~Current Comic Discussion (496 - Trainers)~

[Smeagloosh]

This comic was unexpected and brilliant! XD

Good job caption contest winners- oh shoot, one of them is mine! I'd like to thank the Cocoon Academy...
But seriously, those were some funny captions, I always like those types of contests.

[Chocolate Kirby]

I'll be honest, I thought the last panel was the last Thwomp reversing to crush Mario and I'm like, "That doesn't make any sense, Mario was farther right!" . I figured making the last Thwomp a Maverick (side-ways moving Thwomp) would've been funny and made more sense to me. But the unpredictability of the Thwomp being the floor makes it hilarious!
I believe that it was EARIO who cleaned up the mess in the comic!
I'm not too big a fan of the black outlines being everywhere, but you COULD use them on an object that is very solid (like, say, a Twomp) to add that emphasis.

[Madmachine]

This one was unexpected and great. It reminds of Looney-Tunes-style cartoons, where the things are funny because you don't expect them.

How about extremely dark blue, instead of black? You could have the shade of blue indicate how far the object is into the background or foreground, but then you kind of already do that.

I'm not too big a fan of the black outlines being everywhere, but you COULD use them on an object that is very solid (like, say, a Twomp) to add that emphasis.

This guy has the right idea, but I think I'd still prefer dark navy blue (no, it's not a link) to black.

[Homesick]

I agree with Madmachine, that the best are when the funny things happen when you don't expect it. Because then you have no idea why it'll be funny, and you don't
get the chance to ruin it for yourself.

I also prefer the dark navy blue over the black. I think the black is just a little too dark.

[Deckard Canine]

Is it wrong that I want Nintendo to take a hint from this comic? I don't mean a castle made entirely of Thwomps; I mean a few blend-in Thwomps here and there to test the player's reflexes. And maybe a return to those few Thwomps in SMB3 who moved sideways or diagonally.

[Duth Olec]

So are these thwomps supposed to be the blue ones from the N64 and a bit later era, or the gray ones from Super Mario Kart and the blue color of BitF just made them blue?

I knew the blue ones first so I've always liked them more. Looking at a bunch of images of them, though, the spiked ones tend to either look like the blue ones with spikes around them (which often look more like just a gray beard to me), or whomps with no arms or legs and spikes around them.

Therefore, spikes are for tearing, no spikes are for crushing.

[Got-It-Memorized?]

Wow, totally unexpected! Great comic, I did not expect it to end like that. I don't even want to know what Bowser was thinking when he built a castle made of thwomps. But I do need to agree with Madmachine, the black doesn't work as well as dark navy blue would. But the winning lines of the Wolf/Midna contest were interesting. I can see this sort of thing as something that would be interesting to see happen again in the future.

[OrangeOctopi]

Hahah, Judging by the Alt text, this is a Kazio Mario level :D (Imagine what ProtonJon would do if he encountered this situation)

[Darky]

Honestly Matt, if you mention that you scrapped a comic and replaced it for enticing reasons, people will want to see it, so you might as well link it in the blog post with whatever warnings may be needed. Come on, my curiosity's been piqued now.

[RedZone]

But he should make sure to do it in such a way that it is separate from BitF.

[GigaNerd17]

OMG, I made runner-up in the caption contest! THANK YOU SO MUCH TB!!!!

Anyways, my opinion on the black outlines:
They worked very well for this comic, but not for the fireworks comic you did a while back. If you're gonna adopt the black lines, I think you should reserve them for settings with darker lighting. (e.g. outside at night, castle interiors, Metroid levels, etc.)

[El_bruno]

After seeing this, I have to say I'm dissapointed that this wasn't a kaizo trap in I Wanna Be the Guy. Seriously, it's genius!

On the black outlines, like a lot have said, they do look good, but I think dark blue could look better, mayhaps.

[pseudo3d]

Well, in IWBTG, they did have the cherries, er, Delicious Fruit, that flew up. That's what the comic reminded me of, really.

[RedZone]

Ultimately, TB, this is your comic, do what *you* want with the lines. Take your style where you want it to go. The dark blue is classic BitF and has also helped to create sophisticated monochromatic images like the Wolf one. The black lines slightly take that monochrome feel away. However the black lines give you more blue for the fill--as seen in the comparison between the previous comics and this one (plus the Cocoon arc), the black line scheme produces more color saturation ultimately leading to a more vibrant image. The scheme worked really well for Cocoon, so no reason it couldn't for the regular comics.

All comics go through a style change. Peanuts started out with really really sophisticated linework which embodied the basic essence of the characters but ultimately was not as iconic as the simpler, squigglier lines that would come later on. Garfield started out as a morbid-looking beady-eyed blob that would take roughly five, six years to morph into the bipedal goose egg-eyes cat we know today (and the linework evolved the opposite way from Peanuts, going from distinctly hand drawn to much more geometric and precise). The point is, these comics started out with styles that were distinctive in their own right but which were ultimately changed because the artists thought that another style would work better, and which ended up being more iconic.

[JackitK]

Honestly I think the blue outlines work better for these comics than the black one because of the coloring style the comic already has. But I don't think it's anything I seriously care about. Anyways, I like this comic and it makes up for the neutral I've felt towards the past couple ones. Surprise punchline certainly made it worthwhile especially with the actions Mario had before from the feeling that he was already safe. :P

[Helios]

My two cents worth is that I prefer the dark blue lines. Black looks a little bit sharper, but I think the navy blue gives it a more fluid style, which I've always really liked.

[MountainSweet]

When I first saw the comic and saw the mouse-over text, I was wondering, 'Wait, if the ENTIRE castle was made out of Thwomps, and Mario was in the boss room, wouldn't he AND the boss be squished?' so it's kinda like you make your own alternate endings.

[TriforceBun]

373 - Dreamland Return

[SSBBrawler]

I got the Gordo joke, because I have a friend whose nickname is Gordo. It means fat and Kirby is fat in that panel. Herp derp.

[Jacio]

"I ate a Gordo!"
Priceless. Sometimes it pays off to be raised in a Spanish-speaking household. :3

[El_bruno]

Heh, it's funny because gordo means fat

Yay for being a native Spanish speaker! Even though that gave me some troubles understanding some other comics before.

Also, if no ironic visual humor is crucial to their success, I say they are boned.

[The Brawl Girl]

Lol, love the last panel. Reminded me of the Japanese Kirby Manga, where, ironically, REQUIRES ironic visual humor.

And yes, Gordo = Fat in Spanish.

Though based on Nintendo logic, Gordos can't really be inhaled, can they? *shrugs in question*

[Le Mario Bro]

No ironic visual humor? Does Meta even READ this comic?

Best of Friends on an Adventure~
Also Metaknight~

I giggled way too much at this. X3
I'll need to reassure my masculinity somehow.

Gordo is Spanish for Fat. PURPLE IS A COLOR.

[(>^.^)>]

I don't get it, what did Kirby mean by-

It means fat and Kirby is fat in that panel. Herp derp.

"I ate a Gordo!"
Priceless. Sometimes it pays off to be raised in a Spanish-speaking household. :3

Heh, it's funny because gordo means fat

And yes, Gordo = Fat in Spanish.

Oh.

But I loved Dedede in this one. Especially when Meta told Waddle Dee no Groveling. "What?" XD

[Duth Olec]

I like Kirby's song near the start.

But I DON'T KNOW ANY SPANISH, I KNOW GERMAN.

THEREFORE I DEMAND KIRBY EAT A... er... uh... never mind. Just... never mind.

But I do like how Kirby looks at the end.