To me that recent one is an example of overdevelopment of the art.
I remember commenting on a different artist's rework of his old comic strip, about how the new strips looked too busy and that there was something beautiful and thematic about his earlier work. He replied that he also preferred his earlier work, but he just couldn't make himself 'stop that early' when drawing anymore.
Certainly in both cases there's a lot more skill in the later work, but it's interesting to note that overdevelopment is also a thing.
The cartoon faces were more expressive with less detail than the current ones, but he was able to draw just about anything he wanted in a funny way, which wasn't the case in the beginning.
I remember commenting on a different artist's rework of his old comic strip, about how the new strips looked too busy and that there was something beautiful and thematic about his earlier work. He replied that he also preferred his earlier work, but he just couldn't make himself 'stop that early' when drawing anymore.
Certainly in both cases there's a lot more skill in the later work, but it's interesting to note that overdevelopment is also a thing.