Might be a bad choice not to show Shawn’s disfigured face in this comic when the punchline revolves around his disfigured face… but I still like the aesthetic of the third panel. Sooo. Toss up?
Plus, I didn’t have to draw his face!
I forgot how much of this process is figuring out a way to cram the artwork and the dialogue into these ‘standard’ dimensions you find in newspapers.
I’ve considered just deviating from this size format (let’s be honest - I’ll never be in the papers), but part of me worries that if I give myself unlimited space, I’ll USE it. I end up cutting out about 40% of the total dialogue I’d initially wrote in an effort to make it fit, and I think the comic ends up reading better for it. The same joke, with tighter dialogue.
But getting there can still be a challenge.
I really like how one of the defining traits that emerged for Karen is that she hates Shawn.