Welcome to strip number 80!~ Yay. I wanted to explore a bit more of the personalities of the twins, Callie and Casey (Casey has the weird hat), so I’ve written a few “twin strips” for the next little bit ( leading up to a BIG SURPRISE coming to the strip after that). This was meant to just be a twin gag, but I did go into their speech problem a bit. I want everyone to know that I am NOT MAKING FUN of people with speech problems! Its just the opposite. My wife is a speech therapist and our OWN twins have had speech problems since they were tiny. Its fairly common in twins. So, in a subtle way, this strip took a little step into a more serious note (being bullied for being different), but I’m not making OUTNUMBERED a place to speak about this as an “issue”, its just a part of who they are at this age. Anyway, that’s that.
Oh man, I REALLY want to tell you the secret coming up in OUTNUMBERED. Its gonna be good and- here’s a hint- something NO OTHER WEBCOMIC HAS EVER DONE! Start guessing now….
If you want to see some behind the scenes of OUTNUMBERED (I posted the initial sketch/design for Diane, the bully this week), then the place to go and become a supporter of is my Patreon page. Hit the banner on the top, right side.
While you’re at it, hit the banner below that for Andrew Chandler’s strip, he colors my comic and does and excellent job!
“And why do you talk like a Caveman???”
Why does the “Questioner” LOOK like a Caveman, er, Cavegirl???
I think this is good. I was just reading the 10th Anniversary book of Calvin and Hobbes. In it Waterson explains some of his motives for certain strips. You have to be allowed to be you, the storyteller, and not fear stepping into places you might later decide against or for. I have been enjoying this for a while now. Thank you.
you’ve got it picked up by a newsprint syndicate…?
Nope. That’s not really even a goal anymore, but good guess.
I was in speech therapy as a child. From about 2 years old until 4th grade where the ST I had at that time and I just had a huge personality clash and my parents agreed to let me stop taking it. And I still get complimented on my speaking abilities (apparently there’s a lack of that in this country). Not a twin, I am hard of hearing. But I do remember being treated differently by my peers for these reasons. I hope that my experience has made me more empathetic towards others with differences.
I’m sure it has. Even your note here shows your empathy toward others. Thinking about it rather than ignoring something is the beginning of empathy.
Congrats on #80! Seems like forever since #1, doesn’t it?
I had to go back and notice the speech thing in earlier strips again. That was well done.
I’m thrilled enough to finally leave a comment. Woot!
Thanks for commenting!
This is an interesting direction to go, but I think the final gag loses some of its impact since there’s the caveman joke in between. I think if the third panel had been first (and they both say they’re in speech therapy), and then panels 1 and 2 and 4 followed (with some variation in the text to make more sense) it might have been a little clearer.
I dunno, just talkin’.
You’ve succeeded in making me feel bad for the twins. I hope they get out OK.
Huh, I didn’t realize speech problems were common in twins. I thought we were unique :b
(twin & had speech problems as a kid)
((I blamed my brother for stealing my voice))
I just got caught up on the archives and am anxiously awaiting Monday’s strip. Love it!
Great comic, Tom. You may not know this, but I’m a fraternal twin too, and my brother and I both had speech problems. I had no idea it was a twin thing .