Oh, the bra is alright. It’s the thong panties that get me. I do NOT want to handle anything that has been up someone’s butt all day. Certainly would not want it on my face, sex or not. I don’t see how they stand that either. I can’t tolerate the slightest wedgie.
Since it just appeared on the dog’s face I would imagine his first though would be “What th … I’m blind!”
Although she doesn’t want to admit it, I think she would find a normal life dreadfully boring now. She’s been to Oz. I doubt Dorothy was ever really content with farm life after she got back. Besides she has her G’pa’s adventurer’s genes in her. Exploring the unknown is in her blood, literally.
BTW, I happened across this the other day. Think she could play the part of a real life Shelly?
*?* Nothing against muscle chicks, but c’mon! I know a few Native American girls that could be Shelly in real life, and none are built like that.
Although, finding the right one would depend on Tribe. Comanches aren’t very tall, usually. Ted Cassidy playing one in that “Genesis II” program still elicits laughs ’round these parts. I’m suren there is someone out there with the right build.
You’ll note the girls have not yet teleported only part of something. They always manage to poit a cohesive whole, even when drunk or not thinking about what they are doing. This suggests that it is either very easy to do, or that it is very hard to fuck up.
No, I think I’ve seen her do that a couple times! That’s a talent I wish I had. Just to be able to >poit< that 1 item of clothing off would be such a relief at the end of a long, aggravating day. 'Specially a long, hot, HUMID New England summer day!! 😉
There’s one other instance of bra-poiting, after she did her bullet-dodging (and her bra was full of holes, IIRC). So it’s currently up to four times she’s had her bra “magically” disappear… except, of course, that one time with Kevin…
Uh, when did Monica get a neck and limbs extension? Not that they… Well, okay, they make her look kinda weird, in comparison to her older designs. Is this an art shift?
That’s probably a large part of it. The placement of the hair and hair style is often critical to the recognition of cartoon characters. For me the same holds true of the actors in an oriental movie. I guess I’m just not good at recognizing asian faces. That and the fact they all have the same hair color. I often actuallly have to create a “score card” with notes on each character to keep up with who is who.
Yeah, they were pretty over skinny as well. Still it seems Monica has narrowed somewhat from previous renditions. It may be that she hasn’t and it’s the lengthened neck making it seem that way. Still she’s looking closer to the unhealthy supermodel ideal now.
Her Neck is longer here and I’m attributing her slender nature to the clothes that she has on (she was not out in public like that, she’s in stage of getting her lounge clothes on). 🙂
I’ve drawn and seen drawn plenty of stick men and none of their physiques ever made me want to throw up.
Obviously, throwing up is in the mouth of the beholder.
Well, the art is constantly evolving, but if you were to place the Monica of today beside the Monica of a couple of months ago, I would not think they were the same person. Related, yes, but not the same person.
M looks awfully grown up in the first pannel 🙂
Tho since it seems her top is trying to burst out i feel sorry for the fact she cannot get decent fitting clothes.
I wish i could poit..
wonder if you can poit things ON also.
Would save time in the morning 🙂
I have never seen Shelly as the squicky muscle-girl referred to above. Strong, and better muscle definition than a lot of girls, but not the “ick-yuck-lady hulk” type.
Monica’s aspect today seems fine to me. After all, she’s been sticking her neck out pretty constantly for the last couple of years… :^þ
Been a fan of the comic since very early on but this comic in particular really ticked me off though it is something that has been brewing for a while. I have no problem with Monica wearing outfits that show cleavage but I was alway under the impression she was at least semi mdest. Some of her outfits lately have shown a ridiculous amount of cleavage to the point of I’d be sent home from work if I showed up like that. Not to mention her waist gets smaller and smaller. This strip makes her look like a gdamn porn actress is that really how she goes out? As I said I love and adore the comic but Monica is turning into the superboob porn actress and you lose sight of her when she’s so distracting
Thanks for the links it definitely clears stuff up. I guess the neck extension makes everything seem a little different? Maybe it’ll just take some getting used to, but I have to think she looked better before she was stretched out.
Looooong time reader, first time commenter, so I thought I’d inaugurate myself with some concrit. I pretty much agree with this perspective that M is getting a little too exaggerated. One of the most adorable things about her is her curves, including her little belly pooch. All of the Wapsi ladies have some kind of unique body “flaw” and I used to love you for making such relatable female characters. The comments from the men never indicated that this was in any way unattractive either. Lately though, all of the art has taken a turn for blatantly exaggerated, not just on M. (Waists have shrunk dramatically in the last year in the characters’ individual proportions. Monica’s neck here is about the same size as her waist. That’s why people are noticing.) On one hand, it’s expected that character designs and artwork will evolve, but on the other, I think this increasingly sexually-aggressive-looking M (and Wapsi women in general) is starting to lose her female audience somewhat. After reading this comic every day for over 7 years, I didn’t recognize Monica when I looked at the first panel, subtle though those changes are. My old graphic design teacher used to say when we were working out compositions, “Push it till it’s ugly.” Meaning see how far we can take something until it looks too unnatural. It’s been interesting watching you play with the character designs over the last 2 years especially, but I think it’s starting to get pushed too close to “ugly” at this point. All constructive criticism though, for my freakin’ favorite comic artist. I’m not worthy. Much love.
I was trying (unsuccessfully) to draw M from a low angle and it didn’t quite work out. She looks more like herself in the rest of the week’s comics. Thank you kindly for your input, constructive and positive. 🙂
I kind of felt that the first view of Phix in Monica’s office (due to angle, i thought at the time) showed her as seeming to have an unnaturally long neck.
Having dabbled (with little sharable result) at drawing things, i know that i would *never* draw a person (particularly female) (extra particularly one shaped like Monica) from that angle, because of the difficulty with getting the foreshortening of the neck and the low angle on the chin right.
And in M’s case, not having her chest prtially hide her neck and chin.
Ahhhhh -comes the dawn!! THAT”S why Dietzel is so big! >face palm!< ! "Splains alot!
BTW, I love his "toe-jerk" reaction to the new goggles that got poited onto him. (Reminds me of when my little sister was REAL little she called 'em "ear laps" and run would run around the house wearing them like Bud's bomber cap!! She'll kill me!! But what are big sisters for anyway?)
That makes so much more sense — I was wondering why Dietzel looked bigger but I thought it was just me 🙂 I have a b**** of a time drawing figures from a low angle too. The new look in her eyes is kind of growing on me though. She’s not so much wide-eyed any more as she is well-traveled and it shows in her countenance, especially now that she’s doing a little healthy self-examination. How do you breathe such life into your characters that such tiny changes catch your readership so off guard? I do hope her old self still shows through though in the future!
I haven’t posted in a while, but the update to M’s face really took me off guard. It’s a bit creepy to me… Maybe because it mixes a bit more realism with some highly distorted features. Then again, I’m still adjusting to the “old” new look.
I apologize if my comment came off as harsh in some way. I think my problem was that I fell in love with Monica as a character right from the start and I did enjoy her coming out of her sheel and becoming less naive.
What I don’t think I’ve grown to like is that a lot of her outfits over the last year have shown a huge line of cleavage even when they are generally professional or out and about outfits. I get she has a big bust but I try to imagine someone in real life showing that much breast in public and the reactions would be…unique to say the least. If i wore something that revealing I’d get into so much trouble at work or out shopping.
Don’t take anything I say the wrong way I just think the exaggeration and sexualization of Monica has group a bit beyond what I’m comfortable with. In reference to her outfit being an “around the house” thing I must have missed that and I definitely understand dressing down at home. I’m more referring to when she’s out getting a cut up coffee and she’s wearing an outfit that shows a massive boob line.
I have been trying to show M growing and maturing in her actions as well as toning her wardrobe down a bit in the last few comics of her going to work and when at the coffee shop. I’ve been trying to mirror the growth that my friend went through from baggy clothes, to accepting her body, to her “in your face”-“deal with it, I have boobs”, to dressing for her body type without getting arrested, to appropriate for her age. M is on the tail end of the “deal with it” phase. Being a guy, I can’t get away from being labeled any number of ways for how I draw the Wapsi Gals, even if I had someone in mind for reference.
I love my characters as well, flaws and all, and I think of them as often (sometimes more) than folks I know in real life. I can totally understand a connection and even a fierce protectiveness. 🙂
Sheez . . . what is this about using pets for a lingerie disposal site? Kath discards her bra over Oscar, Monica discars hers over Dietzel . . . I mean yeah, I must have heard two-thirds of the adult females in my acquaintance gripe about having to wear badly fitting/uncomfortable bras (and especially those with M’s build) and the instantaneous relief they felt upon shedding them, but still . . . “laundry goes in the laundry hamper,” as my mother used to lecture me.
For a bit of perspective on how Monica’s changed over the years, I went back and did a bit of a cut-and-paste job of various panels where we get a good look at Monica, roughly from March of each of the last nine years. BOY has she changed since 2002.
Moral of the story: Monica’s eight years older than she was in 2002, and her body is changing. Just like the rest of us, only some of the rest of us aren’t aging all that well… 🙁
That’s really neat. I like the 2007 Monica, too. Though seeing them all put together that way, it looks like her hips got broader, too. More hourglass than top-heavy.
I have a slight concern — not about the strip, but about the strip’s webservers. I don’t think they’ve been properly updated to Daylight Savings Time. Last night (which would have been the first time after DST began Sunday at 2->3AM), I waited until at least 1:30am eastern, and still no update. (I finally had to go to bed.) I’m guessing it didn’t update until around 2am eastern, where it usually updated at 1am. (and I wish it would update at 12midnight eastern, but I guess that’s not going to happen.) Can we check on the server clocks for your cron job that updates the strip from your buffer to make sure that DST has been accounted for? Thanks.
1. Monica looks Odd today — Yes the long neck, but also with her hair not covering her eye, we now see her eyebrow ridge much more pronounced than before… say Here. Her head design had been mostly hexagonal with straight sides — this new touch is a more realistic design artifact.
2. Monica’s Long Neck — PW was trying for a Deitzel eye view he says, and kinda pulled it off. Consider here with Phix, or this one and another (bottom) with Monica. It’s tough drawing the head looking up at the underside of the chin because it blends into the neck. Lightly drawing the chin line worked with Phix. For today’s Monica, it didn’t quite work.
3. Uber Boobage vs Waist — Agree and disagree. Monica’s character design hinges on her being a petite girl with a massive chest. The PW character design goes for long legs, big heads (both comic standards), and large feet and hands. The latter is actually realistic considering the head size. Put your hand to your face — you an easily touch past your eyebrows with your hand heel on your chin. Scale that up for the Cartoon head and it still fits. That’s part of what keeps Monica and the others looking “Normal” vs grotesque or absurd. Neither has her chest/waist been patronage — it’s part of the character’s background and her development (no pun intended). While not physically strong (re: Shelly), she is mentally strong and sure of her self. The rest is situational comedy (a’la the ballet costume) as you wold find in any even remotely funny comic that wasn’t harsh or pandering.
It’s possible to be self-confident without being conceited or condescending, and feminist without denigrating others. M is there. This is her, learning to do better today than yesterday, and we get to go along for the ride!
My best friend Heather, who I’ve known for twenty years, has gone through the same thing as Monica. Good grief I’m identifying with a comic. Good thing! When I first met her she would wear clothes that she hoped hid her body. Now, it’s “Hey, I have tits, and a great shape, live with it!”. I’m happy she can. In fact, I love the view. And… she is the world’s nicest person. So, a missed perspective is totally acceptable. Please just keep Monica as a beautiful, naive, nice person.
Dietzel: “I wish she’d stop doing that.”
And that poor shirt… One button left to pop.
As an aside, Monica’s neck looks to be a bit too long… or is that just me?
Pablo’s been making the necks longer lately. I think he may be going just a tad too far with it.
Ditto on the neck observation. Pablo, she doesn’t have that much of a neck. I mean, she IS 4’11, right?
What kind of shirt IS that? It has a narrow front with the buttons, but no sides or back?
It’s a too-small-for-Monica type of shirt. Looks like a standard men’s medium dress shirt. I had a bunch myself at one point.
~D.
It’s a full shirt, but remember that Monica is not average-shaped. Her hair shows beside her waist there.
On another note, I’d love to be able to poit my clothes off like that, lazy fool that I am.
That’s M’s hair that you’re looking at, not her waist.
Her waist is shown by the dark shirt, against the light background of her hair. If it IS a man’s shirt, it is fitted, not normal.
Given her build, I bet she has to have most of her clothes custom-made or at least altered, not just her bras.
Poor Dietzel.
If I could I would so change places with him.
You’d have someone who has no intention of sleeping with you drop their dirty undergarments on your face? Whatever foats your boat I guess…
~D.
Oh, the bra is alright. It’s the thong panties that get me. I do NOT want to handle anything that has been up someone’s butt all day. Certainly would not want it on my face, sex or not. I don’t see how they stand that either. I can’t tolerate the slightest wedgie.
Since it just appeared on the dog’s face I would imagine his first though would be “What th … I’m blind!”
He. I thought Butt sniffing is dog talk.
I honestly cannot find fault with Monica’s viewpoint. All she wants is just to live a relatively normal life with Kevin and Dietzel.
Although she doesn’t want to admit it, I think she would find a normal life dreadfully boring now. She’s been to Oz. I doubt Dorothy was ever really content with farm life after she got back. Besides she has her G’pa’s adventurer’s genes in her. Exploring the unknown is in her blood, literally.
BTW, I happened across this the other day. Think she could play the part of a real life Shelly?
Ick, no.
~D.
Ditto on the ick! She’s too old and tryin’ too hard.
Yeah, muscle babes are a total squick for me too.
That much muscle and fake tan are awful on ANYone!
*?* Nothing against muscle chicks, but c’mon! I know a few Native American girls that could be Shelly in real life, and none are built like that.
Although, finding the right one would depend on Tribe. Comanches aren’t very tall, usually. Ted Cassidy playing one in that “Genesis II” program still elicits laughs ’round these parts. I’m suren there is someone out there with the right build.
I think Christy Resendes (http://wapsisquare.com/projects/the-wapsi-girl/attachment/christy_resendes/) is Pablo’s first choice for Shelly.
This young gal has more of a Shelly vibe to her: http://tinyurl.com/ykqol8f
Oh, yeah.
Very practical use of teleportation powers.
Seems like a dangerous use to me. I mean, could one accidently poit a body part instead? Such carefree use of teleportation invites tragedy.
You’ll note the girls have not yet teleported only part of something. They always manage to poit a cohesive whole, even when drunk or not thinking about what they are doing. This suggests that it is either very easy to do, or that it is very hard to fuck up.
~D. Walker
This is the second time M has poited her bra off – the other time she was drunk and held out her hand and – *poit* – there it was!
No, I think I’ve seen her do that a couple times! That’s a talent I wish I had. Just to be able to >poit< that 1 item of clothing off would be such a relief at the end of a long, aggravating day. 'Specially a long, hot, HUMID New England summer day!! 😉
Well, one time she just sneezed at work. I wonder if she accidentally poited it?
There’s one other instance of bra-poiting, after she did her bullet-dodging (and her bra was full of holes, IIRC). So it’s currently up to four times she’s had her bra “magically” disappear… except, of course, that one time with Kevin…
At least with the bra over his eye’s he’s got a modicum of sight protection should a button pop off her shirt from the shifting strains.
Maybe M’s next adventure will be investigating the supernatural properties of that button if it held after bra was instantly gone.
Uh, when did Monica get a neck and limbs extension? Not that they… Well, okay, they make her look kinda weird, in comparison to her older designs. Is this an art shift?
Monica looks a little different to me, facially. I can’t quite figure out what it is. Maybe it’s just that her hair is out of her face, today.
Whether it’s the angle or what, her jaw is wider than usual, her chin has a sharper point – she’s overall more angular looking than usual.
Yeah, its’ probably a few minor factors. It’s not a bad thing, though. I think she looks pretty this way.
That’s probably a large part of it. The placement of the hair and hair style is often critical to the recognition of cartoon characters. For me the same holds true of the actors in an oriental movie. I guess I’m just not good at recognizing asian faces. That and the fact they all have the same hair color. I often actuallly have to create a “score card” with notes on each character to keep up with who is who.
Yikes. That waist makes me want to throw up. Where have her internal organs gone?
Makes you want to throw up? You must have totally tossed your cookies when you saw the incredibles (Violet, ElastaGirl, Mirage).
Yeah, they were pretty over skinny as well. Still it seems Monica has narrowed somewhat from previous renditions. It may be that she hasn’t and it’s the lengthened neck making it seem that way. Still she’s looking closer to the unhealthy supermodel ideal now.
Her Neck is longer here and I’m attributing her slender nature to the clothes that she has on (she was not out in public like that, she’s in stage of getting her lounge clothes on). 🙂
I’ve drawn and seen drawn plenty of stick men and none of their physiques ever made me want to throw up.
Obviously, throwing up is in the mouth of the beholder.
Haven’t seen Dietzel in a long time 🙂
It appears that she’s gone to the Phix school of neck & head. 🙂
Z
Yah, at first glance I thought it was Phix, sans glasses (since, before scrolling down, her body from the neck down is off screen..).
I ^thought^ she kinda looked like Phix!
So where’s Kevin, I have to wonder? Haven’t seen him in *yonks*.
Aw, look: A pup tent! 😉
Badum – Kishh!
Badum – *Groan* !
Well, the art is constantly evolving, but if you were to place the Monica of today beside the Monica of a couple of months ago, I would not think they were the same person. Related, yes, but not the same person.
Lucky dog .
Wow. Monica looks damn awesome in this strip. I friggin’ love the art in this series. Definitely the most evolved out of any comic I’ve read.
But yeah. She looks kind of badass, even if she is talking about being a wee little princess. XD
M looks awfully grown up in the first pannel 🙂
Tho since it seems her top is trying to burst out i feel sorry for the fact she cannot get decent fitting clothes.
I wish i could poit..
wonder if you can poit things ON also.
Would save time in the morning 🙂
I have never seen Shelly as the squicky muscle-girl referred to above. Strong, and better muscle definition than a lot of girls, but not the “ick-yuck-lady hulk” type.
Monica’s aspect today seems fine to me. After all, she’s been sticking her neck out pretty constantly for the last couple of years… :^þ
She looks different all together. Is the art different or is he showing her exhaustion?
Well I like necks, so I’m ok with a bit more neck. And Monica can poit out of her clothes? I never thought of that, and can’t believe that I didn’t.
I need a new scale, 10 fails to take into account poiting out of her clothes.
Been a fan of the comic since very early on but this comic in particular really ticked me off though it is something that has been brewing for a while. I have no problem with Monica wearing outfits that show cleavage but I was alway under the impression she was at least semi mdest. Some of her outfits lately have shown a ridiculous amount of cleavage to the point of I’d be sent home from work if I showed up like that. Not to mention her waist gets smaller and smaller. This strip makes her look like a gdamn porn actress is that really how she goes out? As I said I love and adore the comic but Monica is turning into the superboob porn actress and you lose sight of her when she’s so distracting
She is in her house and wasn’t out in public like that. At the end of a long day, my ex-wife would undo all her buttons but one on a tight shirt and walk around or apartment before finally taking the shirt off and getting lounge clothes on. M’s waist is the same size as it’s been for a while: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/careaboutme/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/oopsiepoit/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/debunked/
The first comic that we get to see M’s waist when she didn’t have her usual baggy clothes on: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/11262001/
Thanks for the links it definitely clears stuff up. I guess the neck extension makes everything seem a little different? Maybe it’ll just take some getting used to, but I have to think she looked better before she was stretched out.
The longer neck was me trying to show her from a lower angle. Mostly unsuccessfully. 😛
The artist goes for the win – I wonder, does she have that ballet costume?
add “STILL” between She and have.
Looooong time reader, first time commenter, so I thought I’d inaugurate myself with some concrit. I pretty much agree with this perspective that M is getting a little too exaggerated. One of the most adorable things about her is her curves, including her little belly pooch. All of the Wapsi ladies have some kind of unique body “flaw” and I used to love you for making such relatable female characters. The comments from the men never indicated that this was in any way unattractive either. Lately though, all of the art has taken a turn for blatantly exaggerated, not just on M. (Waists have shrunk dramatically in the last year in the characters’ individual proportions. Monica’s neck here is about the same size as her waist. That’s why people are noticing.) On one hand, it’s expected that character designs and artwork will evolve, but on the other, I think this increasingly sexually-aggressive-looking M (and Wapsi women in general) is starting to lose her female audience somewhat. After reading this comic every day for over 7 years, I didn’t recognize Monica when I looked at the first panel, subtle though those changes are. My old graphic design teacher used to say when we were working out compositions, “Push it till it’s ugly.” Meaning see how far we can take something until it looks too unnatural. It’s been interesting watching you play with the character designs over the last 2 years especially, but I think it’s starting to get pushed too close to “ugly” at this point. All constructive criticism though, for my freakin’ favorite comic artist. I’m not worthy. Much love.
I was trying (unsuccessfully) to draw M from a low angle and it didn’t quite work out. She looks more like herself in the rest of the week’s comics. Thank you kindly for your input, constructive and positive. 🙂
I kind of felt that the first view of Phix in Monica’s office (due to angle, i thought at the time) showed her as seeming to have an unnaturally long neck.
Having dabbled (with little sharable result) at drawing things, i know that i would *never* draw a person (particularly female) (extra particularly one shaped like Monica) from that angle, because of the difficulty with getting the foreshortening of the neck and the low angle on the chin right.
And in M’s case, not having her chest prtially hide her neck and chin.
Ahhhhh -comes the dawn!! THAT”S why Dietzel is so big! >face palm!< ! "Splains alot!
BTW, I love his "toe-jerk" reaction to the new goggles that got poited onto him. (Reminds me of when my little sister was REAL little she called 'em "ear laps" and run would run around the house wearing them like Bud's bomber cap!! She'll kill me!! But what are big sisters for anyway?)
“Ear laps“, huh?
That makes so much more sense — I was wondering why Dietzel looked bigger but I thought it was just me 🙂 I have a b**** of a time drawing figures from a low angle too. The new look in her eyes is kind of growing on me though. She’s not so much wide-eyed any more as she is well-traveled and it shows in her countenance, especially now that she’s doing a little healthy self-examination. How do you breathe such life into your characters that such tiny changes catch your readership so off guard? I do hope her old self still shows through though in the future!
I haven’t posted in a while, but the update to M’s face really took me off guard. It’s a bit creepy to me… Maybe because it mixes a bit more realism with some highly distorted features. Then again, I’m still adjusting to the “old” new look.
I apologize if my comment came off as harsh in some way. I think my problem was that I fell in love with Monica as a character right from the start and I did enjoy her coming out of her sheel and becoming less naive.
What I don’t think I’ve grown to like is that a lot of her outfits over the last year have shown a huge line of cleavage even when they are generally professional or out and about outfits. I get she has a big bust but I try to imagine someone in real life showing that much breast in public and the reactions would be…unique to say the least. If i wore something that revealing I’d get into so much trouble at work or out shopping.
Don’t take anything I say the wrong way I just think the exaggeration and sexualization of Monica has group a bit beyond what I’m comfortable with. In reference to her outfit being an “around the house” thing I must have missed that and I definitely understand dressing down at home. I’m more referring to when she’s out getting a cut up coffee and she’s wearing an outfit that shows a massive boob line.
I have been trying to show M growing and maturing in her actions as well as toning her wardrobe down a bit in the last few comics of her going to work and when at the coffee shop. I’ve been trying to mirror the growth that my friend went through from baggy clothes, to accepting her body, to her “in your face”-“deal with it, I have boobs”, to dressing for her body type without getting arrested, to appropriate for her age. M is on the tail end of the “deal with it” phase. Being a guy, I can’t get away from being labeled any number of ways for how I draw the Wapsi Gals, even if I had someone in mind for reference.
I love my characters as well, flaws and all, and I think of them as often (sometimes more) than folks I know in real life. I can totally understand a connection and even a fierce protectiveness. 🙂
Sheez . . . what is this about using pets for a lingerie disposal site? Kath discards her bra over Oscar, Monica discars hers over Dietzel . . . I mean yeah, I must have heard two-thirds of the adult females in my acquaintance gripe about having to wear badly fitting/uncomfortable bras (and especially those with M’s build) and the instantaneous relief they felt upon shedding them, but still . . . “laundry goes in the laundry hamper,” as my mother used to lecture me.
“Dave, why is there a binturong in the laundry basket?”
“I can’t do a damn thing to keep him away from it! He thinks my boxers smell like his mum!”
~D.
For a bit of perspective on how Monica’s changed over the years, I went back and did a bit of a cut-and-paste job of various panels where we get a good look at Monica, roughly from March of each of the last nine years. BOY has she changed since 2002.
http://yfrog.com/86monicovertheyearsp
(hope the linky workys)
The linky works just fine.
I think I like 2007 Monica the best, followed by 2009.
Moral of the story: Monica’s eight years older than she was in 2002, and her body is changing. Just like the rest of us, only some of the rest of us aren’t aging all that well… 🙁
That’s really neat. I like the 2007 Monica, too. Though seeing them all put together that way, it looks like her hips got broader, too. More hourglass than top-heavy.
I have a slight concern — not about the strip, but about the strip’s webservers. I don’t think they’ve been properly updated to Daylight Savings Time. Last night (which would have been the first time after DST began Sunday at 2->3AM), I waited until at least 1:30am eastern, and still no update. (I finally had to go to bed.) I’m guessing it didn’t update until around 2am eastern, where it usually updated at 1am. (and I wish it would update at 12midnight eastern, but I guess that’s not going to happen.) Can we check on the server clocks for your cron job that updates the strip from your buffer to make sure that DST has been accounted for? Thanks.
I talked to Troy, my tech guy about that today, they should be running correctly now. 🙂
To blend several thread topics into one….
1. Monica looks Odd today — Yes the long neck, but also with her hair not covering her eye, we now see her eyebrow ridge much more pronounced than before… say Here. Her head design had been mostly hexagonal with straight sides — this new touch is a more realistic design artifact.
2. Monica’s Long Neck — PW was trying for a Deitzel eye view he says, and kinda pulled it off. Consider here with Phix, or this one and another (bottom) with Monica. It’s tough drawing the head looking up at the underside of the chin because it blends into the neck. Lightly drawing the chin line worked with Phix. For today’s Monica, it didn’t quite work.
3. Uber Boobage vs Waist — Agree and disagree. Monica’s character design hinges on her being a petite girl with a massive chest. The PW character design goes for long legs, big heads (both comic standards), and large feet and hands. The latter is actually realistic considering the head size. Put your hand to your face — you an easily touch past your eyebrows with your hand heel on your chin. Scale that up for the Cartoon head and it still fits. That’s part of what keeps Monica and the others looking “Normal” vs grotesque or absurd. Neither has her chest/waist been patronage — it’s part of the character’s background and her development (no pun intended). While not physically strong (re: Shelly), she is mentally strong and sure of her self. The rest is situational comedy (a’la the ballet costume) as you wold find in any even remotely funny comic that wasn’t harsh or pandering.
It’s possible to be self-confident without being conceited or condescending, and feminist without denigrating others. M is there. This is her, learning to do better today than yesterday, and we get to go along for the ride!
Well done, Sir! May the adventure continue!
Atomic to the rescue. 🙂
Glad to be here, proud to serve!
My best friend Heather, who I’ve known for twenty years, has gone through the same thing as Monica. Good grief I’m identifying with a comic. Good thing! When I first met her she would wear clothes that she hoped hid her body. Now, it’s “Hey, I have tits, and a great shape, live with it!”. I’m happy she can. In fact, I love the view. And… she is the world’s nicest person. So, a missed perspective is totally acceptable. Please just keep Monica as a beautiful, naive, nice person.
test
I once accidentally did that bra thing to my own dog; talk about an ‘in-your-face’ comic strip!
why is Monica’s belly transparent all I see is her hair there
Big as she is, Monica’s bra still doubled in size between panels one and two. 😛
Well, either that or Dietzel shrank. 😛
I know Bull Terrier are known to have BRA-d heads, but this…
Pull the scepter out; poit the bra off – she got those a bit confused here.