Chapter 1: Page 53
Well, it would appear that this was indeed a fight to the death, and Hardin has emerged the victor. These sorts of tribal bouts are not always fatal, but a true Ermehn warrior would rather die facing a stronger foe than cede victory and live the rest of their lives with that hanging on their conscience.
Obviously Hardin now feels he’s in a position to make demands – whether or not the rest of the tribe is in the mood to hear what he has to say is another story. What is it Hardin wants the tribe’s warriors for? Will they be receptive to his goals? We’ll just have to wait until next week to start finding out!
Next weekend I will be attending PAX East in Boston! I’ve got a panel on Saturday (the 23rd) at 1pm in the Naga Theater with Dean Dodrill to discuss our work on “Dust: An Elysian Tail”, along with a special surprise for panel-goers. I’ll be out and about for all three days of the expo, and the company I work for, HitPoint Studios, will also have a booth (#598) that I’ll likely be swinging by once and then to talk about my work on the “Adera” series.
If you see me, don’t be afraid to say hi!
For those who can’t attend, the panel will be streamed live via Twitch.tv for those interested. I don’t have the link, but you should be able to find it if you do a search on the website. You can also follow me on Twitter @tdcpresents for up-to-date info on the panel.
Wow, Hardin. You guys really do have some kind of crazy diplomacy; the diplomat just ended up dead. But I suppose that’s one way to gain followers. (And enemies, too.) It says a lot about the characters in Hardin’s gang by watching their reaction to the death, and while I’m not surprised by Rathnik or Ashtor, it’ll be interesting to learn who the other beasts are.
Great page as always, and I look forward to the next!
I agree with Mushroom about the top panel revealing more about the characters. So 3/5 of them are completely comfortable (happy even) with Hardin killing their foes while the other two seem regretful. I’m looking forward to learning more about them.
So I assume that the guardian that Hardin fought was the tribe leader?
Well, this answers the question of where the fight was going. Bloodier than I was expecting from anything in “BWD” (not that that bothers me in particular) even if we didn’t see the actual killing, only its aftermath – which was an effective way to do it too. Outstanding resolution to this mini-conflict-within-the-greater-conflict-to-come.
And yes, I too am most curious to learn more about the rest of Hardin’s band. I think it was a wise choice to only introduce two by name and dialogue in these past few pages; trying to do that with all five while the fight was going on just would have been too unwieldy, although I agree with what’s been said about the top panel telling us more about them just through their reactions. Also, in regards to the second panel, I wonder how many readers will pick up that there are a total of twelve tribesbeasts looking on, and not just the seven in the foreground who are totally colored in … or that one of them is missing an arm (almost overlooked that myself until I went back for a second peek). Gotta feel sorry for that little kid who looks so distraught; I bet he’ll be traumatized for life! (If he even survives to adulthood through what Hardin has in store for all of them. Wars DO get messy … )
well, I wasn’t expecting this. It does seem a bit of a waste to kill that other warrior. Like everyone else, I am very interested in the other members. I look forward to seeing the others as the story progresses. Great action, and a great page, good work.
A waste, maybe. But perhaps it is a twisted sign of respect to let him die an honorable death than live a defeated life. For Hardin, it could be a sign of respect but also a show of intimidation. Two birds with one stone.
True….
OOOOuuuuu…..WHY did I not see this coming? Heh, oh well. The bystanders don’t seem to concerned over the loss really…though I suppose the stronger the leader the better XD Lots of blood lololol
Should’ve kneed Hardin in the groin, might’ve given him an advantage.
Not sure… That might be considered foul play and depending on their culture he probably would rather die than resort to that kind of cheap trick.
I really love how Hardin’s speech bubbles are sideways to match him in the picture. It makes it feel moreintense somehow. Also, is the Ermehn on the far right of the first panel the same one as on the far left of the second panel?
He is, indeed!
Ouch. That was brutal.
I guess you can’t expect more than that on a tribe of warriors though.
I wasn’t expecting an outcome to this extend but I guess it’s a very nice touch coming from Tamian “friendly” sparring to a “fight-to-death” Ermehn diplomacy to add contrast between the races.
Now I’m a bit scared to see how things will turn out now for Hardin and his group.
In addition, I thought I should mention the RSS still doesn’t show the comic page itself, only the posts. No pressure, just letting you know ;)
Which browser are you using?
Opera. Opera’s integrated RSS feed.
Okay, thanks. I could only test Firefox and IE (the former works, the latter doesn’t) and the more we know before we try to fix it, the better.
I was thinking myself of how starkly these recent pages contrast with the rest of the opening chapter, with the friendliness and coziness of Sunsgrove, where threats and dangers were discussed more in the abstract while life overall seemed fairly idyll, and even Quin’s fight with Crim had an air of “this is all just a contest” to it. This glimpse of the Ermehn shows how dire and brutal their existence is by comparison, and it’s extremely effective in that way as a narrative device. As for me, I’m less scared for Hardin’s group than I am for any who might come into opposition with him – namely, our Sunsgrovian heroes. I sense an epic in the making!
I would love to see you at PAX East, unfortunately I’m on the wrong side of the continent. If you swing by PAX Prime you can bet I’ll be at your panel! (and bring a copy of BtWD for me to buy too!)
Oh huzzah! I’m with Varvau and am very pleased things went this way. Maybe it sounds morbid, but it’s definitely a not-often taken route. Here was ample opportunity to have an antagonistic companion in the defeated warrior if he was spared, but it’s a much stronger message in his death; really reinforces the savagery of the Ermehn culture.
Well thankee kindly! :3
I’m rather fond of it, myself. It’s a picture a friend did for me awhile back of one of my Redwall RP characters. A long long while back.
Ah! You lucky fellow! I would have loved to have met Mr. Jacques; Redwall is one of my favorite series. I could definitely see him as a hare.
I think in the larger image, he’s relaxing on a battlement thinking of pie. He was a rather tragic character, poor guy, so this was a nice light-hearted portrayal of him, and it crops down well. :3
Ey mate, I just discovered this comic yesterday, and it’s really amazing! keep up the good work
Hey thanks! Glad you’re enjoying it. c:
I just want to say I really admire the different types of clothing in this comic. It gives a great sense of culture. Here everything looks more patched-together with an emphasis on being functional, while in Sunsgrove there was more green and natural colours. Also, in the introduction it all looked really interesting. For example, those robes the Felis were wearing looked kind of Roman/Asian and the Vulpin had plenty of loose fabric and light colours, which would be much better for a desert environment. A lot of people don’t think of these things.
Thanks so much for the kind words! Rachel and I put a lot of effort into building this world, and we’re glad you’re enjoying the fruits of our labors :) At the end of the day we want the world to feel as real and cohesive as possible, so nailing those different cultures was a key struggle at the onset. It will be fun to visit each one in time to show off more of them!
I don’t think any of us expected Hardin to lose this fight. The question was over what would happen to the loser – would he be allowed to accept his defeat and submit to the victor, or was this a fight to the death. And now that question has been answered…
This is the first truly brutal sequence of BTWD, and as Wing pointed out it stands as a sharp contrast to the relatively idyllic scenes in Sunsgrove that we just left behind. It’s a sign, I guess, of the darker turns that the story will take in the future.
And as has also been pointed out, in spite of not having any lines or much characterization, Bob’s death still comes across as hard-hitting. He fought bravely and honorably, and remained defiant til the very end. We’ll miss you, Bob :(
We had a lot of comments for this page, most of which have said everything I could comment on (the reaction of his companions on the top panel and what it tells us about them, the Ermehn missing his left arm, that poor kid whose been made to watch this duel and will probably get scarred by it) so I’ll just say that this is another great page and I’m very impressed with you both for having written and drawn it. Now we’ll see what this fight scene builds up to…
Whatever happened to being civil, sitting down, drinking tea, having a social dispute (talking about it agreeing and disagreeing about it) ect?