3.18

HMM Shenanigans.

In case it isn’t really really obvious, Amen is from a fairly religious background.

BEFORE I FORGET (again)! Sam Sykes, fantasy author, did a rockin’ interview with me last month right before I hiatus’d. He asked some really interesting questions about the comic and the process of creating it, and I was a jerk and completely forgot to link it here last update. So go take a read if you like!

86 Comments

  • Leah

    If Amen got a *insert currency of choice here* for each time he said, “The lord is my strength” he’d be able to buy all the soup he’d ever need.

  • Your comic always look so awesome and I hate you. Just putting that out there! :Y

  • Lizzy

    Those arms! Haha! *__*

    Also, I almost didn’t notice Soli lurking in the background :x watch out….

    • Lizzy

      That was not supposed to be an angry face. ;___;

  • Woo

    If it was me writing this Soli would just shoot him in the back of the head right now and he would be gone forever.

    Probably a very good thing I’m not the one writing then! XD

    <3 Soli rocks my socks.

    • ahaha, that’s terrible XD

  • Alexander

    It just sorta hit me: are the uniforms based off the French Foreign Legion’s in North Africa, or just a mish-mash of inspiration?

    • Haha, good eye. I’m going for WWI feel for these guys (they are the border police), mixed in with some other mounted police uniform style.

  • Ailynne

    /fangasm.
    /swoon.

    Those -arms-

    • Jac

      That’s what I said. :3

  • Amen jumping off his horse will forever be my favorite.

  • Nooo, not Alamand! D: RUN! Also whaaaat I didn’t know you updated a few days ago too! I blame Twitter, not always showing tweets. I didn’t notice this update till I went to your actual page. >_> Either way, yay updates!

    • Haha, that was my bad, I forgot to Twitter it! On the plus side, two comics for you :B

  • is it just me, or does that jump in the third panel look a little… weird?
    aaaanyways, love the comic, excited for the rest.

    • John

      That’s probably because he’s vaulting the fence not dismounting his horse as it first appears. That and he didn’t keep his arm locked out which let him loose altitude on the way back down. He probably hit the ground unsteadily based on how far he’s leaning over there.

      Writing this post lead me to vault an imaginary fence in my room no less than five times.

      • Mimi

        Now that’s devoted :)

  • Kitty

    …and here was I, wondering why this page looked so startlingly pretty. I hadn’t noticed the difference with the cel-shading before, but I *DO* think your more painterly style is pretty sweet.

  • sweet_gardenia

    hooray shenanigans! they are the shenanigany-est

    Awh Amen is just doing his job don’t shoot him Soli! I do like him as a character, btw. You don’t see a lot of genuine nice guy characters just nice-guy-but-fooled-you-really-a-jerk-or-angst-bucket type characters. Thanks for breaking the mold a bit. I hope Amen sticks around a while ’cause I’m totally a fangirl for him (and besides which Ulyer needs his laundry buddy)

  • speearr

    LOL that one line “The Lord is my strength” effectively communicates his personality. It’s like, he requires divine strength when dealing with an underling like Adobart.

    I spy Soli. Her hands, they’re holding a gun right? Make that both her guns, and her awesomeness level shoots up.

    • speearr

      Why is the first “Karl” bubble tailless, though?

      • Because I liked the way it read.

        • speearr

          Fair enuff!

  • Jac

    BEHOLD HIS MANLY ARMS.

    • THE MANLIEST

      • Jac

        POWERTHIRST NOW COMES IN AMEN

  • Soli blend with the soil xD… or dust in this case.

  • Lovely page 8D I do have a nitpick thing though. I think maybe his fist (both fists?) are too large in the second panel (it’s nearly as big as his face and almost as long as his forearm). :3

    RUN ALAMANDDD

    • To be honest, even if that’s a slight mistake, it’s a mistake I’d rather Der-shing keep. It’s like…..mmmm, man hands. :D

  • Taslin

    Amen’s religious?

    ……Oh, I get it! *hysterical laughter*

    Great page as ever, Der-shing!

  • BentKatana

    Oh shit, SOLI SURPRISE :D

  • Sven

    Wow. “Amen”. I should’ve seen it comin’, eh?

    • Jac

      …. WHOA I JUST GOT IT.

      Took me long enough, hahaa. ^^;

  • refugee

    As a militant skeptic, I have to ask: please don’t make Amen a bad guy just because he’s religious. He seems a decent sort, and although I’ll be surprised if he’s perfect, I’m sick of religion being used as a flag for characters I’m not supposed to like.

    Thank you for a great comic so far.

    • Bad guy?? XD That made me laugh, since Amen might be the nicest person in the comic. Like with everything else, there are “bad” people who happen to have religion, and “good” people as well. I guess I’ll leave it at that and let the eventual plot speak for itself.

      • Alice

        I think that’s one of the things I love about this story, there’s no obvious positioning of characters as especially good or bad, very little spoon-feeding the reader… and I love Amen.

      • refugee

        Good.

        I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that there was any evidence he was anything but decent presented so far; I just don’t want that to change.

        I am, in fact, very pleased to see someone like him — decent, that is — in a position of authority.

  • Maelstrom

    “Guess not, I suppose that means you won’t be needing your snazzy shoes anymore, huh?”

    P.S. Is there a reason for his name besides the blatantly obvious?

    • His parents were/are quite zealous :B

      • Taymanator

        Hahaha, that’s awesome.

  • Eternity

    I instantly like Amen. I really do. I don’t know why, either.

    …might have something to do with the uniform and pale eyes.

    We’re going to need an Amen cookbook, because boy, is he yummy.

    (Okay, I thought that would be funny, but that really looks more creepy now that I reread it. oh well. I’ll post this anyway)

    • Andy

      I know what you mean on both counts.

      As soon as Amen entered, I was like ‘Woah! This guy is going to be epic.’ But I have no idea why. But he does appear to be badass.

      And the joke wasn’t nearly as creepy as you thought, actually. At first I had the mental image of Amen in a frilly manly pink apron, but that’s just my silliness interfering with reality. Cannibalism was the last thing to be connected to it. Probably because, well, Amen IS pretty damn yummy.

  • Andy

    Man, Amen, why are you making me question my homosexuality? Not cool, man.

    Just stop being so attractive already.

    Seriously.

    • Jac

      He can’t help that the Lord blessed him with a studly jawline and muscular arms. He’s just naturally like that. :D

      • The lord helps those who help themselves to daily upper body workouts

        • Eternity

          That’s a prayer I can believe in.

          • Amen.

            Pun intended.

      • Funny, that sounds like my husband ^.^

  • I think Amen’s gonna get horse-jacked. Soli doesn’t seem like the killing type. Yet.

  • Anton

    Wooh, He’s my strength too!!! :D

  • Amen: Clean cut, nice, competent. What’s he doin’ in these parts?! I’ll never get sick of meeting new people in this world.

  • Sterrierre

    IT’S A TRAP!

  • Pneumonica

    And, to continue my thread from last time – nice job splitting the party, minion!

    And I need to confirm – I rather like the style you’re working on. It can be improved, but mostly because style can *always* be improved.

  • Nrolad

    is this the first page where you use double lines to indicate movement i don’t think i saw them before, i hope i don’t come out rude but i think maybe that last panel would look a little better with out them just saying :)

  • Olady

    I’m definitely liking Amen – nice guys rock :)
    Have a question – in the world of the Meek, is the word “Amen” used at the end of prayers, too? Or is Amen’s name just a play on that?

  • anekochan

    Oh, Amen, how the ladies (and gentlemen) do swoon when you enter a scene~

    I propose huge posters of Amen and his oh-so-manly arms as a new item in the store. 8D

  • ally

    Amen’s a bit to serious if you ask me. Serious characters are also usually boring characters.

    • Haha, well, give him a chance! He’s only had 3 pages.

    • Yochva

      I LIKE the serious characters. That doesn’t mean boring, that means depth! The calm, cool, collected type.

      Also, a comment. If these are military horses, then they’re probably trained to stand in place without their proper rider, but not with the reins over the neck. That still means ‘go’ to a horse. From what I’ve read and seen, he would probably ground-rein the horse as he jumps off, tossing the reins over the horse’s head so that they’re touching the ground. Horses were trained to stay in one place when this happened.

      Just seems like that would be a bit more believable to me. Though if you got different information elsewhere, I’m willing to bet that’s more accurate. I’m not THAT confident in my sources.

  • I want to marry him! He’s perfect! Lord, hear my prayer. Amen C;

  • deimyts

    That interview was great, very insightful! I’m interested to know what unfortunate things you learned from Dean Koontz!

  • Forfar

    Hey Der-shing, I couldn’t help but notice the way you draw them holding the reins is fully clutching them as opposed to being split somewhere like http://www.howtorideahorse.co.uk/horse_riding_pics/holding_reins.jpg or the opposite, going through the index finger, which would be Western riding. I’m not sure if this is just a personal choice of yours for your world so I’m sorry if I’m nitpicking at something unnecessary, and you can disregard this.

  • soli’s ogling! And until I am proven otherwise that is what I am going to believe! :D

    awesome job with this page! :D

  • Wood

    Oh Lieutenant… did you get any training at all ? Don’t they teach you to check every corner before rushing in ?

  • Sivartis

    The old man’s still alive! Yay!

  • Fleece

    Oh, he´s such a naturally nice guy, isn´t he? :)

  • Mai

    Aw. <3 I think it says a lot about his character (specifically, his niceness) that rather than securing the area first, he immediately runs over to check if the guy's ok. I think it's pretty hard NOT to like Amen.

  • Mary-Meg

    okay, i instantly like him. and if you think about it, Amen is actually a neat name.
    i have a feeling that we will see a whole bunch of him in the future. he will be a good contrast to Soli’s attitude.

  • Meganite

    You’re so great at drawing uniforms :)

  • Jill Alciso

    good hiding there Soli! lol!

  • Cheri

    I don’t like characters with dimension. how dare you. I’m mad the story isn’t being handed to me and I have to stick around and see how things pan out. also why don’t all your girl characters run around naked and feminine looking like Angora.
    How dare you take a story you’re giving us for free and do with it what you want to do with it instead of appeasing us mindless masses.

    HOW
    DARE
    YOU.

    • Ailynne

      I love you.
      So hard.

      • Hillary

        I second this.

  • ally

    The drawing at the top of this website of Soli confused me. She doesn’t look very feminine and before she came into the story I already thought she was a man. Not that I think she should run around naked like Angora…

    • anekochan

      She doesn’t look very feminine because she isn’t a very feminine character. Not ever woman is curv, wears makeup, or prances about in a dress. Soli happens to be more on the kicking-ass-and-taking-names end of the spectrum, which is refreshing, I think; it’s nice to see a strong female character who isn’t in reality just a hot chick that frowns instead of smiles.

      Also, just because you don’t find Amen interesting, doesn’t mean he isn’t. (And also, many of the readers have already been thoroughly introduced to him via comic sketches on LJ beforehand~ ;D )

  • ally

    And why is everyone oggling over Amen already? The only thing interesting about him so far is his impressively large chin.

  • Kate

    Already I am shipping Soli/Amen. They were in a panel together – IT MUST BE LOVE. :B Also, men in uniform! Manly arms! Semi-dead old man! If this comic gets any more awesome I’m going to hemorrhage.

    • sweet_gardenia

      snerk…somehow I get the feeling that any relationship between the two of them will possibly be comprised of her trying to kill him and him staying not dead. IT’S TOTALLY LOVE haha also mahnly man arms

  • Foxy T. Squid

    This page is fantastic. I always love seeing more Amen. (And more Soli, for that matter.)

    Ah, the tension!

  • Amy

    Oh, man. I completely and entirely thought Soli was a dude. I’m a bit embarrassed. (Although, people seem to think I’M a dude pretty often, too…)

  • snookered

    AMEN! MARRY ME!!!! XD

    • Hillary

      HE HAS TO MARRY ME FIRST. SUDA TOO.

  • Hillary

    Gotta give Jon points for trying, but if I was a wanted criminal who could outrun a crazed guy on a horse, I’d not be stopping just for him.

    Anyway.

    THE ARMS. THEY ARE SO MANLY. THEIR MANLINESS…IT’S ELECTRIFYING.

  • caris

    He is a hunk-alunk!

  • These pages just keep looking better and better!

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