[fireworks]

I hope nobody minds some commentary here, but I'm not sure of a better place to share this.

Beryl started out as a big-busted version of Betty Boop, with a bit of Dolly Parton thrown in. Originally, that was the only reason she'd be palling around with talking animals. Then I decided that she would be more appealing if I based her on a real girl I knew, along with a combination of a few others, but the one in particular, who really was extraordinarily topheavy for her frame. This girl I knew in high school, if she leaned forward like Beryl does, much of her body would be similarly obscured. She was pretty big.

The thing that struck me most about this girl is that because of the size of her boobs, she got crap from guys and girls alike -- all accused her of being a slut or worse. Because of the way she was built. But she wasn't at all, as far as I know; she did art and makeup (on me, once, for a play) and seemed tremendously sad much of the time.

That's one thing I thought I'd try to portray in these comics. I haven't even really touched on that much, yet, but of course -- the character, who is not a stripper or a prostitute or a tease, but just a girl driving out to visit her grandmother -- is getting the same kind of crap from some *readers*. Because of the way she is built. These same readers, as far as I know, are far more accepting of a too-young girl in a webcomic being depicted as a whore than seeing any kind of adult woman depicted with a larger-than-normal bosom -- which does, in fact, happen in nature from time to time.

It's not really a surprise. In fact, I was kind of expecting a round of criticism from some quarters, but that would only drive extra traffic to my comic (and it is). But it's still kind of ironic, and it's still kind of sad.

[3deroticer]

Funny, I get some crap for making my 3D character with big boob, and they were the smaller set of characters I made.

[Nimrod]

...
The thing that struck me most about this girl is that because of the size of her boobs, she got crap from guys and girls alike -- all accused her of being a slut or worse. Because of the way she was built. But she wasn't at all, as far as I know; she did art and makeup (on me, once, for a play) and seemed tremendously sad much of the time.

That's one thing I thought I'd try to portray in these comics. I haven't even really touched on that much, yet, but of course -- the character, who is not a stripper or a prostitute or a tease, but just a girl driving out to visit her grandmother -- is getting the same kind of crap from some *readers*. Because of the way she is built. These same readers, as far as I know, are far more accepting of a too-young girl in a webcomic being depicted as a whore than seeing any kind of adult woman depicted with a larger-than-normal bosom -- which does, in fact, happen in nature from time to time.
...

As was mentioned previously, there are very few webcomics that actually deal with this topic. Most either have the stereotypical buxom gal with all the related personality traits and back-story or they have buxom women for no other reason than eye candy or stylistic drawing.

The idea that most very chesty women out there are "sluts" or "loose" or whatever is a very ingrained concept to overcome. Every webcomic I have found that tries and depict an alternate to this ends up doing one of three things:

1) They spend a huge about of time either in the strip or in comments, forums, etc. having to defend the character which eventually boils down to a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Which really does not help the reader or creator because the emphasis is shifted from "let's explore and learn" to one of "shut-up and take it".

2) They succumb and the character eventually becomes or is depicted as the "wild women" their bust line suggests to the readers - essentially the lofty ideals are scrapped for the more immediate and less taxing return.

3) The character is scrapped, retooled or retired to the point of near removal as it just is not worth the effort and the artist realizes that they do not really want to deal with it after all. Sometimes the whole comic is modified.

The closest to balanced I have found would have to be Wapsi Square but it has dipped very close to Option One above at times. It also has evolved a bit over time too. Also, like Beryl, the character is based a bit on reality or actual people. This helps.

If Kithara and I can get our act together I do believe KC Strip will be just about the only webcomic with an actual real life character depicted in the comic who also happens to be "super busty" and dealing frankly about living as such. It also helps that she is also the writer. I know it will not be a driving force in the strip, it never has been, but unlike the proverbial pachyderms in the room we intend to at least discuss the elephants from time to time.

And do we have stories to tell. Now to figure out Project Wonderful...

[fireworks]

Heh, I've already succumbed to all three, but not in a bad way, I hope. I'm making modifications (3), but that's because the whole thing is really new and I'm still developing and refining things. Reader feedback, even feedback from "awful webcomic" forum threads, is helping out.

I'm already thinking about putting less emphasis on the "talkin' critters" and include other cast members and potential complications. But that's good modification. I need to do things to make the points that need to be made without succumbing so much to (1) -- defensive explanations.

The second point can be tricky. I've already posted a nude glamor shot of Beryl for a donation incentive (which has proven to be very popular) -- but in my mind, the shot has a reasonable backstory, which I should probably include early on in the comic. One of Beryl's friends talks her into trying out for Playboy, and so she goes in for a test shoot. She is rejected -- her boobs are too big, or her stomach isn't flat enough, or her face just doesn't "love" the camera, whatever -- in any case, she's actually relieved. But you know what happens, the photos resurface later, just in time to embarrass her when she's running for the school council or something.

Plus, I don't want to make Beryl a complete sad sack. A girl doesn't want to be an object, but she wants people to think she is sexy and desirable. There are times when she wants to show off, even if she winds up embarrassing herself. But like you say, the trick is not to let her character change and devolve into a  cardboard bimbo.

To balance her out in that respect, I've decide that she's going to learn that her farm is adjacent to an infamous Texas brothel -- a whole house full of bimbos. This will provide a more essential conflict to highlight her body and character worries without making it seem so much like she's obsessed with herself.

This will also give me more female cast members to play with. Looking at the site, I'm seeing Big Boob Beryl, Big Boob Beryl, Big Boob Beryl, over and over again. That's going to get old real fast for everybody.

[rtpoe]

I'm getting a 404 error for your site.  What's up?

[Lightfoot]

I'm getting a 404 error for your site.  What's up?

There's now a message from the host (topclasshost) that appears that says "Our sincere apologies for the disruption to your site. We have suffered a major hardware failure."

[Nimrod]

Heh, I've already succumbed to all three, but not in a bad way, I hope. I'm making modifications (3), but that's because the whole thing is really new and I'm still developing and refining things. Reader feedback, even feedback from "awful webcomic" forum threads, is helping out.

Making slight course adjustments is one thing. Spending all your time in justification, abandoning your core principals or reworking the title character excessively is another thing entirely. Your moving in a refreshing direction in my mind if that helps.

I'm already thinking about putting less emphasis on the "talkin' critters" and include other cast members and potential complications. But that's good modification. I need to do things to make the points that need to be made without succumbing so much to (1) -- defensive explanations.

That is a very good approach. The more diverse the situations the more opportunity you have to explore the topic. I do like how the "locals" are "animals" and Beryl is more human.

The second point can be tricky. I've already posted a nude glamor shot of Beryl for a donation incentive (which has proven to be very popular) -- but in my mind, the shot has a reasonable backstory, which I should probably include early on in the comic. One of Beryl's friends talks her into trying out for Playboy, and so she goes in for a test shoot. She is rejected -- her boobs are too big, or her stomach isn't flat enough, or her face just doesn't "love" the camera, whatever -- in any case, she's actually relieved. But you know what happens, the photos resurface later, just in time to embarrass her when she's running for the school council or something.

You are very right on this point, it can be tricky. The hidden trap comes in two parts. Do you use stereotypical situations, i.e. the Playboy shoot, to show how your main character does not react in a stereotypical manner or do you use common situations to show that your character is predisposed to be stereotypical? Both can inadvertently undermine the integrity of the character. In other words do you make your character proactive or reactive. There is no right answer. Kithara and I are trying for realistic reaction in otherwise absurd circumstances.

Plus, I don't want to make Beryl a complete sad sack. A girl doesn't want to be an object, but she wants people to think she is sexy and desirable. There are times when she wants to show off, even if she winds up embarrassing herself. But like you say, the trick is not to let her character change and devolve into a  cardboard bimbo.

That could be your design principle for your comic. Try and consider Beryl as a real person. What would happen in real-life? Would they, given their stated bio sheet, act this way at this time to this event? So what if she has a talking car, manic duck, and now lives in a "backward" state - how does she going about being a normal person? Oh, she just happens to have a huge chest... and go from there.

To balance her out in that respect, I've decide that she's going to learn that her farm is adjacent to an infamous Texas brothel -- a whole house full of bimbos. This will provide a more essential conflict to highlight her body and character worries without making it seem so much like she's obsessed with herself.

Hummm. Just some constructive criticism here: Be very careful with this concept. Do whatever you like but I am getting a strong feeling of storyline apprehension over it. As your premise is that Beryl is not as she appears (do not judge a book by cover and all) and you place her next to "a whole house full of bimbos" which are exactly as they stereotypically appear it actually makes Beryl the lone exception. Beryl becomes the freak of nature who is not the "slut" despite her appearance. My suggestion would be that the "brothel" inhabitants all have a meaningful back story as to why they are there which Beryl finds out about one at a time. What would motivate a woman to work at a brothel? How is Beryl not like all of them in some minor yet significant way? I would suggest that you have one character just slightly larger than Beryl to round out the possible conflict story options.
It would be more interesting

This will also give me more female cast members to play with. Looking at the site, I'm seeing Big Boob Beryl, Big Boob Beryl, Big Boob Beryl, over and over again. That's going to get old real fast for everybody.

Be aware that this is exactly what happened to Wapsi Square. In the last few years there has been a complete shift to a nearly all female cast. This shift in some discussion groups was praised and others where full of derision. Invariably it allowed for much more comparison of character girl-to-girl but with much less depth. Sort of like hanging out at a sorority all day trying to understand human interaction. You end up sitting around talking about boys and comparing bra sizes.


I would close by saying - Make Beryl as real as you can in action. Make the situations as bizarre and variable as you feel you can. Make her act like a real person and thereby show how she is an interesting character...        who happens to have a giant rack.

I should know I live with a Beryl yet without the talking car.

[fireworks]

Good points about the all-girl cast. My thinking about the brothel is that Beryl might win converts to the farming life. And it would give Beryl the opportunity to become a sort of official house mother, laying down rules for people not used to rules. But there's plenty of time to think about that. I know I also need to become more open to "comic strip" logic, which enables things to happen a little quicker. The brothel introduced Monday doesn't pan out? Oops, there's a big fire on Friday! Brothel gone!

The one moment I have in mind are girls hanging out a balcony hooting at Beryl and her boobs, a gang of  actual prostitutes yelling "slut! whore!" and Beryl angrily muttering that it's "high school all over again".

I've also been putting some thought into male cast members. Beryl would be occasionally hiring different farm hands to help out... I think I might have to "audition" some to see what kind of character works.

And, yes, the site's been down most of the day yesterday and still down at this moment. My host is usually very dependable and (a little harder to find in a host) very considerate, but they had a huge disaster yesterday that **91** everything. All they were able to save were the MySQL databases. I'm not too sure of the technical jargon, but it's something like they were trying to rebuild from a previous crash, and in the middle of the rebuild, everything crashed. Disaster squared.

Thankfully, I make my sites on my desktop with my own PHP comic archiving script, so it shouldn't be too hard to reinstate the site once the service is back, which should be sometime this morning. Meanwhile I've been trying very hard not to go crazy.

[rtpoe]

It's back! The color looks great!

And I donated....

[3deroticer]

Now we are talking! I love the color and depth that it adds to those boobies!

[Eyeguy]

not to knock your initial work, but the new, more realistic style is much better.  I suspect it's easier for you to do, also.

[fireworks]

That's not a knock at all! Even if it were, I don't get my feelings too hurt about this stuff.

In fact, this experience is helping me understand, I think, what's been behind a consistent criticism of my cartoon art over the years -- the cryptic, indecipherable "there's just something about it that bugs me". That's not important to me as a personal criticism, but because it means that I have been doing something that denies me readers and a living as a cartoonist.

Looking at Beryl in the current comic, then looking at the slicker views of her in the wallpaper thumbnails below -- I think the more human Beryl is more satisfying. It even feels more satisfying drawing in a more realistic style, although I wouldn't say it's "easier".

If anything, this puts new challenges in front of me. I have to get better at a lot of stuff fast.

[3deroticer]

Your coloring technique are pretty slick and efficient. Rare to see someone draw well and color. I would be surprise if you are self taught, as I see some specific approach to your coloring. I'm saving up for a cintiq(used) wacom tablets. I hope you manage to get a tablets for yourself, and maybe with enough donation you could get the cintiq. 3 strips per week is a challenge itself, and adding color is a treat. Even if you found another person to help out with coloring, getting one by your standard would be difficult.

So if you have time to color do the frame most revealing of Beryl first. I wouldn't mind seeing one frame out of the set colored, if that's all you had time for.

I don't think coloring and making it realistic is any easier. I think the easier the drawings looks, the harder it is to make it look easy. He has Highlights, basic shading, implied lines, bounce highlights, and shadows. That's fucking "A+"

[fireworks]

Thanks!

And self-taught, apart from books. Over ten years ago, I hurt my back while doing warehouse work, and while I was laid up I started drawing Elf Life. That early stuff was pretty shaky, and I've just learned by trial and error since.

I'm always learning, and I feel like I still have a lot to learn.

Even with color, I intend to keep the site updated with as many new comics per week as possible. There were technically five comics last week, but there was that big server disaster, so it probably felt like there were fewer. The site went down for a long while last night and this morning, too, which is why I decided to color the last comic and leave it posted for the rest of the day. This week's updates are probably going to be something like Tue - Sat as long as there are no more surprises.

[AgentDee]

Carson, after going over your new color pages, i see a lot of model (and forum favorite big boob sweetie) beshine.  both have about same boob size, blond hair and similar (to me) facial features.