Anthony Caine – Instant Make Over
I had been expecting Anthony Caine to make an appearance at Shawna-Marie Verano’s wedding, since we went through the whole business of Liz being turned down by him. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Lynn Johnston would shave him and give him a complete makeover. We see just the head of him in the final panel of today’s strip, but I have an expectation that when he rises to his feet, muscles will ripple, chests will expand, and the guy will suddenly have a body as nice as Constable Paul Wright’s. The part I didn’t really understand is why? Lynn Johnston admires Charles Schultz, and when Peanuts was in its final days, the characters didn’t all suddenly change their appearance.
The obvious answer is that Lynn is letting the new artist, the one who is really going to be putting in all the new art surrounding the old reprinted art to have a chance to reimage the characters the way she wants to draw them. Some artists are good at imitating others’ style, and some artists prefer to draw the characters the way they like to draw characters, except with enough similar features so they are somewhat recognizable. For example, every time I see someone draw Batman, his costume ears are different lengths. I think this is the same thing here. Lynn Johnston gave this artist the chance to redraw Anthony, so his appearance will more closely match the way he is going to look for the vast majority of the reprints involving him and the way she wants to draw him. When you get right down to it, he adopted the moustache in 2002, and he really has not been in very many strips in the interim. It makes more sense for him to look like his old self.
Of this brings to mind another question. Elly, in the early strips, looked very different from the modern, turnip-nosed Elly. Will Lynn Johnston let the artist re-image Elly to look more human, less muppet, and more like she used to look? I doubt it. However, April and Elizabeth only bear a vague resemblance to their prior look, so it could be possible.
The obvious answer is that Lynn is letting the new artist, the one who is really going to be putting in all the new art surrounding the old reprinted art to have a chance to reimage the characters the way she wants to draw them. Some artists are good at imitating others’ style, and some artists prefer to draw the characters the way they like to draw characters, except with enough similar features so they are somewhat recognizable. For example, every time I see someone draw Batman, his costume ears are different lengths. I think this is the same thing here. Lynn Johnston gave this artist the chance to redraw Anthony, so his appearance will more closely match the way he is going to look for the vast majority of the reprints involving him and the way she wants to draw him. When you get right down to it, he adopted the moustache in 2002, and he really has not been in very many strips in the interim. It makes more sense for him to look like his old self.
Of this brings to mind another question. Elly, in the early strips, looked very different from the modern, turnip-nosed Elly. Will Lynn Johnston let the artist re-image Elly to look more human, less muppet, and more like she used to look? I doubt it. However, April and Elizabeth only bear a vague resemblance to their prior look, so it could be possible.
posted by howard at 10:22 PM
3 Comments:
Though weirdly, this newly shaven Anthony does NOT resemble his pre-mustache self. He used to have a rather beakish nose and, now that I think of it, he looked a bit like Beaker from The Muppet Show. But hey, you recently mentioned you were hoping Anthony would shave off the 'stache. I never thought this would come true.
I don't think we'll see Elly reverting to her earlier, more human look. Shame--I miss that version of Elly.
The looks of the characters have changed several times during the many years that I've been following fborfw. I was hoping to see Anthony's perplexed (insecure) expressions, nose and moustache toned down. This x-treme makeover is way more than I could have hoped for.
aprilp_katje,
In the strip you have chosen, only Dawn comes the closest to looking like her teenaged self. I would never match that slick-haired Shawna-Marie to the afro version of today. And of course, that was Elizabeth when she was still sporting her button nose.
Anonymous,
You have reminded me that there was always some point in the Patterson children's development, when they would undergo a majour overhaul. Each of the characters went from button nose to real nose. Each of the characters went from kid haircut to teenage haircut to adult haircut. The art has certainly never been good enough to be able to match a childhood picture with an adult picture. It is possible we are experiencing a similar transformation in the characters, I would call it the "model phase" since the transformation seems to be about making the characters look like fashion models.
If Elly were to transform, she wouldn't turn into her old self, she would become Fashion Model Elly. I sense a doll line is a possibility.
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