That's it. Board closed. Thank you everyone. :)

-christopher

If you ask for feedback, you will get advice. Most of it will be bad.

I love the new strip.

I think the 'dee flying through the air' bits are really getting old. I like the cartoon in general, but can we do something with Dee besides toss her in the air?

The almost-airborne theme.
She's gotta see this comng
eventually.

She needs to grab onto the
vultures nuts for dear life
next time.

The "wack" was a little confusing for me; I agree with the poster who wanted another panel after. But, we (I) LOVE little Dee. I'm sure you would get a lot of support from people if you wanted to raise funds to help you keep drawing while waiting for syndie feedback.

Hey, Chris, I just wanted to let you know that I totally love Little Dee! I really really do love the strip & would like to add my support to the idea of having it on the weekends.

Lots of little gushing noises,

Harena

First of all, thank you all so much for all your feedback. Yay! Still haven't heard from the syndies, but with 'em or without 'em I'm going to try and make this happen probably around the beginning of next year or sooner. :)

I'll be taking down the bulletin board here (and posting the entirety of the text of its contents on my site) this Sunday, so any final comments/discussions about Little Dee, now's the time.

my best,

-cbaldwin

i don't think today's comic is very successful --

perhaps if you move Fido's question into the second panel, show the collision in the third, and then have Ted's answer in the fourth panel?

--jim

gotta run. lunchtime.

Okay, now I'm back in business. "Oy, that was so predictable." Heh.

I agree with everybody who loves "Dee" - it's simple, it's easy, it's a strip that would charm everyone, even newspaper editors if they actually see it, even Soulless Bushies In Suits if they didn't get traumatized by the notion of a wonderfully big-hearted talking bear. It's a terrific strip and as September approaches, I realize I'm gonna miss it if it disappears, much as I love Bruno. I like Kensune's idea of running her on weekends if it wouldn't overwork you to death.

I, as well, love Dee and am sad to see her leave. Would it be possible for Dee to have maybe the saturday and sunday strip? :)
/Kentsune

Love the Dee strip.. I really hope you make more.. I personally like Dee more than your other strips. Funny as hell :)

"Further site oddity: for me, the main page is stuck at Dee being swept up by the kite."

Try holding down CTRL while clicking on Refresh. This is sort of like saying, "Refresh, dammit, I mean it!"

Hey, Dan, below the strip on the left are some links to the archives. Click on "Current Week" to see where you are.

Further site oddity: for me, the main page is stuck at Dee being swept up by the kite. In the archives, I get to Our Heroes gazing into the window of a candy shop, then the next page is the Dee vs. Rock physics strip[*]. I've tried the shift-reload trick several times... help?

Dan (peaches beets tangellos)


[*] which I liked, BTW -- no problems with the narrator voice here, it reminded me nicely of that old educational TV show "Eureka!" except cuter.

Odd that Little Dee never talks and Bruno, whom she physically resembles, does almost nothing else. Are you working through something here, Chris, and not just in the whole flying motif?

I'm still loving "Little Dee" and I think you have a syndicable winner (more bushido for Tatsuya Ishida.) The Little Dee up-in-the-air thing is getting a little monotonous, though. Are you trying to work through something? I see others have commented on this also, so I hope I'm not being too critical. I love the characters. Just the shape of them is great. That bear. Love it. He needs a computer, though. How else would a bear in a cave order a suit of clothes and an Oriental vase? And a cupboard. Where was that cupboard, anyway? Had they gone all the way back to the cave? It looked like they were still in the woods. Sort of a lion, witch, and wardrobe thing going there, furniture in the middle of the woods. I used to live on the Delaware River, and I propped up a wooden door on the beach with nothing else around it and just let the canoing tourists wonder about it. Do something crazy, that's my advice. Keeps you sane.

I *love* Little Dee. It's "Calvin and Hobbes"-esque without being as cynical. The hair one yesterday KILLED me - I and several friends have pretty kinky hair. I've sent the link around to a few friends who have laughed a LOT.

If the syndicates don't pick it up...I kind of hope you'll keep doing it online anyhow. I know "Bruno" is a lot of work, and I'm completely hooked on her too...but "Dee" is so sweet and charming.

Dee does do a lot of flying through the air. Maybe they should get her some padding.

"I'm sad that I'm flying."

I should really turn my ad-blocking stuff off so I can see these adverts for FROGS.

I just like to point out that the ad server finally clued on to what weīre actually talking about - the ads that greeted me this morning were for rare comics and a comic printing service.

On topic - I loved the hair strip. I still donīt think Little Dee is a strip with a very strong pull on me - I wouldnīt follow it as a webcomic, at least not regularly - but itīs more or less guarunteed to make me a little bit happier every time I see it. Which, in a newspaper comic, is more or less the highest aim IMO.

Little Dee is cute, funny, and really well done. Bravo, Chris. While I really liked Shep, Dee is a winner. Her perpetual enthusiasm and the bear's worry make a great contrast. The "hair" strip gave me a much needed grin tonight. Thanks.

Dee is just the cutest thing...like a human kitten I guess. I didn't mind her falling -- I just knew nothing bad would happen to her.

Hmm, the Googlebot hasn't picked up on the vegetable references yet. But I bet references to FROGS will do it.
FROGS FROGS FROGS! Ribit!

Hee hee hee.. cool.

Oh.. FROGS.

I think it's funny that the google ads -- right now for Christian bible books, Lovelin's raku sculptures & Celine Dion -- are responding (I think) all the people who are saying "I LOVE Little Dee"!

Actually, I find it rather hard to imagine the "affect" the fall might have had on Little Dee; on the other hand, I can certainly imagine the _effect_ it might have had on her...

Sorry to nitpick, but this particular spelling confusion happens to drive me up the wall - and I'm pretty lenient compared with most of the editors I know.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed Monday's strip - not only did I not have any problems with the narrator's voice, I also found the tone a welcome counterpoint to the (mostly) sweet storylines thus far.

Edited by author 08-26-2003 01:23 PM
I'm really enjoying Little Dee and what I like about her is her lack of fear. Quite a change from Bruno who has to consider everything carefully.

Little Dee falls from the sky and says "Wheeee!" I love it.

I came to Bruno at the suggestion of a friend, and frankly the others he's suggested as well as Chris's links just don't do it for me as Bruno does. It's a substance thing. As someone said here, Chris has a way of making a reader care about the primary character.

Even though I really enjoy ANIME, I haven't really liked many of the WEB COMICS I've seen.

Edited by author 08-25-2003 06:54 PM
on a different note, it would appear that all our attempts at feeding the ad-picker have made it go off its GOURD. i mean, come on. love spells?? i'm just looking forward to having the primary picks be fan sites for our favorite MELON-headed toddler. (who hopefully isn't in for a big SQUASH.)

I just realised that it's almost september, which means (carrot).. no more little Dee! Which I suppose is a testament to how much I've grown to like the strip in Bruno's absence. I do quite enjoy bruno, but I really like the (tomato) child-like quality and the humour of these strips. Brocoli. Congrats, Chris. It's a good strip. And do let me know if you get it syndicated - I will definitely want my newspaper running it! Potato!

:-)

I guess this shows how much of space cadet I am... ;) I did think that there was something slightly different about the strip today, but I didn't realize what it was 'till I came here & read the postings about it!!

That said, I don't think it really "bothered" me, the narration didn't.. I can't quite come up in words what the feeling(s) I had when I read it today, just that there was some sort of odd emotion evoked in me from the narrator's seemingly indifference (objectivity?) to Dee's plight. (I hope that made some kind of sense!)

Or it could just be a bunch of over-cooked CABBAGE...

I realize that the narration in the "dee falling" strip is jarring because it's never been heard before. I've been struggling to find the perfect voice for it, and until I'm totally pleased, I'm not ready to do more. It's not as much that I included this strip, rather that since I liked it so much, i didn't exclude it.

And Sunday strips, I may not do Sunday strips. One Sunday strip pays as much as a full week of regular ones (in newspaper land), but it's also a ton more work, and I feel it's almost a different medium. I'd love to do it, but I think I may rather do a lot of other things. We'll see.

-Christopher Baldwin (vegatarian carrot onion)

Oh, and POTATOES! lots and lots of POTATOES!

The current strip (Dee falling physics) leaves me at a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, I enjoy this sort of humor. It is also well executed. But the sudden intrusion of a narrative voice just seems so... invasive to me. Totally out of place with all the previous strips, where interpretation and humor were left entirely to the characters.

If there was frequent (or even occasional) narration so far, I would have really liked this strip. Now, it just feels out of place. Really, really, out of place.

and now, a syllogism:

1. i am a chemistry / physics teacher at a high school.
2. we are covering acceleration currently.
3. i will be using these strips TODAY. ^_^

you know, just in case you were wondering.

--jim

...so dee would also fall at the same rate as a head of BOK CHOI? am i understanding this correctly?

Yay for accurate science in cartoon strips!

Of course, given that it's Dee vs. A Rock (why does this sound like some WWE thing?) the rock will make it down first - lot less air resistance, Dee has all the hair and clothing and limbs stuff going on.

Oh, I remember now - someone call International Rescue or something!

(PARSNIP)

oops! i forgot my ad-fooler!

so, chris, will we ever see sunday Little Dee strips? or is that a CARROT you're saving for the syndicates?

--jim

i know of course that dee won't get hurt. but i also get so involved with the characters that the strip elicited a gut reaction first (as if it were a REAL girl falling with a REAL rock) ...and THEN the humor response.

this, i think, is one of chris's biggest strengths. be it bruno or dee or madge or whoever, his characters are always ones i care about on an emotional level. his characterization is some of the best in the business.

--jim

Little Dee is fast becoming one of the funniest strip I read. I mean actual chuckles here.

The only thing funnier are the ads for "SnorkleMart" and "Diver's Discount". Do you get the feeling that there's some guy back there thinking, "Influence my ads, will you! Here, I'll give you 'SnorkleMart'! Ha!"

And where's my BAHAMAS?

Edited by author 08-24-2003 03:24 PM
Indeed, eytan...

Personally, I get the feeling that a lot of people are trying to interpret Litte Dee waaay too literally... I love the surreality of it all.


Keyword: VEGETABLE

Oh, I donīt really think that this storyline will cause any undue problems - a lot of syndicated comics have occasional dark humor. The main issue, of course, is that the atmosphere must be such that we know Dee couldnīt possibly be hurt.

Since snorkeling worked out right, hereīs a new keyword to see if we can get related ads:

ASPARAGUS

Personally I think this comic is way too funny. That vulture takes the prize, is he a riot or what? And the dog OMG he is so slow witted he reminds me of my in-laws. I just love the bear, this ones a keeper.

*reads today's strip ("here's this heavy rock")*
*gasps in horror*

chris, the syndicates aren't gonna like this little storyline one bit, i'm betting.

--jim

PS. notice? the snorkel experiment worked! ^_^

The site does that from time to time...it doesn't appear to the browser to have updated, so the browser loads the last page it has stored in cache. Try holding down the Control key and refreshing the page.

I'm not sure what I think of Little Dee yet, which is why I haven't commented. Right now I'm going back and forth between "cute" and "weird"...

I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, but I'm not getting any new Little Dee's. I solved it by going to the archive, but the last two weeks only show Monday's strip.
Just a head's up.

Edited by author 08-22-2003 10:31 AM
i don't think we needed to worry about them being recognized -- the city was eerily absent of people. like a de chirico painting, only sillier. ^_^

the costumes were beautifully appropriate for Ted and Vachel, by the way.

--jim

ps. now that my computer network is back up (stupid worms) i can start DIVING right into this weeks archives!

pps. you'd think ted, as astute as he is, would've noticed the chocolate smudges all over dee's hands and face.

The strip is wonderful. However, I think regular readers
of Bruno might get more out of it since Dee looks like
Bruno as a child, and we finally get to see her care-free
and happy. It's almost as if we get to see Bruno triumph
over her malaise and depression.

Now that we're in to the "submission" part of the strip, it's just getting better and better! Really excellent stuff.

I'm a fan of entire cities of non-talking people, where only the animals get to communicate. Any alleycats in the strip's future?

My random fan comment is also necessary to encourage the production of UNDERWATER ADVENTURES in the BAHAMAS where you get to SNORKEL with SNORKELING GEAR.

Oh come on, Vatchel's disguise is much worse! Only Fido gets to be a dog.

Random ad-producing word: BAHAMAS

Hmm... notice the ads on the left side of this forum page? They are inserting ads based on the content of our messages. The recurring mention of Peanuts stimulated ads for Peanuts (comic) and peanuts (snack) ads. I wonder what would show up if we all chose some random term to include in every post?

For example: SNORKEL

I love Ted in disguise! We already believe a talking bear, vulture and dog getting along, recognizing (never mind owning) Oriental vases, snorkels, etc., and helping out a little girl, so the bear wearing a suit into town and not being noticed isn't too big a stretch.

Well, today shows that they're walking distance from a town of some sort so I think we can assume Vachel lifted the trike from outside a house or from the dump, not from a kid involved in an unfortunate Evil Kinevil impression.

Strange town though. Ted's disguise is not the world's best... you'd think someone would notice.

You of course realise that Vachel probably stole that camcorder from the decomposing body of some lost hiker...

Does that mean he stole the trike from...

..oh no!!

Edited by author 08-20-2003 07:21 AM
The last three weeks of strips have *all* raised a big 'ol smile. You've hit "consistently brilliant" really, really quickly here. Just so you know. : )

I'm sorry, but I just *love* the way Little Dee gives the bear a bunch of flowers in the last frame of today's (8-19) comic!!

Heh!

You of course realise that Vachel probably stole that camcorder from the decomposing body of some lost hiker... probably explains why the battery went flat. Where's he going to find a socket to recharge it?

Oooh, I love the hanggliding strip.

Edited by author 08-18-2003 06:15 AM
More head bonking! Hurrah!

(Would Peanuts have been successful if Charlie Brown didn't regularly end up flat on his back with the little "bonked" spirals above his head? I think not...)

I refuse to link something else to the Wizard of Oz! Arrgh! "Dark Side of the Moon" _doesn't_ work, you know.... the only link that's valid is Zardoz, I reckon. ;-)

Vachel would eat any of them if they dropped dead. In a second. He might eulogise while he was doing it, but he wouldn't be a vulture if he didn't chow down. "Alas, poor Fido... he was a true and valued companion, always ready to help anyone, full of fun... And he has a very tasty liver - would anyone like some? No? Suit yourselves."

Edited by author 08-17-2003 11:24 AM
AntiEntropy said:
phooey! phooey on you! Little Dee is great! You're gonna make her cry! I'll send the bear to eat you. Nyah. So there.

I'm behind you 100% !!! ;)

I loved today's. Vachel is definitely my favorite, without a doubt. Not that I had any before.

The joke would be clearer if his wings were tucked by his side while running. Took me a second to get it--even though he says he's running, I still thought he was flying at first.

And yes, I'd buy the fundraiser compilation, for sure, if only to have on the shelf after this thing hits the newspapers.

Would it not be a great idea for Chris to put together a compilation of the Little Dee strips he has so far (perhaps with an introduction, or description of his process), bind them up in a book, and sell them for some kind of fundraising amount of (say) $20? It doesn't have to be sent off to a printer (wasn't the first copy of Bruno hand bound?)

I'm sure at least a few of us would love to have a copy and support Chris at the same time.

@ Angus:

The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodsman, The Lion

Why wouldn't a vulture see a friend as a potential snack? It would be perfectly natural. And funny.

hel sees her as an interesting diversion who might, with any luck, be a snack some day

Heh. There's clearly some sort of joke potential in the issue of Vachel seeing his friends as future snacks.

Ooh, I like today's. Short sweet gag, yup.

And when I asked to see Dee doing more stuff, I didn't think I'd get to see her hangliding so soon. ;-)

I really like Ted. It's cute how much he cares for Dee (and it's also cute how much Fido and Vachel don't - well, not in the same way, anyway. I get the impression that Fido sees her as another puppy to play with, and Vachel sees her as an interesting diversion who might, with any luck, be a snack some day).

And I love the dialogue. "Yes, domesticated pup. Tell us stories from the Land of Man." I get the impression that Vachel is the intellectual of the group, actually. Or that he likes to think he is. Hmmm. Vachel as the brains, Ted as the heart, Fido as the energy... this is ringing bells from some kind of psychology (or possibly new-agey-hippy-crappy) thing I read a while back, but I have no idea what. If I'm recalling right, that makes Dee the soul. Chris? Am I overanalysing here and going waayyyyyyyy off beam?

Been a while since I read Bruno....
Hey! What's this? This is so cool!

Seriously, "Little Dee" is great. Short, sweet gags are a seriously underrated form of writing. And the characters are so cute!

The dog-bear distinction is getting easier for me. Vachel is working out great. Anyway, far smarter and funnier than any of the strips I've seen make it to the newspapers. The silent Dee is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
<p>
I really hope this makes it.

I love it!

The style, the humour.. I think it's great. I just keep coming back to read more.

@ Binary Goddess...

Erm, yeah, I think you're taking the concept a mite too seriously... If you're going to set up a "little girl raised by wolves random animals" concept, you kinda have to take her away from her parents.

I know this is a place to submit comments and that includes criticisms but I just want to say to everyone who has said anything negative about Little Dee...

...phooey! phooey on you! Little Dee is great! You're gonna make her cry! I'll send the bear to eat you. Nyah. So there.

The artwork is charming as is the story!

Edited by author 08-14-2003 10:01 AM
Chris, I love the art, love the characters (especially Vachel--the ice cream truck strip is my favorite so far), love the action and the jokes, but way, way too wordy. Filling half your panels with text works for Bruno, because she's just that kind of character, and because the strip is published in a gloriously readable size on the Web. In a newspaper, all that print's going to be reduced to chickenscratch and totally unreadable. Besides, the characters and "gags" are pretty straightforward and don't really need all that much text, IMO. You can (and do) do wonders with expression.

Speaking of Vachel, I noticed that Jenn Manley Lee's _Dicebox_ had a Vachel character. It's not an especially common name. Somebody you two know?

Izzy

I love the artwork and most of the writing. It's really adorable in so many ways, but there was something niggling at the back of my mind about it. Something was irritating me to no end and I couldn't figure it out.

So today I went back and re-read the whole series to date, and realised something. This poor little girl is lost. Her parents are out there somewhere looking for her. If they find her drawings they aren't going to hang them proudly on the fridge, they are going to take them to the local police station in hopes of getting some clue of her whereabouts. Her mother is crying herself to sleep. Her father is up all night pacing in the study, stopping intermittantly to stare at her photograph and fight back the fear.

This isnt a cute situation for me, its terrifying. As a parent I can't relax and have a good time with this concept.

Maybe I'm taking it too seriously, but I can't HELP it!

Chris, I like the art style a lot, I just find myself wishing the characters or setting would sparkle a bit more, somehow.

I like Vachel's attitude a lot, it brings energy to the strip. Ted seems a little on the passive side, though, and it's a little hard to see a lot of expressiveness on his face when his mouth is shown as you've drawn it.

There is something sublime about Ted, really, but it's subtle.. so much sometimes that I'm not sure whether it's really there or not. I think a lot of that has to do with how you can put so much feeling into your drawings, even when you're not explicitly drawing emotions onto a face, if that makes sense.

Is Ted intended to be the focal point for the strip? He seems maybe a bit soft to hold all that attention, somehow.
Woah, wait a sec, though, what's Ted doing threatening Vachel with a chair? Hmm..

Dee is wonderfully drawn, I love seeing li'l Bruno. If she's going to be mute throughout, it'd be nice to see her doing more. I love seeing her brushing her teeth in the mirror (that hair!), and laughing as Ted and the gang blow bubbles.

Fido is great.

Things I love.. the writing for Vachel.. 'renting her out for factory work', 'we don't need that party pooper', 'we've decided you can own this circle'. The art, especially when you kick up the pov to show the ground with the circle on it, or dee brushing her teeth from behind, or the bubbles.

Overall, I think the content feels maybe just a bit too low-energy/passive, but your art and writing really does shine when you let it, and there's that air of the sublime lingering around it that makes me want to fall in love with it, if only there was a bit more to fall in love with.

Impressionistically,

 jon

Edited by author 08-12-2003 02:45 PM
I think there's a bit too much analysis happening here. What would people be saying, for example, if Chris posted "Peanuts," if we hadn't had it before?

"What's the deal with the dog? Why doesn't he bark and why's he always on top of the dog house? And why does Charlie Brown always try to kick the football?"

The folks posting here are comic afficianados and may not reflect the (hate this term) average reader.

I think about how I would react if I saw this in my local paper, The Washington Post, and think it would be a real bright spot on the comics pages. And mind you, we have three pages of comics daily.

Dropping back into afficianado mode, I think it's got the clean lines and recognizable style of Bloom County with animals portraying human characteristics we admire and despise. The dialogue can be taken at various levels but there's some classic comic slapstick, like the ending to today's strip with the chair, mixed with some really good messages.

The story line can be taken in its entirety but the individual strips can stand up on their own as gags.

I dig it and I think it's going to do well.

I think Dee clings to Ted the Bear a lot just because he's the easiest one to cuddle with; he's kind of a father figure, whereas Fido (we finally got his name!) is more of a playmate, and Vachel is a good-natured scoundrel (and probably has carrion-breath *g*).

And I've found Dee's expressions quite... well, expressive. There's no need for her to talk.

Edited by author 08-11-2003 04:04 PM
The dog has run away to join the other animals. Dee is taken with the bear because that's the first animal she ran into, but that doesn't mean she can't hang out and play with other animals.

Dee just a plot device? Well, everyone's entitled to an option. Why do you say that? Because she doesn't talk? Maybe she's too young?

Today's is the best so far. Really funny punchline. I've been reading all the little Dee's, and much as I'm rooting for ya Chris, I think this strip is kind of unfocused compared to Sheppard & May or Kim in love. Why does Dee hang onto the bear so much? If she's so besotted with the bear, what's with the 2 strips where she plays with the dog? What is the dog doing hanging out in the woods with the wild animals? The animals have appreciable personalities but Dee is just this clingy plot device. I still think it has potential. Just needs to sharpen up the idea of each character a bit.

I'm very much enjoying it; you've done a great job with establishing the nature of the characters really quickly. I especially like Vachel. :-)

I don't think I've caught the dog's name yet, though...

So I've been reading and enjoying little Dee and it only just hit me. This is a talking animal strip in which there is one human character, and the human character is the only character who never speaks! I don't think I've ever seen or heard of another strip with a rule like that (I'm hoping it holds as a rule). I like it, it gives it a Pogo-like character (talking animals, no humans) rather than a Bloom County character (talking animals and humans intermingled). If I were a syndicate editor, I'd syndicate it.

Hey Chris,
I think Dee has a better chance than Shephard and May or Kim in Love, (altho Guild is pretty fond of Kim in love). She's heartwarming and non-threatening enough for the papers, but smart enough to have come from you. Good luck, and Wynter awaits the first book collection!

Wonderfully cleanly and attractively drawn. Though... bear with pointy ears? :) The current little thread about "MY space" has hit the spot with every single strip. A couple of the earlier ones I was a little "hmmm..." over some of the phrasing. But who am I to quibble? Your work is brilliant.

Well, I liked Sheppard 'n May better in a middle-of-the road sense. I would have loved to see it syndicated. This is a bit too bizarre. I just expect to see the bear rip the girl's arms off at any minute. Oddly however, the strip is fabulously funny. I like Baldwin's other work for the so-sad-it's-funny nature of it. These are actually ha-ha funny. The bear just makes me see it as funny in a You Damn Kid way. Not exactly top 10.

Dee and the bear are so cute.
I got tears in my eyes when she drew him the picture.

Love it. My only complaint is that the dog and the bear are sometimes hard to tell apart when they show up separately (something to do with the square jaw, I think.) Perhaps exaggerate the dogginess or bear-yness of each more?

The strip is very sweet. Like it or not, Dee could be baby Bruno.

Silly. Lovin' it.

HFB said: Dee -- when she smiles. Chris knows how to draw happy smiles that makes you feel good inside.

I agree with that one hundred thousand percent! I melt when Dee smiles! :)

Favourite expressions:

Vachel -- mouth open very wide, saying something preposterous. Reminds me of me.

Dee -- when she smiles. Chris knows how to draw happy smiles that makes you feel good inside.

The others -- not sure yet.

Love the strip.

At first I thought, "Great, Bruno withdrawls for a month. Thanks Chris, I'll be drinking extra-strong coffee to make it through this." I have since changed my mind, Little Dee is excellent. Actually, I'm kinda suprised Chris B can be this whimsical. The syndicates would be/are nuts to not pick it up. BTW, does Dee have more than just a passing resemblence to Bruno?

I like it. If you get it syndicated, I'll tell the guy here at the Post-Dispatch he should pick it up. Good luck.

I have to say, vachel is a brilliant creation. A cute vulture! It must be his vaguely muppet-like reactions that make him appeal. :)

I really like the line about renting her out for factory work.

Edited by author 08-04-2003 10:48 AM
Today's strip (8/4) gets me right here *thumps chest*... I think it even helped my 3-day headache! :)

Great stuff so far. I'm really (really) enjoying the visual style of it, and the flow of the comic itself agrees with me. People are saying it's hard to understand but I have to say I had no trouble grasping the concept of the strip. Can't wait to see more. :)

I've been following Bruno for years now, as well as the various side-projects. Of everything I've seen, Little Dee is both the most commercially viable and the most enjoyable. Good job, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes! (And of course I'm looking forward to Bruno's return -- she's family at this point :P

- Soren

I rather like Bruno's depression (although, being a hopeless romantic and wet wuss of the highest order, I do prefer it when she's happy). And Bruno is always funny (IMHO); it's just that sometimes the line between funny and heartbreaking is very thin.

I think I said earlier that it would be interesting to compare the minimalist backgrounds with the full backgrounds. I'm not sure which I prefer. I like the minimal backgrounds a lot, truth be told - it allows you to concentrate on the characters and dialogue more. But the full backgrounds do give a better feeling of the location and a feeling of depth. I'm torn. Jury still out. Send in the sandwiches.

I am loving this more and more. I hadn't realized how dragged down I was by Bruno's depression. It's nice to see a comic that's comic. What a concept!

I probably spoke too harshly, too soon. The absurdity of it is starting to grow on me. Was probably having an allergic reaction to excessive cuteness, and I feel better now that Dee has been bonked properly.

The net-comics underground hive mind is probably way all over this more than I am, but in case its any use to you, Rob Balder over at http://www.partiallyclips.com/ has been talking about his adventures in self-syndication.

Cute, sweet and interesting. Have you tried the Anchorage Daily News? They have some unusual comic strips.

Love the bear, dig the dog, Dee's a doll. I, too, am confused, but the strip stands up well on its own without a lot of explanation. I think it stands a good chance of making it and I hope it does.

I do miss Bruno, though.

Dweeb

The comic is funny and too cute. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, such a weird change from Bruno... I'm already in love with the characters.

And today (31/7/2003) we have some gratuitous pain and head-bonking. This is always a good sign in a strip, in my opinion. Plus, I love the dog's tail at "launch" - if he wasn't so big I'd swear he was a terrier, they do that just before attempting to catch anything.

Of course I'm assuming he - I don't think the dog's gender has been specified yet...

I like the strip - the visual style is really great - I've never seen Chris do animals before and he does them really well. My one main gripe is that I don't understand the relationship between the characters - I know that you can't have strips that give the history of the situation, at least not in serial form, but I think making things slightly more explicit would make the strip more accessible. Anyway, there's still plenty of strips coming so this may be resolved on its own.

This is great. Truly great. I want to see more. Can't wait for the next strip. ^_^

AntiEntropy, you stole my line!

I _love_ the bear. Maybe because I'm just a bear, myself.

I love confusing people. That's the beauty of being insane.

I love responses that I don't understand. That's the beauty of forums.

What's going on is that Little Dee is lost and is being adopted by a set of animals. A thoroughly plausible premise.

I'm enjoying it. I was kind of on angst overload anyway.

Today's strip (7/29) made my ten-year-old snort amusedly, which is an encouraging sign, I think.

I think this may be the first time that I've read a strip that was cute without being either satyrical or slightly repulsive. ("Understood" Bloom County? Hmmm...)

Pavlov reference - check. Non-human character applying human civil rights ideas to its existence - check. Cute character who never speaks - check.

But what the hell is going on here? (I love it, I just don't understand it. Bloom County I understood.)

Little Dee, the bear, the dog, and the vulture (yet to be seen) are all the lead characters. And the intro strips were taken out of the submission package for a reason.

Maybe I'm expecting too much from an introduction, but after three strips we know pretty much nothing about Dee except that
she's cute and exceedingly pathetic. And it's not clear whether the bear or the dog are meant to be main characters. The bear is cool, though.

The characters are cute (especially Dee and the bear).

So here's the story. As much I'd say that Little Dee draws from quite a lot of people I've known. I had just seen Woody Allen's movie, "Sweet and Lowdown" when I created Dee for "Sheppard and May", and though Dee is definetely not Hattie, there was definitely a fair amount of influence. And yes, Dee from "Shep & May" is indeed where Dee came from (although is not the same character). And curly hair, I've always liked it since middle-school, go figure.

Little dee looks suspiiously like "Dee" From Shepherd and May to me...

So far it does look vey smooth and plausibly commerical (if a little slow going - but then thats why this has been pulled from the new submission package, no?)

little dee looks suspiciously similar to little julie from mtv's The Maxx.

Wow, I think I'll enjoy this. Wonderful so far.

This strip is so darling. Thus far, I can see why you feel so confident about it. And yes, Dee does look like a teeny Bruno. :)

Is it a coincidence the girl looks like Bruno?

Adorable. The bear is incredibly hairy. Like a wookie. That's a good thing. Also, good use of blackspotting (cartoonist technical term for judicious usage of placing dark areas).

(And apparently Ari has already retracted his statement. Hmmm...)

Little Dee looks like baby Bruno!
Look forward to more Dee.
Good luck with the move.

I rather like the minimalist background in this one. It'll be interesting to see what the backgrounded versions are like. And I like the bear already (which means he or she is probably only a temporary character, knowing my luck!)

Tolerate the moving (which is about the best you can do for moving; I don't think anyone gets much above loathing for the process) and enjoy the vacation. Listening to owls and watching stars and satellites is always a great way to refresh the soul, and camping is great for that. I never really worked out what Calvin had against it.

Edited by author 07-25-2003 08:32 AM
Apart from being curious about why she's crying, a cute little strip. The expression on the bear's face is v good. Woohoo! 1st post!