Extended Play

Anniversary Top Ten Countdown: #1

Added 2019-08-07 15:01:00 +0000 UTC

The first anniversary top ten countdown concludes! These are our favorite ten comics of the first year. Coming in at #1 is comic #1, "Dragon Arrives."

Today is the first anniversary of Stuffed, so I suppose it's only fitting that the top ten comic we are discussing today is comic #1! As a comic strip writer, I have always found that the most difficult one to script is, by far, the very first one in a series. I have never had any trouble with the final one, but the first one always gives me fits. At least, usually. In the case of Stuffed, the perfect first strip kind of fell right into my lap. As soon as I decided that I wanted to start with Dragon's arrival, the comic pretty much wrote itself.

As a writer, I am a notorious perfectionist. I have been known to rewrite a single sentence of dialogue 10 or even 20 times until I felt it was "just right." When I look back at past comics, I usually only see things that I would have liked to do differently. But, with Stuffed #1, I really feel like it is a perfect first comic. The daunting goals of a first comic are essentially threefold: 1) introduce the world, 2) introduce the characters, and 3) get a laugh. I think this comic does all three well. You learn so much about TG in those first several panels without her ever saying a word (unless you count the squeal), you get a good feel for the Stuffed world, and Dragon provides a nice laugh in the final panel. Put it all together, and you have our favorite comic of the first year!

What did you think of this one?