But now, at last, Steve Does Comics can exclusively reveal they're not tiny at all. They're normal-sized and it's all an illusion caused by a thing called perspective.
But it seems I'm not alone in having realised this, and entire books have been written on the subject.
One such book is the one I was sent the other day by the good people at Search Press. Written by Dan Cooney, The Graphic Novelist's Guide to Drawing Perspective sets out to explain and demonstrate all the budding artist could ever want to know about the phenomenon and how it can be incorporated into our masterpieces.
It's a very exhaustive book indeed which, as you'd expect, deals with the horrors of one-point, two-point and three-point perspective but also touches on a whole range of other things necessary to the artist, such as the materials needed for drawing, the importance of carrying a sketch pad with you, as you seek out examples of perspective in the real world, advice on how to place your vanishing point, the Rule of Thirds, tips on drawing the human figure, how to use perspective to make your work feel more dynamic, and a whole heap of other stuff of value to the artist. In doing so, it uses a plethora of images, not only by Cooney himself but by a number of other industry professionals. Needless to say, I was especially impressed by Judge Dredd showing up.
The book's extremely thorough and technical in how it goes about its business and perhaps its most useful feature is that it's packed with designated worksheets on which you can carry out the exercises laid out in the book, meaning it functions as a course in perspective rather than just being a reference or instruction book.
So, if you've ever wanted to gain a fuller understanding of just how to incorporate perspective into your visual work, this is the book for you.