comic strip superstar: complete failure

Apparently the fine folks at Amazon and Universal Press Syndicate never received my envelope full of cash: I did not reach the Top 10 finalists in the Comic Strip Superstar contest. Making the top 50 (out of thousands of entries) is nothing to sneeze at; I'm happy with the recognition. It says something that I reached that summit after creating a comic strip on two weeks' notice. Not bad for a rush job.As promised, I'm making my entry, Tortilla Flat, available for you to read.Tortilla Flat is a completely new strip. It stars fraternal twins, a brother and sister, living with their grandmother in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. The twist (known in writers' circles as deus ex machina) is, the grandmother spends much of her time visiting a moa bird who lives in her backyard. Moe can speak perfect English, yet he refuses to help Grandma out with her daily crossword puzzle. I can almost hear Garry Trudeau giggling from here!I hope you enjoy this complete failure of a comic strip. I'm thinking about reworking the premise a bit and making a formal submission to syndicates. Suggestions will be taken in the order in which they are received. (Unless it's a right hook; I always duck those.)