Little Dee
Encyclopedia
Little Dee is a webcomic
by Christopher Baldwin
about a little girl lost in the woods who is befriended by three animals. The animals talk; Dee doesn't. The Washington Post termed it "charming", while others called it "innocent and funny" and "age appropriate
".
Begun on June 7, 2004, Little Dee is the last of several strips completed by Baldwin in hopes of 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.
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 (45.4 kg) 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." As of August 8 (possibly earlier) the strip is no longer available on Comics.com.
Little Dee's final strip appeared on Tuesday April 6, 2010. To mark the occasion Baldwin offered a limited edition print of the characters for sale, incorporating a customized sketch and signature for each customer. The edition quickly sold out.
In late May 2010 Baldwin announced that the strip would begin a complete re-run on its original site, "larger and with more annotations", commencing June 7, 2010, the strip's 6th anniversary.
, convinces the others that they should look for Dee's parents, which they do periodically. The four live together in a cave inexplicably equipped with furniture, running water, and electricity.
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; much of the rest is spent in the cave or on other adventures.
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
by Christopher Baldwin
Christopher Baldwin
Christopher Baldwin is an American illustrator and author of several webcomics, the most significant being Bruno, a look at the life of an introspective young woman set in the real world....
about a little girl lost in the woods who is befriended by three animals. The animals talk; Dee doesn't. The Washington Post termed it "charming", while others called it "innocent and funny" and "age appropriate
Age appropriate
Age appropriate refers to a developmental concept whereby certain activities may be deemed appropriate or inappropriate to a child's "stage" or level of development....
".
Begun on June 7, 2004, Little Dee is the last of several strips completed by Baldwin in hopes of syndication. His popular and long-running strip Bruno
Bruno (webcomic)
Bruno is a webcomic written and drawn by Christopher Baldwin from January 1, 1996 to February 14, 2007. Its storylines revolve around the life of an introspective young woman, set in the real world. Her unusual name comes from the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno...
was never intended to be syndicated, but Baldwin turned to creating more family-friendly and accessible comics.
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 (45.4 kg) 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
United Media
United Media is a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It syndicates 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. Its core business is the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association...
. 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
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
depending on how things go." As of August 8 (possibly earlier) the strip is no longer available on Comics.com.
Little Dee's final strip appeared on Tuesday April 6, 2010. To mark the occasion Baldwin offered a limited edition print of the characters for sale, incorporating a customized sketch and signature for each customer. The edition quickly sold out.
In late May 2010 Baldwin announced that the strip would begin a complete re-run on its original site, "larger and with more annotations", commencing June 7, 2010, the strip's 6th anniversary.
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 feralFeral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
, convinces the others that they should look for Dee's parents, which they do periodically. The four live together in a cave inexplicably equipped with furniture, running water, and electricity.
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; much of the rest is spent in the cave or on other adventures.
- Dee is an archetypal childChild (archetype)The Child archetype, is an important Jungian archetype in Jungian psychology, first suggested by Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung. Recently, author Caroline Myss suggested Child, amongst four the Survival Archetypes , present in all of us...
: 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 naïvete, 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. He considers the group his "pack" and Ted the "alpha." http://littledee.net/archive/20050117.html
- 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. Initially the least affectionate toward Dee, he was eventually won over. Atypically, one of his hobbies is knittingKnittingKnitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
. He occasionally recounts events in his earlier life, such as when he lived with several other animals in a library and when he was part of a monastery of roller-skating monks. - Kendra is a young rabbit who approaches most subjects with an intense enthusiasm that the main characters find less than endearing. She and Dee are sometimes playmates.
- Pudú is a pudúPudúThe pudús are two species of South American deer from the genus Pudu; the world's smallest deer. The name is a loanword from Mapudungun the language of the indigenous Mapuche people of southern Chile...
, who lives in ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and is constantly visiting Dee and her friends in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Pudú has an easygoing, naïve personality. He is also highly energetic (as if hyped up by caffeineCaffeineCaffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
), and is quite a pushover. Series concerning Pudú's visits usually result in him offering to go home and fetch something to help with the current situation, only to return three to six months later and find that the object he has fetched now has nothing to do with what's currently happening. - The Alligator is an alligatorAlligatorAn alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
who has a very strong crush on Blake and seems totally unaware that Blake does not love him in return. Ted often kicks him out of the cave when he visits Blake (due to his fear that he will eat one of his friends), so he has taken to visiting in secret, despite the fact that Blake is agitated by this. - Alida is an elephant who has a crush on Vachel. In contrast to Blake's relationship with the Alligator, Vachel somewhat returns Alida's affection.
- A couple of fish appear from time to time, usually chattering away while one of the main characters is about to drown. They eventually end up saving whoever is in trouble at the last possible second, by such methods as "poking him in the bum with a pin".
- The Terranauts are a pair of fish (possibly the same ones) who spend some time exploring dry land and its inhabitants. They wear diving suitDiving suitA diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. A diving suit typically also incorporates an air-supply .-History:...
s full of water, walk on their tail flukes and use their front fins like arms. The suits are supplied with fresh water by hoses from somewhere underwater.
Little Dee in Print
| Title | Cover art | Publication Date | Contents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Dee: Volume One | April 11, 2006 | All strips from the beginning of the strip on June 7, 2004 to the beginning of the hiatus in October 2005. | |
| Little Dee: Volume Two | not yet available | September 24, 2007 | All strips from the end of the hiatus in January 2006 through June 16, 2007. |