So… Who can tell me what’s different about this particular comic? Anyone?
Yes, you in the back. That’s correct, it’s not in color. This is the only Mister & Me that is uncolored. Why? I was still testing the waters with the whole strip, and for a fleeting moment I didn’t know if I would do the comic in color or black-and-white.
Why would I even consider not coloring it? That too is a great question. The reason is because coloring takes time and effort, and if I didn’t have to color them the more comics I could produce (Somewhere out in the world I had just inpspired a young businessman and they are jumping up and down agreeing with this statement shouting “That’s right! Time is money!”).
But after I finished this one, and started on the third Mister & Me, I quickly realized that coloring the comic was like adding the frosting to a cake. Sure, people don’t normally say, “I’m hoping the party has frosted cake!” In today’s world if you say ‘cake’ it’s only right to assume there is going to be frosting on top of it. It’s a no brainer. If you do go to a birthday party and the cake is unfrosted, believe me… there will be dissapointment all over the place. Yes, even those people who scrape off the frosting.
Comics don’t particularly need to be colored. The joke is still there. It’s meaning is still there. But it does make the finished product look polished, and presentable. There’s a reason why (before daily strips in the newspaper were color) the Sunday Comics were popular. They were big and in color. When I was a kid it was a big deal. Even today when my son and I look at the Calvin-and-Hobbes collections he’s drawn to the colored sunday versions.
Yes, you in back, you have another question?
Why didn’t I go ahead and color this one? That too is a great question. It was my chance to play Dr. Sam Beckett and put things right that once went wrong, but I obviously didn’t think it was wrong to actually change it. When I had decided to showcase the first Mister & Me’s, on this site, I was tempted to revisit this one and add color to it. But I decided against it, and keep it as it was originally seen.
The only time when you appreciate the frosting is when it’s no longer there.