The second panel is amusing in retrospect. Take a look at whatever’s on the front page, versus this one. Over time, the eyes have drifted further apart and definitely gotten smaller. I couldn’t say exactly why that is, but it seems to make characters more endearing (or “cuter”, I suppose) and a little less intelligent. The overall effect is, I feel, a little less “threatening”, as though my stick people could ever appear threatening in the first place. The Japanese have a good handle on cute, non-threatening characters — I’m probably influenced by that. [November 28, 2011]