Questionable Content XIX: Give Jeph Just A *Little* Credit, Here

[Ionathus]

I'm not usually prone to art nitpicks, but for whatever reason the last two comics have had a feature that bothers me.

Draw a horizontal line from the tip of Marten's nose in every panel, extending towards Liz. In some panels, the line passes a full 3+ inches above the top of her head. In other panels, it hits the middle of her dang forehead. We're talking something like half a foot of random height variance in the span of 7 panels.

Which on its own is, you know, whatever. Like I said, I've seen others complain about things like this but this is the first time I've ever noticed it organically and needed to check whether I was losing my mind.

The part that really gets my goose is that this wouldn't be an issue at all if we had a varied drawing perspective -- Liz would be moving closer or further away from the camera or be coming from a different angle. It's the fact that all 7 panels are from the exact same angle. Somehow the art is both boring and inconsistent

[Mechalich]

I'm not usually prone to art nitpicks, but for whatever reason the last two comics have had a feature that bothers me.

Draw a horizontal line from the tip of Marten's nose in every panel, extending towards Liz. In some panels, the line passes a full 3+ inches above the top of her head. In other panels, it hits the middle of her dang forehead. We're talking something like half a foot of random height variance in the span of 7 panels.

Which on its own is, you know, whatever. Like I said, I've seen others complain about things like this but this is the first time I've ever noticed it organically and needed to check whether I was losing my mind.

The part that really gets my goose is that this wouldn't be an issue at all if we had a varied drawing perspective -- Liz would be moving closer or further away from the camera or be coming from a different angle. It's the fact that all 7 panels are from the exact same angle. Somehow the art is both boring and inconsistent

Agh! You're right, and now I can't unseen it. Also, it's not just Liz. Claire is standing in front of a paint of a lighthouse and in the most recent comic the portion of the lighthouse above her hair is different in each panel. The frame of said painting also changes its position vis a vis Marten's body in the same way - in panel one the lower left corner is below Marten's right shoulder, in panel two it's above the shoulder with a visible gap, and in panel three its back below the shoulder but not as far down as in panel one. It's like viewing the comic through shaky cam.

[Beelzebub1111]

Don't....don't refer to your own characters as gremlins in the script unless you are being literal. It's like saying Zombie in a zombie movie unless you are talking about the voodoo kind. It just feels awkward.

[Rodin]

Why is Liz desperate to go on holiday with people she’s known for one day? Doesn’t she have family she hasn’t seen in two years?

Also not liking the “what is this human concept you call holiday?” bit.

[Cikomyr2]

Why is Liz desperate to go on holiday with people she’s known for one day? Doesn’t she have family she hasn’t seen in two years?

Also not liking the “what is this human concept you call holiday?” bit.

She is embarrassed to be in front of her family as she feels she failed to meet whatever expectation she imagined they have for her.

Marten and Claire put her at ease because they made clear they have no expectation from her.

[Traab]

Why is Liz desperate to go on holiday with people she’s known for one day? Doesn’t she have family she hasn’t seen in two years?

Also not liking the “what is this human concept you call holiday?” bit.

Because they are the first friends she has made, possibly ever and she is feeling a bit clingy. And she is embarrassed by her messed up career where she hasnt accomplished anything.

[Wraith]

Feels more like she should have an appointment with a crisis counsellor and/or emergency therapist before surrounding herself with strangers in an unfamiliar place, given that she was crying uncontrollably in full emotional breakdown about 12 hours ago.

Not that they can stop her from going of course, but "okay, now you have to go back to the traumatic pit that you have dug for yourself and face the proverbial music, see you in 3 months" seems like a highly likely way to trigger another spiral.

[Rodin]

She is embarrassed to be in front of her family as she feels she failed to meet whatever expectation she imagined they have for her.

Marten and Claire put her at ease because they made clear they have no expectation from her.

Personally I would be more freaked out by traveling with people I don’t know, but whatever.

That still doesn’t explain what Liz expects. Or what Marten and Claire expect, for that matter. Northampton isn’t exactly a touristy place. Liz is going to, what, hang out at the coffee shop all day? Help Marten and Claire move?

If I’m going on my first vacation in two years, I’m using it to actually go on vacation. Not get dragged around someone else’s friend group. Which for a socially anxious person like Liz should be the 7th circle of hell.

[Cikomyr2]

Personally I would be more freaked out by traveling with people I don’t know, but whatever.

That still doesn’t explain what Liz expects. Or what Marten and Claire expect, for that matter. Northampton isn’t exactly a touristy place. Liz is going to, what, hang out at the coffee shop all day? Help Marten and Claire move?

If I’m going on my first vacation in two years, I’m using it to actually go on vacation. Not get dragged around someone else’s friend group. Which for a socially anxious person like Liz should be the 7th circle of hell.

I do. She wants an environment where people dont automatically sees her as a failure because she is extremely conscientious about that.

She wants to go a place nobody heard of her.

[BRC]

She's spent the last two years on an oil rig in the ocean pretending she was busy with work and either avoiding everyone, or being a jerk to them so they avoid HER.


A sleepy college town is going to seem like a welcome vacation after that degree of social claustrophobia.

[Beelzebub1111]

I don't like Claire's smug face. She's clearly as big a goober as the rest of them, if not bigger. Marten's the most well adjusted person in the room right now, and that's not even saying anything.

[Wraith]

Claire can be such a kill-joy. She's been in 3 comics this week, and in each of them she's insulted people and complained about them for the way they're having a conversation.

It's not even clever snarking, which would be fine and provide a bit of variety. It's just copying Jeph's word-of-the-day (because why tell a joke once and let it roll when you can hammer it into the ground and stop it dead?) and rolling her eyes at Marten being the straight man in the situation - which he has always done, and was one of the things that attracted her to him.

[Rodin]

Claire can be such a kill-joy. She's been in 3 comics this week, and in each of them she's insulted people and complained about them for the way they're having a conversation.

It's not even clever snarking, which would be fine and provide a bit of variety. It's just copying Jeph's word-of-the-day (because why tell a joke once and let it roll when you can hammer it into the ground and stop it dead?) and rolling her eyes at Marten being the straight man in the situation - which he has always done, and was one of the things that attracted her to him.

It's also directly counter to Claire's former characterization. She was the goober making lame puns or being made fun of for being innocently earnest. Now she's just snide. She gets a lot of punchlines that would have fit in Dora's mouth when she was being the straight woman to Faye and Raven's antics.

[Traab]

It's also directly counter to Claire's former characterization. She was the goober making lame puns or being made fun of for being innocently earnest. Now she's just snide. She gets a lot of punchlines that would have fit in Dora's mouth when she was being the straight woman to Faye and Raven's antics.

I think thats because now she is turning into the authority figure. Rather than being a goober, now she feels she has to be more adult and mature so she is more the straight woman as you put it.

[tyckspoon]

I think thats because now she is turning into the authority figure. Rather than being a goober, now she feels she has to be more adult and mature so she is more the straight woman as you put it.

It's also one of Jeph's basic character/joke setups - the weirdo, the straightman, and the snarker. One of the recurring criticisms of late has been that Jeph keeps doing this and there is not much consistency about which character is which, so it doesn't feel like anybody has a real characterization or specific voice unique to themselves - they just say whatever Jeph needs them to in order to deliver the punchline. Best we get is things like 'Pintsize is usually The Weirdo, Marten is usually The Straightman, and The Snarker is whoever is standing around that has not previously been positioned as one of the other two.'

[Wraith]

Claire has always been a bit of a kill-joy, in retrospect. Within about 3 strips of her introduction, she accuses Marten of hazing her because three interns were thrust upon him with no notice and he wanted to go get coffee before making a start; then she complained, during orientation, that she didn't like the things she was being shown (which later turned out to be 100% accurate and helpful). There's a not-insignificant list of things she's said and done that people on this very forum have seen and said, "hang on, that's not cool".

I think the difference is that before now, that all felt more 'defensive' and she tended to apologise when it was pointed out. Like, she wanted a good grade to get a good job, and was keen to get the very best out of her placement so weird stuff was scary to her - having questions and needing reassurance that the answers weren't a prank is entirely understandable.
But now she's been at SMIF for over a year and lived with Marten for a big chunk of that time, so she's witnessed not only the weirdness of the library but also the coffee shop and Marten's weird family, group of friends and acquaintances. It comes off a lot more mean-spirited when she's used to the weirdness, has gotten everything she wanted, and still is rude to people quite a lot of the time.