April Fools in the Uncanny Valley

Today continues a grand tradition of me taking the day off.  I asked my friend Reid (known for his renderings of possibly fictitious animals) to lend his drawing hand for today's strip.  He took Falling Rock someplace it's never been before: the Uncanny Valley.  I've written about my distaste for this particular valley, so I was thrilled when Reid came up with this joke.  He pulled it off better than I ever would have been able to do.When he first showed me the strip he told me the difficulty was in determining what kind of lizard and what kind of owl are Ernesto and Carver.  Ernesto, it turns out, is a cross between a horned lizard and a gila monster (one that wears a baseball jersey and walks on his hind legs, at that).  Carver is a pygmy burrowing owl.  Here you can see his process drawings:I love Reid's contribution.  I want to ask him to draw all my animal characters in this realistic style.  What will Pam and Melissa look like?Why not take a trip down memory lane?  Here are previous years' April Fool strips:2011 - Kenan Rubenstein2010 - Ian Kennedy2009 - Easter Island statues (me)2008 - Partner blogger McBone