author’s comments: How was your holiday? As for me, I had a nice little holiday intermission and now I’m coming back feeling very refreshed and ready to draw Maddie’s makeover and Sarah in a silly sweater. Are the kids glad to be back in school? I’m glad they are, because it means I don’t have to draw anymore 20+ hour backgrounds for a few pages!
This chapter’s going to be comparatively lighter than the last couple. I’m sure that’s a relief, after all the Maddie drama and the Sarah/Graev/Tyler love triangle.
Tell me what you think about Maddie’s makeover in the comments.
Maddie’s hair is absolutely stunning!
Thank you!
Man friends FREAK OUT when you drastically change your hair. I remember in Junior High I cut my long brunette hair and dyed it hot pink. People freaked. One kid called me Pinky though…T.T Another asked if I was a beauty school drop out (GREASE)… XD
That “beauty school dropout” is kind of a funny reference to make in junior high. XD But yeah, this may or may not be loosely based on experience.
SQUEEE! Maddie’s hair
Also Sarah’s face
Ahaha, Sarah’s face is the best, right? Glad you like Maddie’s hair!
And of course Sara will open her mouth and stick in her foot. Gawd Sara. Can you PUH LEASE.
…her HAIR.
Her HAIR!
i really like her new hair and she dressing different too right??? i cant wait to see their relationship goes from here, now that Maddie is living with Henreys…i cant wait for the next couple of page..YA!!!!!
I’m glad you like it!
Sara, please. Your SWEATER.
Now that hipsters have appropriated cheesy sweaters, we’re just going to see more and more masterpieces like hers! Mind you, there’s FAR worse out there.
All the male hipsters where I live are wearing the tight jeans. Last year I was one of the few with tight jeans. Mostly gay guys round here wore them that tight before that.
Maddie’s new hairdo and her outfit are tres cute. Another character that finally gets to express themselves how they like. I know I’ve said this before, but I love the detail you put into your characters’ outfits.
I think Sarah’s horrified reaction comes from imagining the same thing happening to her own hair!
I like long hair better myself, but man, I think it’s way more important for a teenage girl to express herself how she wants. And now I am done psychoanalyzing a comic character.
FOR NOW!
Absolutely loving Maddie’s new look – she also looks so much happier now!
I love how happy Maddie looks <3 and she looks cute too ^^ but why are Quinn and Sarah so sad
I know you asked about Maddie but I love Quinn’s outfit plaid top with black sweater, leggings and gray legwarmers and red flats.
Girls are always so creative with their clothing, well most girls…. what Sarah is wearing is something my grandma would give me as a x-mas gift and i would only wear if i had to go to her house.
Cool! So now that Maddie’s in a better place emotionally, is she going to try to lose weight?
Does she need to? What if she’s happy the way she looks?
She’s…immense, though.
Maddie is not even CLOSE to immense.
Are we talking about the same character? The one who’s four times the size of every other character?
It’s not about how “stylish” Maddie’s change is. It’s about the clean break between Maddie then and Maddie now. Now Maddie’s free to find her own style.
Maddie looks so freaking adorable in panel 2. Love the short hair on her.
I spent most of my life with really long blond hair (when I cut it off the braid was literally over a meter long) and everyone FREAKED OUT when I cut it, but I didn’t regret it at all. I felt so free and attractive and ME and actually wished I had done it much earlier…and once people got over their attachment to my long hair they generally agreed with me XD
So what I’m saying is I enjoy seeing Maddie do something like that for herself too :3 plus I think it’s much more flattering on her
Maddie’s hair looks stunning!!!
Oh, Maddie don’t worry girl, it will just take them a bit to get used to it looks gorgeous. Whenever some one changes their hair I th
“Do you know your hair?”
“I know of it”
“It’s all blue”
“Dude, I change my hair every week and a half, get used to it.”
whenever someone changes their hair I think of*
Hot DAMN look at Maddie and her confidence. When people break up, divorce, stop using, etc. sometimes they like to change how they look and get body mods, I guess Maddie decided that her ‘rents couldn’t change her anymore and she was free again.
This actually takes a crap load of courage, and Maddie, as a character, it demonstrates how strong she actually is, this is a beautiful metamorphosis, it really shows her true value and her true strength we all knew was there.
Also she looks fuckin’ rad, makes me wish I liked femme girls .3.
I love Sarah’s sweater, mostly because I love penguins. Where can I get a knitting chart for the penguins so I can make one? Seriously. I’ll send you pictures when I am done.
Funny I’ve always thought that Maddie would look cuter with a short haircut like this. I drooled at the second panel!! *¬*
The new color makes her look less pale and the new outfit suits her! You can SEE she feels great and that she is
I love your comic!
Nice comic, I’m also glad you’re back and drawing.
The lighting in the second panel is a bit off though. Judging by the shadows on both the girls’s clothes makes it seem as if the light is directly against them, coming from somewhat higher than the reader’s viewpoint – but in panels 4 & 6 we can see that the light comes directly from the ceiling. Also, the unshaded lockers in the back make the background seem like a screen. Just a thing I noticed and thought I’d share, seeing as you often express the desire for constructive criticism.
Otherwise, a very nice and unexpected change content-wise. I also think that Maddie looks generally better this way, and, what’s even more important, better-looking in her own opinion.
As always, keep up the good work Kris. We’re here because we like what you’re creating.
PENGUIN.
I agree with Maddie on the hair thing. I used to have long hair….It was a hassle. It would get knotted extremely easily, take forever to brush, get trapped under me when I’m sleeping, get tucked into the waistband of my pants, and get caught in windows. I have had my hair slammed in car doors, and stuck to beads on shirts. When I had the long hair I was a very active kid. I climbed trees a lot. Do you know how hard it is to get sap out of hair?
It was so FREEING when I finally cut it. I felt two feet lighter/taller. Over the years it has fluctuated between below the shoulders, to a pixie cut.
Maddie’s choice to cut it & find her own style is so liberating to her. It speaks of confidence that is steadily growing due to a actual working foster home. My family has a history of fostering. Both my parents & several aunts & uncles are foster families. The first thing that we do is make the foster kid a part of a family with NO strings attached. There are rules, but they do not stifle the child.
I’m glad Maddie has a chance to be Maddie.
Maddie looks SO CUTE this way ! I absolutely love it ! I hope she doesn’t only get this kind of response… she looks a bit disheartened already !
Aww Maddie and Sarah look so cutteeeee
I totally get the Hair thing. I am growing my hair out now. Two of my friends thought it was a bit long in the front, it is. Also my friends thought I looked good when I first grew in sideburns in 07.
Crap I forgot to mention that Maddies hair Looks good. The clothing dose help show her body style.
is it ever explained why she was allowed to have purple but not cut it? seems odd.
btw, she looks great (better IMO with it short)
@Matty Yah I was wondering about that also. Seems like it would be more common for parents to let you cut it than dye it purple..
First thing I thought when the page loaded was..ooo pretty hair cut..I’m I big short hair fan. I’m telling everyone they should cut their hair off..lol
Love her hair
I was one of those people in high school that thought that EVERY girl should have long hair, and when my friends with long hair cut theirs, I freaked out. Then, after my boyfriend of 2 years broke up with me I cut mine (cliche, I know) but afterwards I just felt so free. Ever since, I have had my hair cut so many different ways, I love my long hair, but I also love it in a cute little pixie cut as well :3
I liked her hair before, but that’s just because I have a thing for loong hair, and hers was…unf. But she looks super cute, especially in that outfit. It’s totally something I would wear, and I’m a fellow big girl who likes girls. Rock on Maddy!
While I love how this is going so far (and I LOVE Maddie’s new haircut), I was just noticing the people in the background. We have an emo/goth-lookin’ kid all in black and crouching in panels four and six like an awesome photo bomber, and we have a Brit-style Punk with the green hair… and it’s great to know that even the background types vary in body shape!
Seriously, excellent job. Hurry on with the next page!!! The suspense is killing me!
I think I can understand Sarah’s reaction a little. I suppose (and feel free to correct me), as a transgirl, she feels that long hair is something that’s feminine and beautiful, something that she desperately wants for herself. However, here is the wonderful Maddie, who has just gone and had HER loooong hair cut right off, throwing away what Sarah covets and would never squander in her shoes. I suppose that a reason why it’s pretty shocking.
*that’s
Sarah might even think of it as a sign of a desperate upheaval, like ‘Oh my G-d, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt, is it something we should know about? oh my G-d oh my G-d oh my G-d!’
My character analyses may be horribly wrong, so do correct me.
I Love the third panel. ^_^ Maddie blushing is soo cute. I can understand Quinn’s feelings on her hair though, I personally love long hair, but short has its advantages too =) I will miss Maddie’s hair, but I love the new look just as much. Maddie is my favorite character.
Also I wanted to thank you, I had dyed my hair like Maddie’s when I first found this comic. My streaks are blue though. I think it fits me well. So thank you =)
I sort of like Sarah’s sweater. I think it looks cozy and comfy and adorable. It’s probably still freezing outside. Why does everybody gotta go hating on her sweater? It’s adorable, and I feel like Sarah likes being adorable.