Chapter 2: Page 18
(Hi everyone! Yes, it’s been a while, but we’ve finally got colors squared away! Enjoy the finished page!)
Hi everyone! Not a whole lot to talk about this week, I suppose!
Okay, I lied – there’s a little bit to talk about this week!
One of the fun things I like about the comic medium is condensing action that would normally takes place over a few seconds into one single panel, creating a kind of moving image in your head. A comic isn’t always just a snapshot in time — after all, if you were watching a scene of this in real-time, how would you have Rathik grab Bevan’s arm and show Bevan losing the grip on his knife while Rathik delivers his lines condensed into the same moment?
Well, you wouldn’t! Real-time storytelling mediums and sequential-art storytelling mediums are vastly different, speak a different language, and require us to ask different things of the viewer/reader. Every medium has its own method of interaction, but comics are really the best at giving us a sense of inferred movement, showing us precisely what’s happening while also inviting us to use our imaginations in how things play out.
Anyway! Keep an eye out for the colored version of this and page 16 in the coming days!
I remember reading Scott McCloud’s book years ago and having a revelation that comics aren’t just books with pictures on them, but an entirely separate medium. Interesting stuff!
Also, Eira is totally into Bevan.
Something tells me that Bevan is a scout of the group and Hardin needs him to scout out another tribe or something else.
Hardin: Bevan, my loyal friend, who has fought by my side and stood by me through thick and thin, it is only on you and you alone that I can rely to fulfill the task I now commend you:
You are to infiltrate the canid fortress to attempt an assassination on it’s vcaptain, only to fail at the last minute and get killed or captured to build drama.
Bevan: This job is nothing like the brochure said it would be!
Slightly alter that line and you’d have the “I didn’t sign up for this!” cliche.
Aww, looks like someone’s got a crush on Bevan ^^
Action, adventure, dark pasts filled with regret, and now romance. Just your average, ordinary, everyday world-altering heroic adventure.
Very suave expression in that last panel, Bevan. And Eira does seem fond of him, heh. Not sure if Bevan is a scout or not, but only the future can tell. Though Rathik’s inability to wait five seconds for Bevan is hilarious to me.
Bevan the Scout: Need a dispenser here!
Boink! Bonk!
Obviously this makes Rathik a Heavy.
Is Bevan merely surprised at being grabbed, or scared of whatever Hardin may want to see him for?
Rathik’s expression implies the latter may be more appropriate.
I’m a bit more worried on were that dagger is going to land.
I believe knife accidents must happen all the time in Beyond the Western Deep. Think about it: Everyone has only eight fingers there!
It looks like it should land clear, though you bring up an excellent point on the finger count…
Speaking of fingers I just noticed that Bevan doesn’t have those leather strips on his hands in the last two panels, so you might want to redraw those.
Already caught that in the in-progress color pass, but thanks! c:
I think he’s just surprised. Remember that Hardin went out his way to recruit these five Ermehn with an attitude to his band, and I don’t think Bevan would stay a member if he was afraid of his job.
Maybe Rathik just doesn’t like Bevan, then.
Did you try to post something here, Trees? Looks like it didn’t go through :(
Who knows what existential mishap befell my comment?
I, for one, am content to leave it a mystery.
I believe your comment had an existential crisis that went awry. Poor thing.
It was actually breath-taking. There are no words in Ermhen, Lutren, or in tongues of the Felis to describe what I’ve witnessed amongst the contents of that, for you, cryptic comment!
I strongly disagree on comics being the best medium to i ncentivate the use of our imagination.
Old-fashioned novels, radio broadcasts, media without any images in them, now that makes you use your imagination!
I agree that image-less media encourage (or, rather, require) imagination! What I’d said above was that sequential art provides inferred action, which allows us to imagine events playing out with a visual reference provided by the creators. This is vastly different from non-image based media. Radio and audio dramas provide voices and sounds, but no visuals. Books may provide chapter illustrations, but usually rely on the author’s descriptive abilities and the reader’s own imagination. Truly all of these require differing levels of imagination from the reader/listener, and sequential art’s requirements are just some of my favorites :)
Once again we’re back to the blue-and-white world we saw two pages ago! (Insert funny/biting comment about the matter here)
It seems that the identity of these characters is shaping up more and more, supported by what we saw of them back during the campfire battle. Eira seems to be the “nice girl” of the group, perhaps involved in the non-combat aspects of Hardin’s band, like a healer, while Rhosyn is the “dark action girl”, more used to violence and with a much harsher, grim personality. Let’s hope that her reaction to Eira’s comment about Bevan being the group’s best shot was just a bit of joshing, and not a serious stab of anger. Rhos doesn’t look like the kind of girl you’d want angry…
(I also hope it doesn’t come down to Eira being the good girl and Eira the evil one – it’s so established in these kind of stories that I’d like some greater complexity for once)
Very nice comment on how comics work as a sequential medium, particularly the point about how panels aren’t just snapshots in time. It’s one of those points I never really thought about before, but now that you’ve brought it up so succintly seem so obvious. Thanks for enlightening me!
This scene is why Bevan and Roshyn are tied for my favorite of the Sratha-Din, and strong contenders for my favorite characters in the comic, period.
Where is that updated cast list where these and other fine characters may find permanent residence?
tldr: I want an updated cast list :).