Friday, July 07, 2006

Character Profile - Tom


I can't believe we've not done a proper 'character profile' for Tom yet! So to correct the oversight here is all you need to know about Tom.

Tom's not the sharpest knife in the draw, not by a long way, in fact he's not even in the draw! If he was in the draw it would be full of sheep and all the other knives would soon be blunt and living in tents. The draw itself would probably go a bit soggy underneath and no doubt all sorts of mushrooms and fungi would begin to grow on it. Shall I go on?

Tom was the first character we came up with and to be honest he was pretty two-dimensional to begin with, no pun intended. We wanted a typical country bumpkin sort who would be good for laughs and probably not much more. Over time Tom has, like all our characters, evolved. (He couldn't stay as simple forever now could he!)

Yes, he's still pretty stupid but what he knows about is the Farm and he knows it bloody well! The farm has been in his family since the dawn of farming and its traditions and methods, (unorthodox as they are), have been honed and passed down through the generations. He may give the outward appearance of just bumbling along but he knows stuff! Lots of stuff! Tom knows all the secrets of the farm, he a one-man confessional booth. Tom isn't judgemental, has no emotional baggage, no issues to resolve and no axe to grind, so he's the perfect person to work through your problems with. (Like all the best Psychiatrists he'll just throw your questions right back at you!)

He's also perfectly in tune with his surroundings, knowing when it’s going to rain, when to harvest and when to dance nude under the full moon! Tom is a classic family man, he loves to spend time with Bernie and little Flossie who can do no wrong in her fathers eye. The only time you would see Tom angry or raise his voice is in defence of his family and his farm.

Gordon posted some of the first Tom sketches in an earlier post but here are his first and last appearances to compare how his look developed over time.

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