I keep looking at the way I started drawing Petey and Horse and I cringe every time. I mean, Petey really is just a glorified snowman at this stage, and Horse is a sock puppet. No, that wasn't intentional, I wasn't trying to go for some twisted Calvin and Hobbes thing here were Horse really is a sock puppet comes to life through Petey's desperate need for friends.

It's obvious that I didn't put much effort into character research before putting the comics up on the web. The whole plan was to be able to make comics as quickly as possible, so there was no time to waste with, you know, exploration, design and that kind of waste. No, I was a true artist. I had a true message. Give 'em the real "F-U" by printing out whatever garbage crosses your mind and leaks out onto your sheets of 8x11 photocopy paper.

Man, that is so 1992.

But in all fairness to myself, no matter how cool I want to seem by beating myself up, I did put some thought into Petey's design. I always wanted him to be one of those guys who tries to look cool, but his awkwardness and lack of self-confidence are so prevalent that he just comes off as desperate. So a backward ballcap and goatee seemed the route to go. The rest, well, was up to me and my writing, and as of this episode, I was still busy trying to be edgy. And what is more edgy than DRUG REFERENCES??!?