294 - Too Hot to Go Out

Funny thing, when I came up with the idea for this strip, it was in the 90s around here. Today we’re dealing with highs in the 60s!

One of the frustrating things about doing this strip is word balloons. Since we stick with a specific format, getting the wording in each panel can be a challenge. We use a combination of balloons and free-floating words, depending on the background. Still, since we tend to have a chatty strip in confined quarters, we’ve ended up with some rather crowded panels. Although we know that can be a pain sometimes to read, thankfully our readers have told us they like the dialogue as-is, and therefore the occasional crowding is only a minor annoyance. However, there are times like today’s panel where there is plenty of room for the word balloons, but the mere use of them obstructs the art. I spent a good deal of time doing the house of the Pixels’ neighbor across the street, only to have most of it hidden behind a balloon. Grrr…

I do have to ask, have any of our readers seen an ice cream truck recently? I remember seeing them all the time while growing up. I have seen a few in the past few, but not nearly like I used to. I remember years ago my family lived in an apartment complex with lots of kids. There was this guy with an ice cream truck who would park nearby and sit there for hours. That darned music would play the whole time and drive us batty! Still, there was nothing as good (or cool) as going to get a Goody bar from the ice cream truck. Sadly, another staple of my childhood that my kids may never get to know or enjoy.