The new design has greater area, and let's see: Marten backing away, 6 panels, silent; Tai and Dora tiff, 8 panels, talky....

ReindeerFlotilla:
Talky compared to silence. The majority is still 4 panels with vastly less dialogue than the old, vertical format.

"Room" here is not a measure of pixel area, but of "story space." The 14 panels of the last three strips comprise 2 plot points, two punchlines, one sight gag, and 150 words of dialogue.

Strip 289's 4 panels comprise 2 plot points, two snark digressions, 3 punchlines, and button line in 160 words of dialogue. Jeph was doing more with less. Now he does less with more. I once said he's taking 3 days to do what he used to in one, but I didn't know my estimate was that accurate.

I did not cherry pick. I was looking for a comic that starts with a punchline and runs wild for 6 panels. 289 was the first click in a random dive, came up 4 panels, and still managed to be much more story dense than the last three days put together.

Psyclone:
I honestly baffled for the reasons for most hate. For the life of me I cannot see anything Sven did wrong other than that creepy "please leave your current boyfriend" thing (I never understood why Dora has decided to shun him for life).

Only person I think is worthy of hate is Faye. I don't understand why people can hate Marigold and not Faye. Marigold at the very most does nothing while Faye outright abuses everyone she meets. How is that acceptable? I admit I am asking because I think I myself have Marigold's introversion and Marten's spinelessness. Is that a reason for me to be worried? What can I do?

Thrillho:

--- Quote from: Psyclone on 11 Mar 2015, 14:46 ---I admit I am asking because I think I myself have Marigold's introversion and Marten's spinelessness. Is that a reason for me to be worried? What can I do?

--- End quote ---

And this right here is part of what I find so worrying about the level of hatred some characters get on this forum. I really don't like Sven either, but the vitriol some characters get just worries me, especially since Jeph seems to aim to set his comic in a world not too far from our own. His characters are human and they make mistakes, and yet some people don't forgive any of these characters for any of this, and now we have here a poster who thinks that being shy and introverted is a cardinal sin to some people.

Psyclone, there is nothing wrong with being introverted or shy, and the word 'spineless' is one too disparaging to be using about yourself. It implies that there is a negative quality rather than simply a differing quality and that's just not healthy.

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