Rude, Soli! Very rude.
Also rude: yes, boss is dead. Sorry! : Usually I’d just leave it ambiguous since it’s not an incredibly important story detail, but I already had an explanation in my head and some people were wondering so:
Logistics-wise, he gets the kids and starts heading downstairs with them right when the soldiers bust in. They tell him to halt, he tells the kids to scatter, etc.
It’s possible that they wouldn’t have shot him if he had just surrendered, but what can you do! The plus side is that Soli and co. probably owe some of their luck to the fact that the soldiers are distracted…
Anyways, second-to-last page tomorrow. I could probably also put the last page up tomorrow too, but it seems nicer pacing-wise to leave it till Monday… depends on when I finish up the colors for tomorrow’s page I guess. Leaning towards conclusion on Monday though. See you tomorrow!
Noooo!! Boss died! D:
Well, I kinda figured, but I’m not sure why I’m so in love with a character that didn’t even last for 5 pages.
Eyepatch. All about dat eyepatch.
No, its cause he was “like a boss!”
(save the children
Like a boss!
Get shot
Like a boss!
Now I’m dead!)
But all memes aside, he was an awesome character.
Yes, wonderful character…bet he had a very cool backstory.
Also he died saving children. You can’t get much more heroic than that.
Noooo but he was so wonderful…at least he will never become a stinky grown-up now.
What happens happens. Tis a sorrow we must accept.
BLERG! I knew the Boss was gonna get it as soon as he told Tom to take everyone away! Sad. :( He seemed like a good boss, though. Poor kid.
UPDATES! Hallelujah! I have to agree, i’m so sad that Boss died–he was an interesting character. it seems like he could have had a whole story, even in those few pages that he did have. there’s so much narrative in there already.
SO GLAD YOU UPDATED :)
Thank you for explanation. <3 The pacing does work nicely without it, but is good to know what happened to Boss.
Is Alimand aquaphobic or something?
He just really dislikes small dark places. Since he’s a little bastard he got written into three small dark place in this chapter alone, haha…
Boss was awesome, glad we had him for as many pages as we did!
Also, may he have an enduring popularity as long as his presence in the comic was short. :D
Thank you so much for the updates! I had begun to give up hope, slightly, that you might continue. So disappointing when it was such a good story. Keep going! (Yay!) :) (R.I.P., Boss. We hardly knew ye.)
I’m sorry. I meant, “Yay! :D “
Haha, wow, Alamand is not holding it together at all. Also, the look on boss’s face is just amazing. Sort of the “Oh, I seem to have a been shot. That’s unfortunate.” look.
“Just a flesh wound!”
…All joking aside, great page. :] Poor Alamand, he can never get a break, can he?
Sigh, poor Boss. :( Such a short lived character and we grew so fond of him so quickly. We’ll miss you!
Anywho, my reaction to Soli’s kick was “HAHAHAHA! That was awesome!” How could Ali not have expected that from her? xD I find it funny that he prefers getting arrested rather than getting inside the swim hole. Cute. ^_^ This page is just so cute. Soli I luff you. Thanks for another wonderful page. ♥
I’m kind of sad that this chapter is ending though. You’ll be in another work-related hiatus, nu? :x
Also, not sure if this was answered somewhere else but, are all chapters going to last 45 pages or was it just the three intro chapters that get to be that long?
That smiley came out looking more angrier than I expected/wanted…
Let’s try again.
x: Is less angry looking.
Haha, yes, each chapter is 45 pages! All the sketch chapters worked out that way naturally, for some creepy reason that I don’t understand (maybe my attention span, I dunno).
And no, I’ve adjusted to my work schedule for now (and my contract was renewed again so I’m stable for another few months) so I can start working on Ch 4 soon. First though I do the customary 2x a day sketch comic updates, which will last about 2 weeks. Then onto Ch 4!
I AM THE SADDEST CHINCHILLA RIGHT NOW, DERSHING, MY LEGSLESSNESS DOESN’T ALLOW ME TO DROP TO MY KNEES BESIDE BOSS’S FALLEN BODY AND WAIL TO THE WORLD WITH MY WARBLING CHINCHILLA VOICE OF THE GREAT INJUSTICE STRUCK DOWN UPON HIM BY THE MIGHT OF AN AUTHORLY HAND.
SO SADNESS. SO MUCH SADNESS.
Thanks for the clarification. Now I can sleep better.
Also, I like how you managed to make the Boss likable in just a few pages.
Actually, the loud noise was a party popper!
It was a surprise birthday party!
And everyone lived happily ever after. Yayyy.
Except for Luca.
It was amazing! Tom had decided to throw it because Boss seemed a little down, and had told some of the kids to go dress up as soldiers to make sure it really was a suprise.
He sadly regretted to tell any of the other kids because children are terrible at secret keeping, and therefore everyone panicked
Luca: ;n;
A lot of ppl already said it, but I’m saying it as well: It’s incredible how you were able to make a character like Boss SO loved in only a few pages of screen time and the way he went away protecting the others was just so noble. T_T
To tell the truth I can totally understand why Ali doesn’t want to go there and although I’m not scared of dark and small places, but I do hate the idea of swimming through a corridor of water without knowing how long the damned thing is. O_o”
BTW in the second panel what’s that thing at the wall with the righting on it? I guess it was used to cover up the hole, but it looks familiar.
I believe that would be a manhole cover. Sewers ahoy!
So sad boss is dead… He was such an interesting character. Also, a complete badass in so many ways, even in such a short few pages. It may have been a mistake to lose him as a character here, oh the possibilities such a character could have had in the story! Also, if any other bad ass characters come up in the story, they’ll have to be entirely different from him, or it’s just a weak attempt to placate the readers with an expy.
That said, I’m glad the story is moving again, I’d like to see where this goes.
*crys for dead boss*
>create one of the better characters in the entire comic
>kill it a few pages later
>trollface.jpg
Seriously that takes some gigantic authorial balls. I’d almost respect you for it if I weren’t so thoroughly trolled.
dat patch ;_;
he died like a boss. I will remember him for a full twenty-five minutes at least
;u; Couldn’t ask for more!
This explanation is awesome. Apparently, Boss was indeed epic till the end.
When he gave Tom the orders, I thought he was gonna die like that, but on the last page I suddenly doubted it because I thought that material this epic and heroic would surely happen onscreen for us to witness, haha.
Argh, it is unfortunate I don´t trust my own interpretation abilities enough to draw the logical conclusions from the evidence in an ambiguous scene. Too worried with “I´m sure the author meant something else.” O_o.
Scream louder, Ali. I don’t think every single freakin’ soldier in the building heard you!
I actually wish you had taken this surge of updates and spread it out longer than a week. After waiting months for any Meek update I’d rather get one a week for 6 weeks than 6 in one week then live in fear of the next hiatus! Blah blah great comic blah blah you’re awesome blah blah chinchilla blah blah keep up the work.
Really? Gift horse, mouth, etc
D: This is going to be one interesting story with the whole “anybody can die” thing, usually I don’t see people actually make good on that and start killing everyone…
Who can blame Alamand? Small dark places are the worst… (What if you get stuck? You can’t even see!) Please hurry! I’ve been waiting to hear the rest for ages!
What if the tube narrows and you get drowned behind a row of corpses? Definitely something to worry about.
Great as always! !
Please try to pace yourself and no tingling hand. Thank you !
I can not describe my feelings when I see a Meek page this often! I’m absolutely stunned. Thank you :)
As long as Soli doesn’t have to lead her motley gang of kids through a pig farm and fight off a giant with a midget on his back and finally find victory in the thunder zone arena, we are all good!
I am anxiously awaiting the convergence of these three story lines – this is really fun!
Oh no, the poor books! I hope that is a completely waterproof bag…
Haha, she had two bags, this is the one with personal supplies in it. You think Soli carries around books for herself?? haha
damnit……
I really did like the Boss. =’(
RIP Boss
Can we have one of the soldiers on the scene loot his eyepatch and have it worn in a future comic? Would be a good way to tie in proof that way, as if the above pic doesn’t do enough lol.
Haha, how brutal of you XD I don’t think a soldier wants to wear a kid’s gross eyepatch though.
Although it would be cute if it showed up somewhere else in the future, even as a self-referencing easter-egg.
The lighting! The pretty, pretty lighting!
Some awesome coloring on these last few pages!
For everyone to flip out at Boss’ death after just being introduced a few pages ago proves what a great storyteller and character-maker you are. c:
Boss’ face while looking at the bullet wound: “Oh..! Well, would you look at that. 8I”
Well he died with what he believed.
He looks at the guards..
“I told you! You adults really do have no regard for our well beings…”
Guards: ….
Boss: *collapse.*
LOL
You got the glance at the bullet hole all wrong though… it would be more like o| seeing as he has only one eye and all…
I’m so happy you’re back! The pages look fantastic, especially they’re expressions.
their* bluh just woke up..
I was upset not so much that you killed him. I’m upset because you killed him *offscreen*.
Talk about unlucky for Soli. Show up to their destination, guards raid the place no more than 5 minutes later. Timing — Soli may or may not have it (depending on how you look at things.)
Well, there have been allusions to the soldiers for a while! Soli took some risks I guess that definitely didn’t pay off very well D:
Also you should’ve given the Boss a red shirt.
Red shirts always die.
Is there anyway to read the livejournal sketches that used to be? I kick myself mentally when I think that I could have read this story if only I had discovered you a few years before.
Nope, though I post the sketches after the end of each chapter. I’ll start posting them on Tuesday I think and they will run for about 2 weeks (after that, Ch 4 starts).
Honestly, drowning is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced. I think I would chosen a showdown over swimming in a tunnel any day.
For sure. Swimming in a dark hole of indeterminate length in waterlogged clothing? *shudder* I guess we’re out of the desert, in any case, or else none of these kids would know how to swim.
Presumably they’ve all been taught, it was mentioned that they’d practiced escaping through the tunnel before.
You know, if there hadn’t been a gunshot, they might have given surrendering a bit more consideration.
It is always nice to have someone to force you into situations you would never put yourself in due to some irrational fear. By which I mean that it is horrible and not nice at all, but in the end everything will work out much better for it.
I think that the Boss is going to end up like Matt from Death Note. He only has like 11 panels in the story, dies a sudden, tragic death, and yet still ends up having infinently more fans than most of the main characters.
RIP the Boss. *sniff sniff* We hardly knew ya!
That’s probably because none of the main characters are likeable in any way. Reading the manga, I got to the point where I was rooting for Ryuk just to write down everyone’s name and get it over with (except Matsuda, who was too clueless to die).
My hope here is that Boss will have a lasting impression in the story. I assume that they’ll get to know more of his influence through the kids they ran with, to say nothing of Tom.
An underdevleloped character can have more mass appeal because there’s space for everyone to fill in what they’d like the character to be.
oh noeh he as awesome :<
maybe he will appear as a ghost har har har.
AWWWWWWWYEAH I’M GONNA GET TO SEE PINTER AGAIN.
SOON. e_e
… S-Alamand-ER… Mocheril.
NOOOOOOOOO
RIP Boss, you will be missed ;n;
BLARGH I’M TOO HAPPY ABOUT UPDATES TO BE UPSET ABOUT BOSS’S DEATH :D:
heartless! :U ahaha
…I actually feel a little better about the boss being dead because I know he died FOR something, by choice. I mean, obviously your first choice is going to be not to die, but he knew the risks of standing in front to protect the other children and he did it anyways. He wasn’t shot in the back by some cowardly soldier or shot hiding somewhere to save his own skin. He had a heroic moment in death.
That said, his expression in the sketch breaks my heart. *crying forever*
Though the previous page all but spelled out that he’d been shot, I’m not sure how I feel about you revealing such a definitive outcome before even some of the characters know for sure. Hmmm…
I’m sure you’ll live.
Unnnggg. Another character dies.
I dont’ know why but when Phe died, i didn’t care much for HER; my reaction was “ew you should see someone for that, girl… oh you died? oh no!… your poor husband and kids!.”
But it was different with Boss, i really liked him. You are an amazing storyteller. Thanks for your comic!
The next chapter: a happy moment in The Meek? a fiesta! piñatas! Nothing beats sadness like a piñata.
What a waste of a perfectly good character. Killing him off, fair enough, but you could have gotten a lot more use out of him first.
Aw, poor Boss! :( As much as I’m sad at loosing a cool character – he established his coolness in only a few pages! – I love how you did his death, you showed it with two panels. Talented comic-artist swag! It’s so great to see the Meek updating again, I admire you perseverance, you’ve really got something special and it’s so great that you’re pursuing it! :)
Also, you know Matt in Deathnote? I believe we have a Meek Matt here in Boss.
LIKE A BOSS.
Ha ha ha, I was going to comment a page or two ago about how much I loved the boss character.
:
If you ever have any little doodles of him……
How have I been reading webcomics for nearly a decade now and never found your work before? It is phenomenal–a class of is own.
You know, if before today somebody had told me that there was this webcomic with gorgeous art that somehow evoked Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pocahontas, dragony stuff, 18-19th-century European history (and a wonderful Napoleon dude), the American West, AND a Dickensian orphan-boss twist thrown in just for kicks–and all without seeming patched-together or scrambled–I would’ve laughed them out of town. Oh my god, I want your brain. Please never stop working on this.
Maybe I’m just reading a whole lot of Artful Dodger into this, but I’m also pretty sure that the death of Boss has pretty much reached tragic proportions.
he’s got all his fingers in that sketch >:D
omg XD XD You got me again! ahaha. Seriously, good eye. If you see any more please let me know so I can correct them!