Comments (18) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   Yamakasi said, 6 months ago

   @Ben Towle
   So, Ben, if the third seaman at the top of your strip’s letterhead is Cmdr. Bulloch, who’s the figurehead on your ‘Around The Web’ panel? One of the oyster pirates?
2. 

   Night-Gaunt49 said, 6 months ago

   I so love these detailed period pieces. So much about those times are different from today.
3. 

   Gary McSpook said, 6 months ago

   Had this strip appeared 80 years ago it would have been printed on a whole page in full color (like they used to do Prince Valiant), allowing all of the details to be seen. What a shame the funnies have been shrunk down to such a small size. Thank you, Ben Towle, for your wonderful work. Keep it up, and a very Merry Christmas to you.
4. 

   Doctor Toon said, 6 months ago

   @Gary McSpook

   I have a Sunday comics section from 1910 and a few more from the 30s and 40s
   

   
   I miss the days of BIG comics too, the last time I saw a comic get a decent amount of space was when the Rocky Mountain News ran Opus
5. 

   Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

   @Yamakasi

   Yep, that’s Bulloch (as is my avatar). The guy on the “around the web” is an oyster pirate—and not really a major figure. He just got used twice by the gocomics folks.
6. 

   Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

   @Night-Gaunt49

   I love things with historical settings as well. My own strip here is complete fantasy, but I still really enjoyed what research I did on the historical oyster wars and the general era.
7. 

   Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

   @Gary McSpook

   Thanks! I’ve seen some original Sunday pages from that era (Herriman, Popeye/Thimble Theater, etc) and they’re truly amazing. It’s sat that cartoonists no longer have that “canvas” any more in newspapers—but it’s great that we have something pretty similar in the web: full-color, low barrier of entry, etc.
8. 

   Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

   @Doctor Toon

   Yeah, I think Waterson was the last guy to really make a stand for SPACE. As one point, he just refused to make the “header/title space” an optional element, rather than usable space for the overall composition. He had the power and readership to do that; I can’t imagine anyone else from here on out being able to do that.
9. 

   Molly mcgee said, 6 months ago

   Truly amazing artwork.
   Is that an full Indian headdress in the center of P1?
   I look forward to each new strip, (tho it so much more than a “strip”.
   I go back to each new one two or more times!
   Thank you, and Happy New Year!!
10. 

    maybeinthenextworld said, 6 months ago

    I like the gentleman on the floor
11. 

    Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

    @Molly mcgee

    Yeah, that’s a full headdress. I’m not sure why in period pieces from the Civil War era you almost never see any native American folk (or Chinese people, for that matter). Happy New Year (in advance) to you as well—and thanks for reading!
12. 

    Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

    @maybeinthenextworld

    There’s one in every (drunken) crowd!
13. 

    K M said, 6 months ago

    @Ben Towle

    It appears to be a Plains Indian headdress as opposed to any tribe native to the Maryland area. Just ask Havre de Grace: Some guy’s been giving the high school unholy hell for using a Plains Indian in headdress as the mascot for the school’s teams, known as the Warriors. The Susquehannock Indians supposedly didn’t look anything like the Plains tribes when it came to dress.
14. 

    Captain Kiddeo said, 6 months ago

    Oh now this is terrific! I wish I could stumble across the good narrative strips the second they start, but six pages in isn’t too bad…Now I’ll be reading Endtown, Dick Tracy and Oyster War every morning (well, every morning that they appear…)
15. 

    Ben Towle said, 6 months ago

    @K M

    Uh…. well… you see, he’s a Plains Indian visiting his friend in Maryland. Or something. OK, you got me. You get a no prize!

    I guess that’s one of those things where you’ve got to decide between what’s historically accurate and what “reads” best as a visual icon.

    Thanks for spotting that, though. I’ve noted it on my printed mockup. Maybe I’ll revise if/when OW is completed and printed as a book.
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