3.19

Yes, Soli has a ranged weapon. No, one ideally wouldn’t walk that close. Yes, I wrote it that way on purpose for a reasons you are free to consider, thank you and meow.

Hey, guess what??! The Links section and the Extras section are updated8D Extras section has some cool fanart and development art that I haven’t scanned or posted before. And links are awesome as always. ALSO check this: you can navigate through pages using arrow keys. I KNOW, so exciting. Shift -> and shift

119 Comments

  • WTG, Amen! Brains FTW! Handsome and smart; wow. ^_^

    Soli, beeee careful!!!

  • instrumentality

    It is impossible for me to even consider trying to contain my love for Amen.

  • Maphysto

    He’s a canny one!

    Not really sure who I want to root for in this fight, tbh.

  • Fawn Gregory

    That Amen guy, he knows what he’s doing.
    I love how perfectly you can show Soli’s expression in panel 4 with most of her face covered. You are like the master of expressions.

    • lol, I really wanted to write “wth” in the bubble but that would be a little unprofessional

      • Anton

        I once read a comic series called “Wake” in which the protagonist has a/some swearing word(s) in her own language.

        It did feel a little forced though.

        • Just as a general rule I don’t think it’s a good idea for characters to sound like their authors unless that was the intention at the outset (like it is an autobio comic or the comic is supposed to show a real-world setting). Especially not for a fantasy-type comic like this one.

      • Lurkily

        Honestly, I don’t even think the “??” in the bubble was needed. Soli’s face says it all. The confusion, the irratation, and the fact that all these repeated irritants are chipping away – it’s all there.

  • Soli sure needs a beating… It’s about time.

    • Marion

      Seconding that!!!

  • Hillary

    The question is, will he feel bad if he finds out that Soli is a girl?

    Still can’t contain my love for Amen. -asplodes-

  • 4EyedBlonde

    Soli’s met her match!
    /shipping them rn

    • Jac

      Ayup, me too. :high five!:

  • She makes a funny remark considering what she did xD…. Amen knows Kung-Fu 8D

  • rosyatrandom

    Hey, Der-Shin, what’s up with you art quality lately, it’s really gone dow–ha! got you :D

    It’s all great, keep it up!

  • refugee

    I cannot imagine why Soli got so close.

    Except, possibly, being unwilling to simply shoot Amen?

    Amen is fast. I’ve tried to turn and block like that from a crouched position, and some day, with lots of drugs, physical therapy, and the love of a good woman, I may be able to stand upright again.

    • alemap

      Actually, it’s not that hard. I have practiced martial arts for many years, and it’s not that hard. It’s not really ideal or super comfortable, but it is definitely doable.

    • John

      It’s completely doable I just did what I think would pass for the manuever three times, (Given that this is my second time attempting a manuever that Amen just pulled I have to say that reading about him really gets the blood flowing). Making it work is all about the fast twitch muscles, balance, and mental preparation for what you’re about to do. Remember the objective is not to rise so much as to spin and block. It also helps if your opponent has their guard down.

      Come to think of it this is a very similar motion to the second half of a shot put throw.

      One might assume that if Amen was convincing enough in his ignorance of Soli, she would decide to make her presence felt instead of heard. Additionally if she concluded he was, as she said, stupid, she might be quite inclined to treat her adversary casually and forcibly requiring different tactics from those used against worthy opponents.

    • Haha, it is definitely possible. It’s actually a type of defense that you can be trained to learn. The point is to get out of the line of fire and get control of the gun, if possible. Of course, the person you’re defending against has to be in range in order to do that :B

  • P-chan

    *is shipping Amen with Soli already~*

    An early Christmas present, an early update! I think I’m going to heaven… :3
    Now I wonder if Amen really does know about Soli’s gender, considering what we’ve assumed her as in the first place…

  • Hg

    Hi Der-Shing,

    Keyboard controls are pretty nice. :)

    Another super-useful thing for Lazy Comic Reading is if you set a hyperlink on the actual comic graphic so the entire huge comic icon becomes a gigantic “Next” button. There’s a few comics out there that do this, and it makes archive binging so convenient! No need to hunt for the little “Next” link. It’s particularly useful with touchscreens (eg iPad etc).

    • Actually, it’s been in place for a while that clicking on the page will let you go to the next page. I guess most people don’t play with it that much since they’re often checking for the newest page, which doesn’t link anywhere :B

  • Left, right, left, right, left, right, wheeeeee

    Lovely page. It’s getting intense.

  • alemap

    I’m guessing she just assumed that he didn’t hear her, and also assumed he’d be a pushover like the old man was. Over-confidence makes you do stupid things

  • Rachel

    Mmmmmm. Amen. Manly. :D

  • Alexander

    Amen is the best now. Also, its obvious why Soli went so close. Look at the ?? panel, the expression on her face. She was caught off guard by badassness. It makes fools of us all sometimes.

  • Katrina

    ohhh I must now reread the archives just to use the arrow keys =OOOO

  • DracMonster

    Amen for new main character. All in favor, say “aye.”

    • Marion

      AYE!!!!

    • Laura

      Only if he gets to wear Angora’s outfit tehehe

      Is it creepy when people start drooling over your cartoon characters?

      • It’s creepy when I don’t expect it XD I mean, yeah Amen is pretty dudely so that’s relatively predictable. Not so much… Pinter :u

        • Laura

          Ah, now I see what you did there XD

          Well, if there’s one thing the internet has taught me, it’s that pretty much everything is feitishizable/shippable

    • Eternity

      Aye!!!

  • Flamma Man

    Wow…

    Soli looks absolutely terrified in that last panel. She’s finally met someone today that can actually fight back.

  • HOMG you posted my Meek trailer in the fanart video section…! I must admit that when I saw that, fangirlish squeals ensued. It was slightly embarrassing.

    Gah thank you. I’m glad you were able to find it again, my old account was suspended. -_-

    Anyhoo, as much as I love Soli, it’s cool to see someone take her down a peg simply by ignoring her threat….and then proceeding to kick her ass. :D

    Although, whether he’ll succeed is another question!

    • Haha, I’m just sorry I didn’t get to it sooner XD Hopefully more people will get to see it more often, instead of it being lost in that one post in the archives somewhere.

  • speearr

    “Is everyone stupid today?” lolololol!

    Yes, Soli. Present company included, no exceptions.

    • ahaha, unfortunately XD

    • Pneumonica

      Beat me to the punch on that joke.

      BA-DUM-CHING!

      I think we’ve established that Soli has the unfortunate characteristic of Talking Too Much. Not in terms of narration – narratively, she’s fine, but in terms of real life… yeah, that’s too much talking. It would’ve been a perfect time for ballistic diplomacy.

  • chris w

    Have you considered making merchandise for the comic such as t-shirts, I would totally buy a nice simple shirt that had the logo or something, just food for thought.

    oh! and when are you going to release a comic ( like made out of paper ) for chapter 2?

    • Yes, I just don’t know what to make XD once I have some time to work on merchandise maybe I’ll put a poll up or something. Right now I think all that is up are posters and Ch 1 comics. Ch 2 comic proofs are going to get back to me soon, after which they will be on sale. I’ll be sure to tweet/ fb/ etc when that day arrives!

      • jecomdmoy

        You don’t know what to make? A Dagre gargoyle. Obviously.

        • Jac

          I would put that at my front door. Most definitely.

          • Spink

            Seconded! :|

  • Jimmy

    Rock it Amen!

  • “Is everyone stupid today?” LOL

    Also, YAY SITE UPDATE!!! *excited* 8D

  • You’re crazy good at pumping out high-quality pages in alarmingly short intervals. Love Soli’s wtf expression in panel 4 XD

    Awesome new nav system, btw :D

  • Marbles

    I can’t see the new extras. :<

    Also, Soli had a blonde moment.

    • Maybe hit refresh? There are a bunch of new fanarts, some fan videos, and 3 more development pics :)

      • Marbles

        I click on the pics but when the screen darkens and a pic-sized box appears, it just shrinks and shows an X and some cut off writing. :c

  • Sivartis

    Sorry if this has been answered before, but is Soli ambidextrous? We’ve seen her using both hands for the gun at this point.

    • Good question! Actually, she is :)

      • Sivartis

        Ok, thanks

  • Wood

    Ooh, Lieutenant, that’s cunning ! I withdraw everything I said in my comment on the previous post.

  • Jac

    Amen: winning fangirls every week.

  • Fleece

    I totally mentally screamed at Soli´s lack of common sense and self-preservance. How come anyone underestimates Amen?! That guy like, moves mountains and wrestles bears using his bare hands and the power of his awesomeness as his only weapons! If he is your enemy, you keep as far away from him as possible.

  • Stomme poes

    AAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Blink tag!!!! Gettumaway gettumaway GETTUMAWAY OH NOOOOOOOEEESSS THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    The comic’s awesomeness is potentially overshadowed by the evil that is the blink tag. My browser is crying! CRYING! ASCII TEARS!!!

    Like cocaine, it’s illegal for a reason: It hurts mankind.

    It’s fun watching Soli get hers. He should also throw a blink tag at her.

    • Haha, but it blinks!! Or would you rather I make it a bling .gif?

  • Alice

    In four pages we have moved from meeting Amen to profuse declarations of undying love and awe for man arms. Congratulations.

    • Eternity

      It’s just what he does. He needs to have a warning label like Axe does, something like, “Warning: Being this awesome may attract unrelenting female attention.”

      • Jac

        Hmm.

        He needs to be the next Old Spice Guy.

        • Alice

          Monocle smile!

  • jmaccabeus

    Awwww, Soli, you were doing so well. You’ve had everything covered until now, and there you go messing it up by making one of the oldest mistakes in the book. Must have been stupefied by Amen’s awesomeness. ;)

  • Lurkily

    Please. Don’t ever use blinking text again. EVER.

    • Ahahaha, I didn’t know that the blink text would incite such hatred.

  • Mai

    WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT. <3

    Also, ouch. Getting whacked on the inside of your arm like that REALLY HURTS. D: I remember when I started self defence, I had bruises all up my inner forearms from being made to play "the attacker".

  • Kira

    I don’t think Soli really wanted to hurt anyone… she just failed her intimidation roll, though, so she may have to reconsider.

    And I hate to be one of THOSE fangirls, but…

    I want to see the two of them have babies.
    Likerightnow. DDDDDDDDDDDD:

  • “Oh crap, I rolled a 1, RerollrerollREROLL!!!” what?

    Its silly how many people are shipping them already…
    myself included.

    8D I love her expressions in the last panels, “Wtf… OMGWTFBBQ”

  • Alan

    Arrows are fun :)

    Loving where this is going. Very interested to see how the different chapters tie together!

  • awol360

    Love Soli’s reaction in panel four. It screams of ” Hey, listen to the chick with the gun, dammit.”
    Keep up the great work and happy holidays.

  • Carol

    Awww. Soli and Amen “meet cute”.

  • Maelstrom

    Truly, the Lord is his strength.

  • Oh geez. Am I the only one rooting for Soli? :’D MORALS CAN GO SUCK IT

    Love the new navigation system too. c:

  • Chicken

    Me thinks Soli is kin to Maxine. “Have you had your cup of stupid this morning?” B/
    *gasp* Have we finally found some one taller (or at least the same hight) as Soli?

  • Deerinheadlights

    Well this is different from the sketch comic! (unless I’m having a brainfart haha). Soli’s all ‘dammit why does no one listen to me!? Even with a gun?!’

    • Yeah, I stepped up the pacing/ storytelling… Amen didn’t do much before other than be unsuspecting, which made me feel a bit bad for him XD

  • Parisa

    I tried coming up with an intelligent comment and yet all I could think of was the song I Like a Boy In Uniform

  • Mute

    Because no one said it…

    SHORYUKEN!

    also joining the Amen fan club. :P

    • DracMonster

      Urge to shoop last panel Amen with an aura around his fist rising… must… resist…

  • I’m willing to guess that the revolver isn’t loaded. It’s a bluff.

    Alamand was playing with the revolvers at the start of the chapter. I highly doubt that Soli would allow her sidekick to play with the revolvers loaded. The kid must have been dry firing them while shouting out “bang bang bang” while playing. After getting back her pistols, Soli re-holstered them without opening the cylinder to put ammunition.

    also, in a loaded revolver, you should see the yellow brass in the chambers from the front. All the drawings of the revolvers have the cambers of the cylinder blacked out

  • Rebecca

    Ho shit, Der-Shing, this arrows thing is dope.
    And never do I ever say dope. So you know it’s good.

  • Tiuni

    It really amuses me that Amen didn’t listen to her at first. Readers usually expect people to respond and do the slow head turn when another person says “Put your hands up.” Instead Amen ignores her and punches instead, haha.

    This is random, but I like how you colored his arm in the last panel. It’s very manly, ahaha

  • Phil

    I absolutely LOVE how dismayed Soli looks in the last panel. Amen just wrecked her whole day!

    Please, please, PLEASE, let Amen capture her! Barring that, let her somehow escape without hurting him, so he can give chase and drive us all mad with anticipation…

    Oohh… Or BOTH!

  • I have to say that the new navigation with the keyboard really intruiges me.

    I just spent about five minutes going back and forth in the archives with my keyboard.

    ….yeah.

    • haha, I’ve been spending time with it every day. The laziest of navigations <3

      • much better than mouse or “tab, tab, tab ,tab tab, enter”

  • PT

    I concur, the keyboard navigation is a very cool idea! I’ve never seen that before actually.
    I just want to comment that his officer of the law sure took a risk! We’ll see how it plays out :)

  • lovebuggery

    i am kind of rooting for crazy soldier guy right now. D: I DON’T KNOW WHY.
    WELL, THE FEELING WON’T LAST.

    • PT

      Me too.

    • Sven

      EVERYONE LOVES CRAZY PEOPLE.

      And his name is Amen. What isn’t there to like about him?

  • Doval

    I’m disappointed in Soli. There was no reason to get THAT close :(

  • That wasn’t too bright, getting up close and personal… Even if you do have a weapon, Soli, soldiers are trained to disarm you in numerous ways.

    • Yeah… Soli doesn’t always think things through all the way.

  • SmaugTheDragon

    Sneakehh Punch!

  • BentKatana

    Oh shit, Amen knows what’s up. o.o Have a great holiday, everybody! :D

  • Tulio_d_Bard

    Hey, just read everything and… AWESOME!
    Even more awesome than keyboard navigation. =P

  • I just wanted to say that this is awesome to read at work.

    And that your chapters are all very strong. They build a satisfying kind of momentum.

    • Thanks very much! My concern is for the big picture, so I’m glad it works :)

  • DoggySpew

    Btw, how do you pronounce Amen ? Is it just Amen, or Ah-men?

    • Anton

      Aw… MAN!!!

    • I say it so it rhymes with “layman,” but sometimes I catch myself saying it the other way XD So feel free to say it however you want.

  • Anton

    “Judo… CHOP!”

  • Ticktok

    OH MAN i dunno why

    but somehow i like Amen a lot more.

    I… I don’t even know. It’s like now I’m like ‘oh man I hope he ends up talking this out like an adult with Soli’ and then I’m like

    ‘WAIT. NO. ….WHAT? I’M SO CONFUSED.’

  • Loral

    You have no idea how insanely happy I am to see your comic update! Love that last panel.

  • Dee

    Methinks even tho Soli has a gun (and has punched an old man) she doesn’t really want to pop someone in the head with it. Or… really shoot them at all, lol.

  • Katie

    I really enjoy reading your comic. ;) I just wish I could speed forward through time and read all of it in one go. It’d be the marathon weekend of The Meek-ness.

    Especially love how you’ve colored the drawings!
    Merry Day-After-Chrismas

  • Lurkily

    I read this straight through to Soli’s early pages when I opened it. Then I went on vacation, and forgot the theme. So I came back, reading and remembering only Soli, wondering when we were going to get some glimpses of the real plot. I had totally forgotten the previous chapters dealing with other people and places.

    I just re-read the whole damn thing. Now hurry up and art more, dammit! I want! Demand, demand, demand, whine-plead-beg!

  • Kedrezac

    Oh snap! I liek this guy now.

  • haley

    Amen got game!!!!!!

  • Laura

    Yeah…have to admit…the guy in the uniform is kinda cute….

  • Hoheh

    That guy knows fear slows you down. But anger can speed you up. Angry Soli is unwise to bother…

  • Amen is awesome! I love those new features to the site! Thanks for adding them! :3

  • Mairead

    Is it just me, or has your coloring style become a little…flatter? (I don’t know the best word to use haha). Especially with skin, it seems like there’s less tonal variation. Or maybe I’m just delusional…xD

    • The problem is that with bright lighting, you can’t stuff a lot of colors in there and still make it look “natural.” I like cartoony colors but for TM I’m trying to keep it within the realms of natural-ish lighting… And in a desert in the afternoon, the bright sunlight and dust naturally washes out the tones (which drives me nuts because I really like painting complex shadows and not flat things). I’m planning another pass at the colors once it’s all wrapped up but for now this is what I’ve got :b

  • Finally!
    I’m really rooting for the soldier :)

  • :C You didn’t put my drawing of Soli or Amen in there!

    :C :C :C

  • Lilian

    “I’m going to untie you now. Can you walk on your own?”

    The way he orients Karl/tells him what he’s doing… Amen would be a good paramedic/nurse.

    Yes, you are free to imagine him in scrubs.

  • Thisguy

    Like a boss.

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