THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: evilQuälgeist on 02 Oct 2014, 07:42
-
When the topic of Claire's non emphasized lips maybe being forshadowing of her beeing trans came up in WCDT I noticed that we seem to not have a threat for analysing and discussing visual character design. So here it is.
REMINDER: The mods have repeatedly stated that they don't want us to argue about visual clues regarding Claire beeing trans and as long as we don't get a mod post to the contrary we should follow said request.(correct me if I'm wrong!)
So to give an example of what I mean by analyzing visual character design let me quote something from a different threat.
Another part is, that in comics visual design tells us a lot about character, let's talk about Claire, Hannelore and Marigold not "having" lips for a moment, this may(most likely) not have been an indicator about them beeing trans, far more likely is that it was drawn that way to show that they don't care about their apearence the way other women in the comic do, Claire herself has stated to not get fashion, marigold largely isolated herself from society and Hannelore ...well is Hannelore.
Things like this tell us more about character than words ever could and so we should have a place focused on it. :-)
(At least I think so.)
-
the lips thing is just because those characters look weird to me when I draw them with lips
-
That's a pretty good reason :)
-
Good to know :D
-
Heh. Now I'm imagining a parallel universe where Hannelore has Faye's lips. And vice versa.
I agree with Jeph; weird definitely lives there.
-
The thickness of your lips does not really relate to how much you care about your appearance.... Unless caring about your appearance means getting a lip implant if you have naturally thinner lips.
I guess evilQuälgeist meant putting on lipstick, but even that has nothing to do with caring about your appearance. I for example care about my appearane and thus don't put on lipstick, because I don't like it on myself.
This is not to say that this thread is necessarily a bad idea in general; just that the lip thing is a bad example in my opinion. And I guess that this also illustrates that trying to infer something about a person's character based on how they look is very often erroneous.
-
Yes I meant lipstick and I know that there are people that care about their appearance and don't wear lipstick(beeing one myself), I know why I wrote "they don't care about their appearence the way other women in the comic do" :angel:
-
Boss has spoken.
-
the lips thing is just because those characters look weird to me when I draw them with lips
*cough* Called it (http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php?topic=28457.msg1270523.msg#1270523).
-
Something that's bugged me for a while is how parents are almost always taller than their adult children - the only exception I can think of is HannerDad.
It's not unheard of IRL, but it's much more consistent in the QCverse, which makes me wonder if some malevolent force is slowly shrinking humanity?
-
I noticed it over in the WCDT thread, that mothers specifically are taller than their adult children, with the exception of Mrs. Whitaker being shorter than Faye or Amanda, and Elssa Bianchi being shorter than Sven (but taller than Dora).
-
Jeph's answer to this has made me hurray because for once I was right.
(I am rarely sure of being correct about anything)
-
Could be something in the water there.
-
Could be something in the water there.
Either that or a bucket of cast-off lips somewhere. *shiver*
-
Could be something in the water there.
Either that or a bucket of cast-off lips somewhere. *shiver*
They used to be in the Land of the Least-Loved Lost Lips, but the place's name was considered cruel to people with speech impediments.
-
Could be something in the water there.
Either that or a bucket of cast-off lips somewhere. *shiver*
They used to be in the Land of the Least-Loved Lost Lips, but the place's name was considered cruel to people with speech impediments.
I just laughed at that 'til I snorted. Nicely played.
-
Now i just keep thinking of the rolling stones...
-
Something that's bugged me for a while is how parents are almost always taller than their adult children - the only exception I can think of is HannerDad.
I'm sure Veronica is intentional because it suits her as the intimidating dominatrix. I think the rest is coincidence. In Claire's case, it'd be pretty hard for her to be taller than her mom. Girl is incredibly small, competing only with Tai for the title of tiniest.
-
As far as fathers, Peter is actually shorter than Dora, although it makes sense in that case. Hannerdad has already been mentioned.
Henry appears to be a bit taller than Marten, and now I can't actually think of any other fathers of adult children in the QCverse. (We don't see a good comparison between adult Faye and David.)
-
Have we already considered Marigold's dad? We saw him briefly panicking about steampunk.
-
Good point. He's shorter: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2198
So, fathers for the most part are shorter, mothers for the most part are taller.
-
I have to say that I love the design of Pintsize and Winslow. They're so obviously modern personal computing technology with added arms and legs (and a head, in Pintsize's case). This really makes it obvious for the reader that they're looking at walking, talking sentient home computing technology.
-
I have to say that I love the design of Pintsize and Winslow. They're so obviously modern personal computing technology with added arms and legs (and a head, in Pintsize's case). This really makes it obvious for the reader that they're looking at walking, talking sentient home computing technology.
It's interesting how they, as the computer-y looking ones, seem less rounded than the human-looking duo, Momo and May. It could be a case of them being older cast members and their roles and personalities being firmly entrenched in Jeph's mind, or it could be that they're the ones that identify as male, and Jeph seems to write women with more character depth than the men. Marten and Steve seem more or less the same as they always were, except for the addition of Steve Shoulders.
-
It could also be that Pintsize and Winslow are simply comfortable in their identities. Momo seems much less so and seems to be searching for who she is as a person and her place in the world. P&W don't seem to need that. Plenty of RL humans are exactly the same way.
-
It could also be that Pintsize and Winslow are simply comfortable in their identities. Momo seems much less so and seems to be searching for who she is as a person and her place in the world.
I agree with this - Remember Momo's angsty little conversation with Marten about how some religions view sentient AIs? She's got a lot of uncertainties about herself. This is one of the reasons why I think Jeph is setting up a double-act with May of two little robots looking for their place in the world.
-
I would totally read a spinoff comic of just Momo and May.
-
In Claire's case, it'd be pretty hard for her to be taller than her mom. Girl is incredibly small, competing only with Tai for the title of tiniest.
Though Claire does seem to have shrunk noticeably since her introduction.
see http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2204 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2204), where she's only a little bit shorter than Marten.
-
She has her regular height by the very next strip, where she is craning her neck to lock eyes with Marten.
-
I think the height thing is a reflection of personalities - generally, the mothers are taller and more stable whereas the fathers are more approachable but less mature which leads to them being down with the kids.
That being said, I have to acknowledge the possibility that it's all about the shoes. Claire's mom could be wearing big stompy gothic platform boots in #2804.
-
So, this is what Cosette looked like when we first met her (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1322):
(http://i.imgur.com/N5Ny49E.png)
Cute! In an accident prone (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1546) sort of way.
(http://i.imgur.com/rS1t8ti.png)
Remember that time she hooked up with Steve and they had to call an ambulance (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1554)?
(http://i.imgur.com/vdTWeRt.png)
Anyway, after Dora hired her, she died her hair (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1718).
(http://i.imgur.com/fWRUPM5.png)
It was certainly a different look (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2301) for her!
(http://i.imgur.com/wsQIOdu.png)
Yet somehow... strangely familiar (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2631).
(http://i.imgur.com/FoOL669.png)
So... I think the inescapable conclusion is that Cosette was recruited by a rival spy agency and on an experimental time travel mission, took the opportunity to visit Steve on the day they first hooked up, just to sass him. Any other theories?
-
Wow. When I first saw the ambulance pic in your post, I thought the what-the-hell girl was Cosette!
-
I'm wondering if Jeph was originally planning to contrast Steve and Cosette's healthy relationship with Marten and Faye's "house o' neuroses" by making the two sets of protagonists look similar.
-
Can we talk about butts, please? Or are butts regarded as "private parts" not open to discussion?
Butt size, girls:
Faye > Gabby > Marigold > Emily > Penelope > Cosette > Dora > Tai > Hanners > Claire ?
Boys:
Steve > Angus > Jimbo > Sven > Wil > Marten > Clinton ?
-
Wow. When I first saw the ambulance pic in your post, I thought the what-the-hell girl was Cosette!
New mind cannon: Cosette died in an espresso machine explosion and was quietly replaced by Luna! The hair-dying was Luna's way of fooling Steve into thinking she was Cosette. :roll:
-
Obviously, Cosette was stolen by fairies and replaced by a changeling. Note the eye colour in the last picture above.
-
Can we talk about butts, please? Or are butts regarded as "private parts" not open to discussion?
Butt size, girls:
Faye > Gabby > Marigold > Emily > Penelope > Cosette > Dora > Tai > Hanners > Claire ?
Boys:
Steve > Angus > Jimbo > Sven > Wil > Marten > Clinton ?
It's basically canon that Marigold has the nicest butt. Tai is all over the place, I assume because she wore a binder in a lot of her earlier appearances. Claire fills out a dress surprisingly well, so I'd call her a tie with Hanners. Rules of good comedy entail that if Marten and Clinton ever got in a butt judging contest, Marten would have to lose.
-
Rules of good comedy entail that if Marten and Clinton ever got in a butt judging contest, Marten would have to lose.
Never mind that Clinton has no problem at all with wearing a speedo, if it comes to that.
-
Never mind that Clinton has no problem at all with wearing a speedo, if it comes to that.
I find his utterly unfounded self-confidence weirdly beguiling.
-
Never mind that Clinton has no problem at all with wearing a speedo, if it comes to that.
I find his utterly unfounded self-confidence weirdly beguiling.
Probably a sort of survival mechanism for him. "Fake it 'til you make it," and all that.
-
Probably a sort of survival mechanism for him. "Fake it 'til you make it," and all that.
Along with a heavy dose of 'People are gonna give me shit (about nerdiness etc.) pretty much no matter what, so screw it.'