Stu Versus San Francisco, Part 5

Stu Versus San Francisco, Part 5

Posted by Brian • July 26, 2016

Original Release Date: May 20, 2008

Why does Stu have a bandage on his ninja mask? Also, in a subtle, but decent use of facial expression, Mike doesn't seem too concerned about Stu's condition in the first panel--his attention is on Renee!

I don't recall when I switched, but this is the first page that made me notice I'm drawing the characters with three fingers now, instead of four. There's no major backstory behind this; I wanted to add an extra element of cartooniness, and drawing three fingers instead of four saves time, which is why animators started doing it in the first place, I believe.

There is a lot of exposition here, but it's a flowing conversation as opposed to ham-handed "here's what's going on," so it's not too bad. Also, Renee has just gotten coffee and is carrying on with Stu as she finds her way to her seat, so the scene is not completely devoid of action.

Lastly, you'll notice the death ray is plugged in to an ordinary 120-volt outlet, which seems comically underwhelming for such a powerful device. I had the comic finished and posted online and suddenly had the idea to plug it into the wall, so I added it in about a day after the comic had been posted.