Chapter 1: Page 27
This week, we finally meet Crim! For those who followed us on the old (now sorta defunct) Four Kingdoms blog, there was a rather exhaustive post about the Crim character. When I went back to rewrite Beyond the Western Deep, this scene between Quinlan and Crim was one of the biggest changes made – not just in terms of the lines spoken, but the tone presented.
Rachel's 2011 re-design of Crim
Originally, Crim was a bit wishy-washy of a character. He was more interested in teaching the Tamian martial art, Tesque, than he was about showing Quinlan up. The introduction felt a bit shoehorned and flat, despite Quinlan telling us all that we should be nervous about this new character being introduced.
Quinlan’s “keep your eyes down” line was originally meant to insinuate that Crim was annoying and bothersome, but having Quin be confronted with that kind of character didn’t feel like the appropriate foil for the scene we wanted to portray, so Crim was brought back to the drawing board.
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With the rewrite, I wanted the tension between the two characters to be much more obvious right out the gate. I rewrote Crim to be more abrasive and domineering, and also concocted a backstory between the two (that may or may not appear in the comic itself) that suggests a lifelong rivalry between the two. Rachel also redesigned the character to look the part, making him a bit more top-heavy and muscular – in many ways a superior-looking Tamian to Quinlan.
Despite all this, I didn’t want Crim to come off as the Tamian version of Biff Tannen – I wanted him to have a genuine reason for disliking Quinlan. Obviously, in addition to everything else in their past, Crim is also of the belief that Quinlan is an empty suit as Captain of the Royal Guard, and isn’t afraid to voice his opinion on the matter.
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This week we have another wonderful piece of guest art by Jerome Jacinto, who painted this portrait of Quinlan “just because” he had “a little bit of time” to do it! So without further delay, here is the protagonist of Beyond the Western Deep, looking more than a bit dashing.
As always, Jerome, lovely, lovely artwork! Such an incredible surprise, especially after the great ink work you sent over for last week’s post. Even for a speed paint, the detail and care put into the piece is amazing. Quin looks positively fantastic – thank you so much for the art!
Oooooh, that’s some really nice art on the bottom OuO
But yeah, Crim already looks like a douche xD I hope Quin proves himself capable enough to hold his own. Either that or find a way to refuse.
Sorry, but I’m definitely seeing Biff Tannen in that first panel! (Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned it … )
Overall, another great page. Love that shot of Quin; the lighting and downward-angled perspective of the appealing full-figure pose really gives him personality in that panel. Although that last panel almost has me thinking this comic should be retitled “Squirrels in Pants.” Of course, Quin himself rather bucks that trend, doesn’t he?
And as for Jerome’s work, well, what can be said that hasn’t already? I was blown away by his DeviantArt gallery when someone first directed me to it a year or two ago, and think he must stand as the king of all Redwall fan artists (and now, the king of “Western Deep” fan artists as well, small as that stable might be at the moment!). I’d love to get a commission or three from him, but he sounds busier these days than any three normal people put together, so that shall have to be a dream deferred … at least for now. But his Quinlan here shall tide me over nicely. Oh yes it shall.
Heh, Crim looks like he’s just DYING to slam poor Quinlan….I wonder if Dakkan will intervene? This page makes Quin look smaller then the average squirrel….or dare I say a little scrawny? Doesn’t matter, I love Quin. I do hope that Quin and Crim have some sort of match-out. I would be interesting to see….
Hm, Crim has a reason for disliking Quin? Oh good! All the best antagonists have genuine reasons motivating them. And I feel like although Quin likely wouldn’t own up to it, he probably agrees with Crim about not being worthy of captain status.
Love the camera angles on the first two panels.
And so we finally get to meet Crim! As I mentioned last time, I’ve definitely been looking forward to that – ever since I saw the sketches of him on the production blog. He looks a little different here than on the sketches, and the way he suddenly blasts onto the scene in the first panel was kinda shocking the first time I read the comic. He still looks awesome, though!
I’ll have more to say about him later. I’ll just agree with Wing that Quin looks really cute and vulnerable on the brilliant second panel, that it does indeed feel strange seeing all these squirrels in pants (not that I mind in the least) and that the fanart from Jerome is a FANTASTIC interpretation of Quinlan! I hope to see more from him in the future!
I like how Quin nervously clutches the sash in Panel 2.
What’s with the ear things? the King had one set, and I thought it was a crown or something, but here Crim has two.
It’s probably a fashion statement, like when people get piercings in our world. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.