It is possible to use preset emotions on your characters; as per the usual with CG presets, though, it’s also almost always a mistake. However I don’t think the problem is with variation. I can’t speak for custom models like those in Dreamland Chronicle, but even the stock models like those I use have 50 or more morph dials for expression, all of which can be used in conjunction and at strengths varying from about -50% to 100%.

The trouble as I would identify it is with subtlety. Cartoons and comics tend to use somewhat exaggerated expressions and poses to get their point across, which is good, but CG models are meant for realism; if you try to exaggerate the expressions or features you end up with something awful-looking. If you don’t, the characters look unexpressive and blank. It’s possible to hit the happy medium, but not in every panel or every time.

I’d also disagree with you a bit on backgrounds. You don’t *have* to scan/draw/model every little thing (in fact you can get by with no modelling talent at all, as I do): the CG community is very generous, and with a bit of digging one can generally find freebie models of all kinds of things. It’s one of the few advantages of CG.

I agree generally, though — CG isn’t, and will probably never be, a match for hand-drawn comics. Useful for some of us, yes, but that’s about the best that can be said.

Motion lines might work for that too.

Maybe it’s just me, but I have a lot of trouble when the speech bubbles clearly have no relationship whatsoever to the art. These Dreamland chronicles pages are like you’re looking at a museum diorama and somebody pasted speech bubble stickers on the glass display case. I don’t really “hear” them as an integral part of the world the way I do with speech bubbles in drawn comics.

Also, a lot of times the mouths look weird.

I have never read Little Nemo, and I probably wouldn’t have heard of it if not for the NES game of the same name,

Dude, what the hell. Get out there and read it, man! A comics critic saying that is like a film critic saying “I probably wouldn’t have heard about Orson Welles if not for the Transformers movie”.

I hope that doesn’t sound harsher then I mean it; I’m sick and medicated, I can’t judge that. But seriously, Winsor McKay is one of history’s great cartoonists. As a comics fan/critic you owe it to yourself to get to know him.

Maybe I was helped by the fact that I read the first 14 chapters in a whole (’cause I discovered this webcomic only circa a month ago … hey, in Italy we don’t have much of a cover of international webcomics, ok ?), or maybe because I am a huge fan of fantasy stories (that, after all, are always a bit naive, aren’t they ? Heroes never fail … it’s not how reality works …).

Anyway, I found that the most appealing factor of this webcomic (remember that I am quite restricted in my views, since I don’t know and I don’t have time to read webcomics in general) is the author himself! Scott is a very kind person and a very appreciative one. As Rich says, he always considers reader’s opinion the most and he is always in search of suggestions and betterments. He is really an artist from that point of view.

Ok, now I’m stopping or someone could think I am paid by him to be such a fan