Cartoons - Breaking Up Frames

Introduction

I recently saw a product from a health store with the bold claim "see the difference in seven days", so I bought some to try.

A week later I was asked, "has it made a difference", and while I felt it was too early to say definitively, I couldn't help but make this joke. Then in the absense of any other Area 5.1 ideas I decided to turn it into a cartoon, but it gave me a few layout problems that I wanted to share.

Designing the Layout

My intention was to go for two simple page wide frames, no background images, just a bottle of medication and my two LGM's (little green men). It seemed simple enough, but the second frame troubled me. I wanted him peering into the pill bottle, but it then felt like I was giving the joke away before I'd really had chance to set it up.

Area 5.1 Original Frame 2

The second problem with this frame is overlapping dialogue, the reader is forced to skip left and right to consume the information in correct order, even though it is arranged to read down the page. I felt that splitting the frame into two was perhaps a better option.

The Final Image

Here's what I ended up with..

Area 5.1 - A Weak Claim

I think the change reduces the chance that the reader will jump ahead. The dialogue still works because the clipped tails point to the next or previous frame providing a reference to who's talking. But, it did mean showing the LGM's facing different directions (or they merge together in the middle like conjoined twins), so a little bit of effort was required to ensure the reader could tell them apart. Traditionally I use two body shapes, but it doesn't work well enough here. Instead I resorted to two distinct styles of eye.


See the web comic here: http://area5-1.webcomic.ws/comics/60/

Watch & Learn

Area 5.1 Comic - Watch & Learn

I genuinely am intrigued by my Tomtom fitness watches ability to monitor sleep. It has a heart rate monitor that shines a light onto my wrist to pick up blood pulses, but over night this sensor isn't lit. Right now I have no idea how it works.

It's seemed to me the basis of a cartoon, and all I needed was a punchline.

Area 5.1 - Watch & Learn (5th Nov 2016)

To the Punch

My working punchline was,...

LGM1: "It even tells me how much sleep I'm getting, but I have no idea how it knows"
LGM2: "You'd better not wear it at work then"

In retrospect it didnt feel like a very good joke, so I went with something inspired by snoring. And for a watch loaded with sensors I think it's a better idea.

Drawing Style

I'm sticking with the two-tone shading, and this time I went slightly bolder. It gives the impression of them standing in a harsher light. I went with an empty background because it didnt feel important, and it gives it a very clean style. The only difference from a normal set of LGM's was the inclusion of the headband.