The Chronological Wheeler - Part 3: 2017-2022

2017

The first in an unintentional series of Lesser Than Three Valentines cards! Wheeler gets one of the few that’s actually kinda sincere, true to his nature.

Wheeler’s first comic appearance was this year too! He settles into the role of playing the straight man to Annie’s eccentric personality. I think about his expression in the last panel a lot.

“I’M GOING BEAR-ZERK!!!”

2018

A specific AU setting that I never got back to, hence the surprise pairing! Inspired by the Digimon Adventure Tri movie posters without going into all the complicated BG elements.

Including this one mostly because I'm fairly sure it ended up being one of my best performing - if not the best performing - Lesser Than Three comic on Twitter. The amount of retail workers that resonated to this scenario was shocking to say the least...

2019

I wanted to make one of the most drastic design changes in Lesser Than Three and really push the polar bear aspect. This time I took inspiration from the Polar Bear Cafe anime (As should you - it’s one of the best shows ever) and tried to incorporate things like the long neck and longer snoot. It also came with his first new daily-life outfit in forever! If I remember correctly, the sketch for this one did abnormally well on Twitter at the time, and then the finished didn't make much traction, haha. Still, it’s a look that I’m really happy with and I’m glad I made the change.

2020

A few sketches I did to get comfortable with the new design - the bottom middle one is my favorite.

He still has his usual outfit, though! It’s come back, though now it’s sleeveless and has pockets in the front. Thai tea is new a favorite thanks to Annie. I’m pretty sure Wheeler is officially my tallest character now, beating out Rory - Though at this point I think they’ve been drawn together all of once, so it’s hard to tell.

2021

I decided the bushy brows weren’t working for him very well - they stood out a bit too much and felt like they got in the way while I was drawing them, so I dialed them back by quite a bit. I started changing how I drew his cheek fur so it had more of a sharper edge to it as well.

I’m not sure how much I mentioned it in all the progress sketches, but positioning Wheeler in this pic was an absolute beast because how his proportions were so different from everyone else!

2022

This isn't even his FINAL FORM

It’s kind of funny because despite being around for the longest, Wheeler has probably had the least time in the spotlight so far, and when he does get focus it’s mostly to contrast with other characters. But some of his comics have out performed most other Lesser Than Three comics - who would have known the pains of working as a cashier would resonate with people so much? Compared to the rest of the cast It’s taken me a lot longer to figure out his personality and what makes him stand out from the others, but I have plans for him and hopefully he’ll get his own chance to shine!