It’s the mouth. He doesn’t have one. Ever. This is extraordinarily consistent. I have rarely seen a strip where Dilbert visibly emotes (let alone happily), and never one where he has a mouth for that. I almost can’t even find something stupid enough to compare this to. It’s like Mario with a shaved mustache, except even worse because of how integral Dilbert’s lack of a mouth is to his characterization as somebody who’s never listened to.
Edit: Just to clarify, I’m excluding the 1999–2000 TV sitcom. You can’t make your main character mouthless without severe drawbacks when you have to animate and voice him; it’s practically a necessary compromise. Even then, from what little I remember of the show, he was never beaming like this.
It’s the mouth. He doesn’t have one. Ever. This is extraordinarily consistent. I have rarely seen a strip where Dilbert visibly emotes (let alone happily), and never one where he has a mouth for that. I almost can’t even find something stupid enough to compare this to. It’s like Mario with a shaved mustache, except even worse because of how integral Dilbert’s lack of a mouth is to his characterization as somebody who’s never listened to.
Edit: Just to clarify, I’m excluding the 1999–2000 TV sitcom. You can’t make your main character mouthless without severe drawbacks when you have to animate and voice him; it’s practically a necessary compromise. Even then, from what little I remember of the show, he was never beaming like this.
Ah yeah that solves it quite definitively, thanks.