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Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: RyanW1019 on 02 Jun 2012, 19:59
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I don't really know why, but I find the 1400-1600s art style more appealing than the current style (Example: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1556). Although I agree that the art has improved significantly since then, and that's why we've had more ambitious things like the hiking trip and the space station visit, for some reason the somewhat older comics are just more aesthetically pleasing to me. Maybe there's a subtle Uncanny Valley effect going on for me and I like the slightly more cartoony feel of before, I dunno.
I'm hoping to not start an argument over the art progression, but I was thinking earlier and wondered if anybody else had favorite "eras" in terms of art style, besides the default "The art is always improving and the current style is always my favorite" stance. I think this is my first thread here, although I've been lurking for a while, so I hope I picked an interesting topic.
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I would say 1200-1500. Then people's eyes started to get smaller. But I don't want to be the guy who tells Jeph is art was better 3 years ago.
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There are specific details I like about each "era" as it shows the progression of the art and writing and how they mesh. The "eras" cited so far reflect, I think, distinct developments toward the greater realism Jeph says he strives for.
Even the early, early ones show an awareness of the subtleties of expression, though Jeph was (and is) still trying to figure out how to depict that to his satisfaction.
I first started to really like the art in the late 800s - early 900s, when J. really started to stretch his artistic legs as far as poses and expressions (at least in the female characters). I've always liked Faye's pose and expression in the second and third panels of this one (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=902).
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The Futurist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. Art, music. The analog of weird people like me in fancy dress.
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I genuinely do prefer the most recent art, because I like cartoons to be as close to realistic as possible and Jeph is getting better and better at that. That said, the comic the OP linked is nice - but the earlier ones just seem a little less polished.
Even the first strips are better than plenty of comics I've seen, though. If the art is so bad I can't tell which character is which, then I just give up reading. Jeph has never suffered from that problem.
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Except for the white-haired guy that looked an awful lot like Hannerdad in the space arc.
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The Futurist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. Art, music. The analog of weird people like me in fancy dress.
I totally thought that was what the question was asking as well. For me it's Art Nouveau all the way.
Comic-wise: 1000-1500
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Oh. Well. The Lascaux cave paintings, then.
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Baroque, Art Nouveau, late 60's psychedelia, anything with lots of detailed fiddly bits and curliques.
For the comic, sometime between when the boobs started acting realisticly (pulling on the shirt material), but before the pants did (everyone had squared off crotches).
Both are clearly on display here (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=572).
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2008 was about when I came on board, but I kinda liked the stuff that's probably gonna end up in Vol. 3 (601-900).
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400-1100, around that period. Also has some of the best arcs IMO.
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I don't know why, but it's only when I read threads like these that I remember I've been reading this comic five days a week for the past five years. It does not seem that long.
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I like the current art. Comparing it to previous "eras" the most striking think to me is how Jeph's been giving himself more flexibility to show expressions. Everybody's less round now, so distinctions in mood can be achieved with subtler touches but it's still stylized enough to tell that it's a comic.
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Judging from Jeph's Twitter tonight, it seems we have another change in style about to happen.
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The more cartoony art style made more cartoony strips possible. The sense of humor seems to have changed with the artwork.
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Judging from Jeph's Twitter tonight, it seems we have another change in style about to happen.
I don't think the changes ever just happen, they're always happening. It's how you can read through the entire archive barely noticing it, then go back a couple years and be floored at the difference.
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I think there's something nice about every era but I really like 800 - 1400. Especially the body shapes (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1201) of the characters (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=800). Also the Anthro PCs and Hanners (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1298) were cute. I like the cartoony look.
The current style is great, technically, but the expressions aren't as big and the movements don't seem as fluid in a way. Also I have a personal preference for thicker lines.
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I have a fondness for the mid to late 400s, such as 457 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=457).
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The Futurist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. Art, music. The analog of weird people like me in fancy dress.
I totally thought that was what the question was asking as well. For me it's Art Nouveau all the way.
Comic-wise: 1000-1500
Me three. Comic-wise, I agree the 400's are nice, but I the more realistic it looks the better. I guess my favs are 1150-early 1400s, and then 1600-Present. I honestly have never thought about my favorite art period in general...hmm
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I like the style at the beginning of the comics. For me, simpler is better.
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Dadaism to Surrealism is simultaneously my most favorite and most despised era in the history of art. So much to say about that, so little time. °O
As for the comic... I maintain a weird love affair with the simplicity of the early comics. (1 - 100)
Each one could be hung on the wall as a standalone indie piece of sequential art. At least in my opinion.
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There is one constant of Jeph's drawings, and it's apparent in today's comic (2204 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2204)) - he still hasn't quite gotten the hang of showing people standing straight up.
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They do always lean a bit, don't they...
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It's especially bad in earlier comics, where he had characters talking over the shoulders as they walked away.
Still: the fact remains that a.) he's doing a heckuva better job than I ever could, and b.) the storyline and characters make you overlook some of the art issues.
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There is one constant of Jeph's drawings, and it's apparent in today's comic (2204 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2204)) - he still hasn't quite gotten the hang of showing people standing straight up.
I hadn't really noticed that until you said something. Maybe my eyes are crooked.
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In the last couple hundred strips, from 2000 to present, every character seems to have developed an overbite. Panel 4 of 2205 shows Marten and the new redhead in profile and I swear she looks like a rabbit. (Thus my "What's up, Doc?" comment in the WCDT thread.) I first noticed this trend in the Space stories. The change in style was not abrupt though and overbites exist pre-2000 but around 2000 is when they first began to become pronounced.
So while I'd like to say my favorite era is "current", I guess I'm actually more partial to the 1600-2000 era. It was the least cartoony.
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I logged in to comment on the same panel... that profile view actually makes me a little sick to my stomach. The rest of 2205 is fine, but man, that perspective really crystallizes my dislike of the very recent style: heads are very pointy.
My favorite era is 1500-1750 or so, maybe up to 1800.
Edit: I started reading around strip 1600, but I began by plowing through the entire archive in one or two sittings, so my sense of the 'end' of Jeph's art evolution solidified around 1650.
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I would say 1200-1500. Then people's eyes started to get smaller. But I don't want to be the guy who tells Jeph is art was better 3 years ago.
Well, the question was what's everybody's favorite, not what's objectively best. So I don't think saying that an older style was your favorite is the same as telling him he was better at his craft in the past.
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Except for the white-haired guy that looked an awful lot like Hannerdad in the space arc.
What. A space arc... I'm only on Page 2031... This is gonna be great...
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:psyduck:
Off-topic, but I was having a glance through 1, 100, 200, 300 to contrast and compare on this... and http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1400 struck me as quite the laugh given recent events, sure someone's already mentioned it somewhere though... :P
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Like the OP 1400-1600 is my "favorite". I definitely like how Jeph's talent and style has evolved, but to everyone just looks so tall to me. I almost always end up feeling like a midget when I read the most recent strips.
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I'm with the OP. Now the ears have become too large on some characters (Faye especially) and they lost their... dare I say it? Attractivity.
And they were somehow cuter...
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I think I prefer the 200-500 era. While everyone is pale as a ghost, there's more diversity of body shape and facial shape. And the characters "look better" to me than in other times.
I've been slowly reading the archive so it may just be that I'm use to them again. I found a cool page. Foreshadowing of Hannelore's existence: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=313
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That era's art went well with a particular form of wackiness.