Coconuts (Patreon)

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to share some stuff I've been working on this week, although this comic seemed a lot funnier in my head than it does after drawing it out. This was meant as a follow up to the "Beach Ball" comic, and in the first panel, Pridestar runs up with a speech bubble spotting a "coconut". Just as I drew the coconut... I realized it was really tricky to make the visual connection that he might be implying something else, thus drawing the ire of Snares.

I could still technically have Pridestar just show up and seem like an annoyance, but for Snares to punt him in the second panel really seems too violent of an escalation and not justified. It makes him look mean. The original idea is that Pride shows up, Snares misunderstands, boots him, but turns out Pride is really carrying coconuts to share. He's hurt and Snares tries to make it up to him.

Visually, it's just not working, and it's about this point that... after having given the short format 3-4 tries... I'm really starting to feel the strain. Since the cast of Meatier Showers were never designed for the daily comic formats, it has been a struggle to rework their dynamics and mechanics for more bite sized comedy routines.

Ideally Meatier Showers requires more setup and at least a full page to run its punchlines. I have considered building a totally different series designed specifically for short formats, but given the way things are, I feel it may distract me from my main goals.

In fact, I had a whole list of ideas meant to spread through 2 years, on a monthly basis - but the harsh reality was that a lot of these gags didn't have the same amount of time as my longer formats had to brew and develop, and as a result many of them come across as either contrived or simply not funny.

As such, I've decided to take this week to "reconvene" with myself and have a closer look how I intend to move things forward from here. All in all, it was a good exercise where I can say to myself that I've tried, however this formula does not seem sustainable as a marathon project. The format could still work as and when I have something genuinely funny to highlight or share, but trying to come up with enough material for a monthly update schedule seems to have been counterproductive it seems.

To that end, I am beginning to shift my focus to the long format. I've done some initial thumbnails for a 6-page test drive and will want to work on cleaner, larger versions over next week to get a better "read" on project feasibility.

For now, I just need some time to figure things out and see what alternatives I can arrive at. Truth be told, I've been hitting the ground running since last year - realizing that there hardly will be a "perfect" moment, given the state of things, to work on a "perfect" project under "ideal" circumstances. This new pace and rhythm of things has been challenging to say the least, and the short format did push me to identify what my personal limits might be.

I'll be uploading a new Meatier Showers page this weekend. See you guys around!

Snares
May 2021