Little Dee
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| Little Dee | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Christopher Baldwin |
| Website | http://www.littledee.net/ |
| Current status | Monday-Saturday |
| Launch date | June 7, 2004 |
Little Dee is a webcomic by Christopher Baldwin about a little girl lost in the woods who is befriended by three animals. One of the strip's basic premises is that the animals talk, but Dee doesn't.
Begun on June 7, 2004, Little Dee is the most recent in a long succession of strips by the author in his attempt to create a comic suitable for syndication. His popular and long-running strip Bruno was never intended to be syndicated, but Baldwin turned to creating more family-friendly and accessible comics. On October 3, 2005, Baldwin began a 3-month hiatus from all his online projects, including Little Dee. The hiatus ended on January 1, 2006.
Each strip is accompanied by a "Buy This Artwork!" link. The art is offered for sale in its original form, without its final shading, usually in two rows (which are combined into one on the web version), 7.75"x10.75" on vellum 100 lb bristol sized 9"x12". Once purchased, the name of the buyer replaces the "Buy" link, accompanied by the date and time of purchase.
On May 30, 2006, Little Dee began appearing on Comics.com, beginning with two weeks of "reruns" to initiate new readers. Comics.com is a service of United Media. On his website on June 13, 2006, Chris Baldwin stated that the deal is a developmental deal, for "a year, give or take, possibly leaning towards syndication depending on how things go."
[edit] Characters and general plot
The strips starts with Dee lost in the woods. Lonely, she hugs the first thing she can find, a bear called Ted. Ted can't find it in his heart to eat such a cute girl, so he adopts her, much to the chagrin of his friend Vachel, a vulture. Blake, a domesticated dog who has become feral, convinces the others that they should look for Dee's parents. Dee's real name is not known; it is the name Ted has given her. Some of their time is spent searching for Dee's parents; the rest is spent on one of their many adventures.
Dee is an archetypal child: young, cute, innocent, and fearless. She represents all that is simple and cheerfully adventurous. That she does not speak adds to her childlikeness and seeming naivete, yet she often is the boldest of all the characters.
Ted is sensible, a parent, a mediator. Dee is most often seen hugging him. He is fiercely protective of her. The only thing that rattles Ted is Dee's misadventures. Ted is very fond of chocolate.
Blake is the link for the other animals to the human world as he is domesticated, yet now lives in the woods. He is good-natured and somewhat naive and gullible — not the brightest of the characters.
Vachel is the cynic and the curmudgeon of the group. He is the most likely to make snide remarks or see the dark side of things. He acts the least attracted to Dee, but she sometimes wins him over, especially with her fearlessness. It is sometimes hinted at in the comic that Vachel actually has a strong hidden fondness for Dee. Atypically, one of his hobbies is knitting.
[edit] Little Dee in Print
Little Dee: Volume One was first released in April, 2006. A first "batch" became available for shipping April 11, the second about a week after that. The entire first printing sold out by April 27. A second printing began shipping around June 17, 2006. The book contains all Little Dee strips from the beginning of the strip on June 7, 2004 until Chris' hiatus began in October, 2005.
