With this story, I wanted to basically take a closer look at the relationship between BitF’s title characters. What would happen if they got into an actual heated tiff (instead of a one-sided battle on Dedede’s end), what new jokes could arise from a sleepover scenario, and ultimately, what might cause Dedede to actually have fun with Kirby. Hey, he’s a competitive guy! Sometimes you just have to smack someone around with a pillow for awhile to open up to them (even a little).
I didn’t want this arc to get too dire and heated, which is why I went with pillows. I mean, if the two were actually duking it out with fists, it’d be a little unnerving. But this way, Kirby feels some regret with losing control, Dedede admits he had fun, and the guys actually kid around with each other for…the first time ever?
While it was nice to have them find some common ground, does this mean they’re buddies now? Kirby would say, “Always!” But don’t expect Dedede to get all chummy. I do like playing with their pliable relationship and evolving it slightly (Kirby has seemingly gotten a bit more self-aware), but they’ll always be friendly rivals at best, just like in the games. Since the previous parts of this story have had some outlandish expressions, I thought it’d be fun to dial it back and go for more subtle looks in the latter half of this strip too.
And Meta Knight once again has to deal with excess silliness from all those around him.
So, big news! The Kickstarter is in the final stretch now, and the hardcover goal has more or less been reached! For all pledgers who are receiving the book–you can upgrade your book to hardcover now if you wish! But be quick, because after the Kickstarter ends in 5 days, backers can’t change their pledge. The hardcover version will be limited in quantity–everyone who orders one will certainly get one, but there won’t be a ton of them in the online store after that, so act fast if you really want one!
-By Matthew
