Haley and the new art style

[NerdyKris]

Im not sure its that either. The lighting is a bit odd, but its pretty dark colored to be the desert armor.

But then the question is, where did it come from if it's not what she's been wearing? The undershirt can be explained. But suddenly having new magical leather armor while flying full speed across the ocean is a bit unlikely.

[Keltest]

But then the question is, where did it come from if it's not what she's been wearing? The undershirt can be explained. But suddenly having new magical leather armor while flying full speed across the ocean is a bit unlikely.

I don't know. However, I feel this is a far more pressing issue than that vampire thing last comic.

[Nightcanon]

Second. Stick or no, Haley is intended as a "hot" character, if you recall. Yes, that's back in the old days, but even then Haley was more than a sex object.

What we need is to hear from girl readers what they think Elan looks like.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0339.html might give more detail.

I don't know if I'd describe Haley as 'hot', but I'd agree that she strikes this male as a sexy character, mainly because of how she acts wrt Elan, i.e. personality/ character stuff, unrelated to the distraction bonus to AC that her desert armour provides.

Edit: strange, I'd always imagined Elan's Dashing Swordsman top to be a jacket rather than a waistcoat. Just about the first thing that's made me go "that looks odd" with the new art.

[Ridureyu]

It's nice to know that she wears pants.

[malloyd]

I don't care for the new art style, and I think I now know why. I think it's similar to the uncanny valley effect in animation. It has slipped over some sort of boundary in how I interpret it between "deliberately simplified" and "this guy can't draw" - that is despite being technically more detailed, it "feels" like a less capable artist is drawing it.

[Codex]

I don't care for the new art style, and I think I now know why. I think it's similar to the uncanny valley effect in animation. It has slipped over some sort of boundary in how I interpret it between "deliberately simplified" and "this guy can't draw" - that is despite being technically more detailed, it "feels" like a less capable artist is drawing it.

All he did was thicken the limbs and add a few more details! How is it that different?

[Lissou]

All he did was thicken the limbs and add a few more details! How is it that different?

I suspect the people who are having some trouble with it would have less problem if the comic had always been this way. It's switching from one to the other that makes it jarring. I believe if he had started with actual stick figure, a la XKCD, then switched to his original style, people would have similar concerns about it being too realistic and uncanny valley.

[Loreweaver15]

All he did was thicken the limbs and add a few more details! How is it that different?

It's not a matter of logic, it's a matter of perception; just like a person with a scale-breaking IQ and ten PHDs would come off as backwards and dumb to some people if said smart person spoke with certain accents. It's not true, it's just knee-jerk reactions coming from a mix of past experiences and stereotypes.

[konradknox]

No, but I do find something strange and vaguely creepy about overly sexualising a stick figure character by replacing her body with the body of a 'hot girl player' you know and her face with some celebrity and saying you feel like you've been dating her.

Oh please, if I got on every female reader's butt for reading Chronicles of Amber and imagining Sean Connery as King Oberon, I'd call every one of them creepy.
In my head I have a specific idea what each character looks and sounds like if this was a movie.

But I feel like I'm being defensive over a point I'm not even making. I'm not overly sexualizing Haley, nor am I describing 5 pages of what her and I do would do in a locked room. I simply stated that to me she is intensely hot, primarily because I like her personality. I.e. if Haley existed in real life, and I were single, I would take steps to date her.

Plus, for the good first half of the comic, she had a lot of insecurities, and was timid in matters of intimacy. And I do like my timid.

[AstralFire]

Er... I would just like to point out that my question was regarding the visual depiction of her. I'm... I really don't want to get into the other stuff.

[Mith]

it's hard to tell the difference between snark and sincerity in our post-modern society.

I appreciated the pun, even if it was not intentional.

[The Oni]

I hope.

It's disturbing that even though she is a stick figure, some men here seem to prefer her to be a ridiculous sex object than a plausible character.

In all honesty; would you find it more offensive that he has a fondness for a stickfigure character with ten years worth of characterization, whose looks have never been concretely defined beyond the obvious red hair and leather armor, or for a random airhead with the Most Common Superpower (great boobs, of course) and no depth beyond 'love interest?' Presumably some men would enjoy reading about interesting female characters for much the same reason women read romance novels (of the non-or-less-sleazy variety).

That said, leather hotpants are somewhat overrated. Here's hoping for something with a hood and fur, especially if they really are going north. Sufficiently roguish parka ought to make those sneak attacks look really cool.