21 - Fast Forward
UPDATE! It’s the first day of summer, so the web site has a warm, summer look to it. Enjoy!
A friend of mine challenged me the other day without knowing it. He was checking out The Boids for the first time and said “Hey, that bird looks like he’s from a different comic.” He was pointing to Boid. What he was saying was that the Boid art didn’t have the charm - or personality - of the ‘real” birds of the strip. He wasn’t criticizing, just offering an opinion. Looking back at the past 20 strips, I kinda see what he means. So my job now is to inject some warmth into Boid while keeping him a “mechanical construct”. You guys let me know how I’m doing, okay?
Oh, and I have a “Flight Version” of the Boid Paper Model almost ready to post! Thanks to Matt for sending it in. I just need to convert the file over, crop his photo and load them up. Check back tomorrow!
June 21st, 2007 at 5:17 am
Can I make a teeny suggestion for adding a bit of warmth? How about making Boid’s eyes shiny like the other birds? I don’t think it’s a strech to think he would have a bit of shine there, kind of like camera lenses.
BTW, I love the little push-up he’s doing! In fact, I love the whole comic so far!
June 21st, 2007 at 7:30 am
Great suggestion, Tina - I will play with that. SOmetimes it’s the simple little things that make the difference. Glad you like the comic!
June 21st, 2007 at 10:43 am
I disagree. I think Boid is just fine as he is. He should look different to the real birds because he IS different to the real birds. About the only thing I would suggest changing is to indicate the “leading edge” of his head slightly. If the Boid paper model is correct, his eyes are on different faces of his head, and they have an edge running between them. As drawn, Boid’s “face” looks flat with no hint of the presence of the edge, so perhaps you could add it — or, perhaps better, just a hint of it, as a long, sharp edge could dominate the entire head and distract from Boid’s overall look. Or not bother, because I like Boid as he has been depicted so far.
June 21st, 2007 at 10:46 am
Question “Chicka” is that her name or a typo of chick? Or some slang that i havent got yet?
Chicka is a fine name tho, and soon or later the boys are going to need a girl to bounce off (errr that has some unusual mental images!) maybe she could be a re-occouring character?
That sis of course if Steve and Larry dont mind re writing everythig theyve got planned so far on the whim of one fan lol.
June 21st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
it seems that boid looks a little different in this strip then the last one like the lines are softer or something and i really like that and i think thats all he really needs.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I think the boid in this episode’s fine, don’t go changing him too much!!
I think i’ve made exactly the same mistake boid did here! LOL
June 21st, 2007 at 1:47 pm
If boid is shiny, perhaps you could have the trees and stuff reflecting of his body.
although I admit it would probably be a royal pain, to do.
don
June 21st, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I think boid should go back to his normal look with the rest of the comic because it looks too strange
June 21st, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Boid looks okay, I guess. Just don’t make him too different. Just different from the real birds.
I think Boid talked too much to get a mate.
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:24 am
And here in this boid comic, we learn why IT staff never get married.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I’d have to go with the “leave him as he was” group on this one. The angular, more mechanical-looking Boid seems more likely. Although experimenting with a bit of lens flare on his eyes might add something. Good idea Lisa!
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:27 am
Hey guys,
loving the comic, it’s great. I’d been avidly awaiting the comics release since i read about them on TSOALR/E9M and Toysville. I’ve been pretty enthusiastically watching all of those comics for a long time, you guys are great artists(especially love the sketch of the bird larry did.)
I’d say leave boid the way he is. Isn’t the point that he HAS no charm or personality? isn’t that what he’s meant to be developing over time?
well, whatever you decide to do, I’ll still be eagerly awaiting the next strips.
~Nik.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 am
The Boid reminds me of Charlie Brown in the last panel because of the parenthesis-like marks around the eyes.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:13 am
Charles Schulz was a master at getting great expressions from a couple, simple lines, so I thought I’d give it a try. I appreciate ALL the input. I know I can’t make everyone happy, so I’ll work on making ME happy for now! Boid won’t change drastically, but some of your suggestions might show up. It’s always a fine balance between simplicity and being able to inject personality into a character. Like and cartoon, the artwork will evolve over time as I get better and the characters grow. Thanks again, you guys offered up some good points!