2.22
January 24th, 2010
I’ve been waiting since page 1 of this chapter to get to do this scene. Hard to believe its been months! And its been 4+ years since I drew my first sketches for this scene, I’ll be posting some of those this week as voting incentives (starting today!)
No pimp today, I had something in mind that is a good comic but not really my cup of tea. Then realized whats the point of pimping something I wouldn’t read? Maybe next week :B
(by the way, “atda” just means “what” in Basori. The other text in brackets is translated Basori, so all you fine readers can actually figure out whats going on!)
Oh gosh.
I just love that last panel SO MUCH. <3
That snowy landscape is gorgeous, and so different from the land Angora lives in. I think she’d be very cold if she lived in this land.
That cigarette being the only warmth in the strip is really effective.
I can see why you were excited to post this. It’s beautiful. Does the “” mean they’re speaking in their native language?
The <>, yes. Very Megatokyo of me (kekekeke)
Of course, DC Comics has done it for a long time themselves.
Hey, it’s a method that works.
Really? I thought this was a method that’s been around for a while. XD
And the COLORS.
Hot damn.
This chapter is turning out to be quite a bit different from the previous version! (Uh. I guess that’s to be expected. X)
IS DAT SOME LIL’ LUCA.
Lovely page. I love the transition from the last panel of the previous page to the first panel of this one. Very effective.
Looks awesome!
Those are some funky, gnarled fingers in panel 2.
Also, is “Atda” the new guy’s name, or some un-translated utterance in whatever language they’re speaking?
It just means “what?” (spoken Pasori doesn’t use inflection in sentences with questions).
The fact that you have gone to the trouble of working out little details like the sentence structure and pronunciation of the imaginary languages your characters are speaking is why i read this comic.
Well, the artworks helps a lot, as well.
Have you ever giving thought to putting together a compendium, something to tie all the little nuances of you world together, or am I just going to have to make do with obsessively reading the comments threads in an attempt to glean these little bits of world enhancements?
Haha, I just made an addendum to the comments for the page so ideally others won’t have to XD But in general, most things that you need to know (including some vocab) is all in the wiki linked to in the comments box.
I think “the new guy” is a younger Luca–he’s got the broken fingers and missing front teeth, too, unless that happens to every Pasori they tortured (which is possible I guess). It’s an inner monologue!
Oh wow this is beautiful, I especially love how on the last panel you can see all the snow clumped on the trees.
Ooooh, lovely. <3 I'm curious as to where this goes! I'm thinking Atda is related to Luca, somehow…? He kind of looks like him. Or it's a fellow victim of the Carissi, seeing as though his fingers are busted up and his teeth are missing, too…
I'm still trying to figure out how you make your colors so prettyyyyyy and I'm failing hard. :') I think it's time to start eyedropping your palettes…!
That is ridiculously perfect, how you took it from warm indoors to cool outdoors. Very naturally done for so drastic a transition.
OHHH! It took me a while to figure it out, but this is not an actual scene, this is Luca talking with his younger self, like some sort of inner personal reflection. Am I right?
Yes
It is not a flashback, since I will do all flashback scenes in this comic in panels with rounded corners.
Hmm… dreaming or hallucinating?
Flashback?
Winter wonderland
( been raing in NC wayyy too much this year, no snow 
)
Awesome page!
keep it up
Been a while since I’ve commented.
I’ve definitely been watching fervently and really enjoy witnessing a comic where there’s lot of depth and character to each, erm, character. The drama is never too exaggerated nor does things go waxed philosophical when the issues end up being the simple things (note I said simple, not little
). The art also is going places and I can see you shifting gears from light and color schemes, making every scenario a unique experience, which definitely piques the interest of the reader – at least for me. All-in-all, keep up the good work there lass.
Oh, and another note. I pray for the lives of these two men as that GARGANTUAN SNOW PORCUPINE IS FLANKING THEM FROM THE RIGHT IN ATTEMPTS TO PURGE THEIR SOULS FROM THEIR FRAGILE HUSKS!
This is SUCH a great update from the original. The change of setting really points out that this isn’t actually happening. Also, that second panel definitely highlights the fact that it’s Luca talking, with the fingers and the teeth. Plus, it beautiful.
I
I forgot about this O_O
your colors in this chapter (well, the whole comic really) are incredible stuff, you can really tell the mood of the scenes through background alone…
Wow, wow, wow! That was a really unexpected change, but it works so well. Really nice depth to that last panel. I’m curious, what does “You’re one to talk” read as in Basori?
Aaaaaaaaaaand dissociation time!
…Wow. LOVE this transition!
Ah, I thought that man was younger Luca, but then thought his name was Atda, til I read the description, lol. Awesome work!! 
You’re coloring is so awesome! Do you pick all the colors yourself or do you use some kind of coloring filter? They’re just always so seamless and beautiful and set the tone wonderfully.
OMG I just realized that pannel 3 make me think of Charlie Brown leaning against that wall…now all I can think of is Linus calling Charlie Brown a fuck-up….I’m sorry, I’ll shut up now XD
A little of both… I ref images that I’ve collected over the years for things like this where I’m not sure how a Ponderosa pine covered in snow looks or whatever. But then I tweak it as necessary to fit the lighting/ mood/ etc etc
Your pine trees make me swoon.
Bawwww, haw haww. *sniff*
Amazing scenario! Loveit!
Perfect lightning, perfect shadows, this entire page is amazing! =D
BEARD.
Oh, an outdoor scene. You draw some pretty pretty outdoors scenes. In case you weren’t aware.
I’m going to assume he’s talking to his younger self (the shot of the hands is sort of a huge clue to that, yeah? Oh, also there’s the teeth gap, just noticed).
What a creepy coincidence, my original idea for the current story I’ve got going on was the same thing, but I changed it at the last minute from his younger self to a former colleague.
This is a great way to get some inner monologue going without it being all cheesy, though. I love his crazy hair and beard. He looks awesome.
It is pretty creepy! I laughed a bit to myself because you posted yours a day before I was going to post my internal talking scene
Also I think we both dropped F-bombs recently. Also at this point I’m willing to consider that we are genetically related somehow.
Is that Bezo oh my gosh I am so excited!?! Luca, you are so totally crazy. No one else here has conversations with their younger self so I think that should tell you something (except Kate Beaton).
Wow. What a fantastic scene jump! I was not expecting the blue at all, I had to double take xD
Nestly: Cooooool winter scene. The fact that you couldn’t wait to draw it shows. It looks like you had a lotta fun with it. xD Well done.
I wonder what’s going ooonnnnnn.
And lawl. Now just because you mentioned a pimp comic and didn’t post it, I’m curious and want to know. xD
I saw that last panel and was like OMG YOSEMITE.
Hahaha.
That aside, great coloring as usual; also love that you’ve gone so far as to define the grammatical conventions of P/Basori.
This page is one of the prettiest things I have ever seen, ever.
Stunning page; I just love the visuals. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.
Your eyeballs are like marshmallows, I could just pop one in my mouth.
It’s hobo!Luca! I didn’t even know he was talking to himself until I read the comments. /is unobservant
For some reason, when seeing all those red rooms this entire chapter I didn’t expect that they would live in a cold place, not even if it was “just” happends to be winter at this scene.
But, after reading this page, it felt just right. Be called “barbarian”, wear fur legwarmers, and the title Gulo all fit to anyone who would live in such a cold place ^^ I wanna be there! D:
Also, it was kinda a nice turn in the colours. The redness was strarting to grow sick on the eyes, so this is just perfect for a few pages ^^
Love the pine needles in the foreground.
The water looks great. You can almost see the movement.
Oh.
I thought “Atda” was the name of the character. Maybe there should be an asterisk-footnote on the page or something.
good suggestion!
It won’t be necessary once you read the page after this, in real life it would be only a second or two of confusion
I would suggest going ahead and doing what many paper comics do: when introducing something the readers need to be aware of, like atda, put a * after it, with an [ed] comment stating it means “what” at the bottom of the comic (so, part of the whole image)… same would go for the emperor’s bad Engrish, a [note from ed] would help stop confuzled comments like we keep seeing (even people who comment don’t necessarily read the author’s comments on the web page).
Ah, as Wood just said before me, lawlz.
Awesome scene change! (Like everyone has already said!)
I think the “Atda” confusion is unfortunate: it is rather natural for everyone to think it is a name, especially when all the other foreign words are translated. I think it is a good tradition that the comic should speak for itself and reading the author´s comments shouldn´t be a necessity for understanding it. (more like an extra bonus. Of course I do read your comments). As someone suggested, asterisk footnote in the comic page itself would maybe be a good idea for such things, or just translate this word, too.
I agree! Just keep in mind that you guys are having to read this comic a page a week, whereas a person picking up a physical copy (or reading the archives) will read the next page and immediately understand what I’m going for
So no footnote, by page 23 it’ll be obvious what I’m trying to do.
oh my goodness. this is so awesome.
it’s like watching a movie
SCENE SHIFT now this was a surprise! I’m interested to see where this conversation between the two Lucas goes. Wherever it does it’s probably going to have some yelling/slapping/denial eventually 8(
That bridge is in the middle of nowhere? Which intrigues me.
End of nowhere, actually :B
A RIDDLE >8(
that’s one smooth scene shift <3 and the artwork is magnificent as usual! the treebranch in the last panel looks strange though, the spikes seem to be too straight and stiff.
Hm, that is how pine needles look to me. At least, I’ve never seen ones that curved.
Luca, your wife is about to leave you, is this really a good time for a flash back?
For some reason, I keep thinking he killed his wife and dumped her in that river for pissing him off. D=
Haha, I like how younger Luca has a lot of cynical self-confidence only someone that age could have. XD
This is either a flashback, or a flashforward. Anyhoo, I think this is a moment of selfrealisation from Luca and he needs to calm the fuck down or he’ll loose the best thing in his life.
Am I right ?
Whoa, amazing! I like the transition between these two last pages. Like he is looking over his shoulder one instant and the other he is out there.
Thanks for sharing the older sketches in the incentives. I love that kind of thing.
Actually, rather than putting a footnote, I think a simple question mark after “atda” would suffice enough to make the reader assume it was a “what?” or a “excuse me?” rather than someone’s name.
And I suppose it’s also a little confusing since it’s the only line not translated for whatever reason, so I could see how everyone’s thought process automatically goes toward a name.
HOBO LUCA?!?!
kekekekke
I guess the emperor has issues, being that he thinks he is having conversations with his past self…
SEXY COLORING OF TREES IS SEXY.