Ranting and Raving

Ah, I see. I understand your problem. However, one thing I learned very early on in the stage of cartooning is the concept of "visual carryover"... you can establish with the first or second panel, but you don't need to establish with every one. I, however, still feel insecure about establishing place, so even if I establish with one panel and don't want to have to keep drawing backgrounds over and over, I'll cut to tight two shots or close-ups. That's why the characters have grown to dominate panels more and more, too. Once the long shot is set up, then the only way you can get out of cluttery backgrounds in future panels is to tighten the shot considerably. The audience still knows where they are and it doesn't have the effect of the world disappearing around them.