Digital-CAPtionS – “The Original Nutty Funsters”

November 10, 2008 by Jaymes Reed
Filed under Columns

I really love talking animals in comics. When I was a wee one, talking rabbits and cats were funny and appealing to children and adults alike. Who can forget Bugs Bunny declaring war and Sylvester the Cat trying to cop a meal at Tweety’s expense?

I’m grown now and so is the world of comics. It truly shows in Stephanie O’Donnell’s “The Original Nutty Funsters,” a web strip about Poley, Henry and Dee, three such animals who pass their time in a very slice-of-life fashion. Before I begin, I’ll quote Pokey by saying “ok, I’m going in! Wish me luck. Just in case, tell ‘em I died bravely. And deliciously.”

Approaching this, I figured I’d start with the very first strip, so I clicked “first.” When I got there, I was greeted by a 4-panel comic that seemed quite rough around the edges… something created in January 2007.

So I clicked “Next.” I was instantly transported a year into the future to January 2008! This was getting interesting… would my next strip be dated January 2009?! Could it happen?

Nope. It was the next day. Oh well.

Kidding aside, the one year leap told a lot about the development of Stephanie’s talent. I immediately noticed an instant change in line weights, lettering and humor. From here on out, TONF pretty much stays on a weekly schedule.

I read the entire year and loved MOST every minute of it. There were a couple of times where it lost me, but the stories eventually bounced back like glue, reverting to the funny comments on life, neighbors, annoyances and friends who find it difficult to not kill one another! I especially enjoyed Tippy the Centipede’s shower scene.

As stated already, the first strip was rough but throughout the journey of reading them all are noticeable changes in Stephanie’s art style that work to the betterment of the comic. The lettering is great, too. She has nice penmanship, which has improved right alongside the art. She is indeed comfortable with that pen in her hand!

By the final and present piece most recently posted on the homepage, I was looking for the bookmark button on my Firefox browser.

In summary, “The Original Nutty Funsters” is just what the title claims:

Original.

Nutty.

And believe me, it was FUN.

TONF can be seen at http://theairingcupboard.net/tonf/ and is updated around Tuesdays and Wednesdays and sometimes on other days I suspect when Stephanie feels inspired to post something and from what I gather reading this, that happens quite a lot!

Keep The Vision,
Jaymes Reed

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