Farley: Misshapen Dog or Mystery Animal?
My initial reaction to seeing today’s For Better or For Worse is: What kind of animal is Farley anyway? He sure isn’t any kind of dog I have seen before. Here’s my take on it:
In Panel 1, Farley appears to be part anteater with a long tongue delving into the inner recesses of Michael’s ear looking for bugs, and yet also one part electric eel with the electrical shock balloon around him.
In Panel 2, Farley’s eyeless look as he grasps Michael’s sock makes me think crocodile.
In Panel 3, Farley’s running stance favours an animal that kicks off with its hind legs for its speed, like a kangaroo or a rabbit, instead of dog which usually uses a contrapuntal motion between its four legs.
In Panel 4, whatever kind of animal there is that can tilt its head completely back off its body? Decapitated animal, perhaps?
In Panel 5, the tiny head attached to the larger body makes me think rabbit.
In Panel 6, with those back legs and tail, definitely a sheep.
In Panel 7, intoxicated platypus having a nightmare about purple children instead of pink elephants..
In Panel 8: What do you call an animal whose lower half is standing up, but whose upper half is lying down? Very flexible. No wonder Lizzie and Michael look so astonished.
After 8 panels of this nonsense, it is suddenly very clear to me why the upcoming children’s book, Farley Follows His Nose has an extra artist on it aside from Lynn.
In Panel 1, Farley appears to be part anteater with a long tongue delving into the inner recesses of Michael’s ear looking for bugs, and yet also one part electric eel with the electrical shock balloon around him.
In Panel 2, Farley’s eyeless look as he grasps Michael’s sock makes me think crocodile.
In Panel 3, Farley’s running stance favours an animal that kicks off with its hind legs for its speed, like a kangaroo or a rabbit, instead of dog which usually uses a contrapuntal motion between its four legs.
In Panel 4, whatever kind of animal there is that can tilt its head completely back off its body? Decapitated animal, perhaps?
In Panel 5, the tiny head attached to the larger body makes me think rabbit.
In Panel 6, with those back legs and tail, definitely a sheep.
In Panel 7, intoxicated platypus having a nightmare about purple children instead of pink elephants..
In Panel 8: What do you call an animal whose lower half is standing up, but whose upper half is lying down? Very flexible. No wonder Lizzie and Michael look so astonished.
After 8 panels of this nonsense, it is suddenly very clear to me why the upcoming children’s book, Farley Follows His Nose has an extra artist on it aside from Lynn.
posted by howard at 10:59 PM
5 Comments:
Given Lynn's refusal to draw him consistently, her being replaced by a superior artist is no surprise at all. He might actually look like a real sheepdog instead of the formless wonder he was in the strip.
dreadedcandiru2,
It will be interesting to see the book just to see how Farley looks in it. I must admit a certain fear of not recognizing Farley if he actually looks like a dog instead of some generic white and black blob with legs and head generally attached.
I read somewhere (I think it was even on the Q and Eh section of the official foob site) that Lynn has had problems with her vision,so her drawing isn't always good, or something.
muzition,
Yes, it says:
The hardest part for Lynn is coming up with all the ideas. Drawing has become a problem, due to deteriorating eyesight, but help from Laura and Jackie keeps the strip on schedule!
I wouldn't mind this excuse except it makes little sense with the artistic errors I see and the fact she has ditched Laura and Jackie. Whether you do or do not put eyes on a dog, for example, has little to do with bad eyesight. Either Laura or Jackie (when they were employed), could have said, "Hey, Lynn! You didn't draw the eyes on this character" but either they never did, or Lynn ignored them when they did.
Real dog's ears don't grow from way down on their cheek area. I'm not sure if any animal's ears do.
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