Chapter 3: Page 56
This page was a bit tricky to nail down, but speaks volumes to the iterative process Rachel and I share when we’re trying to find solutions to problems. The problem we needed to solve? How to show time passing after the Sratha-din scene.
We threw around a LOT of ideas, ranging from additional pages to elaborate match cuts and everything in between. Ultimately, as many of our best solutions tend to manifest, Rachel pitched a rather elegant (albeit visually complex) solution: to just show all our “active” protagonists in motion, to suggest the passage of time during their travels.
Well, it worked!
For guest art this week, I wanted to show this great follow-up piece from Elise Addington of her ermehn characters!
In Elise’s words: “This is Curlew and Frell – Curlew is actually the main character of the fanfic that features Frell. Here, he’s attempting to console Frell after the loss of Frell’s one remaining kinsman. Curlew is pretty cool. He was raised by an Ermehn healer, and the entire tale is really about him.”
They certainly do seem to be an interesting pair, Elise! I can’t wait to read more of their adventures, and I hope you’ll decide to share them with us here when they’re ready.
We finall get to see guinlan, dakkan, and janik. It’s been so long.
Guinlan? I think that’s a new character set to be introduced in Chapter Seven. Or was that Whoopie Goldberg’s character from “Star Trek: TNG?”
If the Mitra/Janik dynamic is going to mirror that of a certain Space-Bartender/Diplomat-Captain then I’m all for it.
They may be mentor and protégé but they are also legit bros down for some hangs in a holodeck detective mystery or phasering some glowy orbs on the firing range.
Also, Guinan survives to the end of the series *PleaseNoCanidAmbush,PleaseNoCanidAmbush…*.
If Mitra wants to measure up in that department she needs to invest in some much more impressive hats.
Elegant indeed! And quite effective too; we get three panels (one partial) of our fleeing Ermehn-plus-Kenosh band, then a shot of a rather panicked and harried Quin and Dak similarly on the run, and then lastly a shot of Janik who’s clearly overjoyed to finally be rid of her tail (sorry, couldn’t resist!). My favorite thing about this page? Eira helping poor old Ashtor down the rockface; it’s the little touches like that that keep “BWD” fully alive for me. Oh, and nice to see Quin still has his One Last Arrow; we all expect big things from that shaft!
In addition Eira will have to make sure the old fella’ does not trip on those two rocks and end up falling into a different area of Dunia with two variously wounded foreign dudes and an entirely different plot thread.
Wow, I love the visual effect here. Great job.
It’s the pages like these that put BWD a step above other comics.
As for comments on the page itself, I love how haggard Quin and Dak look, and I love the view of Mitria and Janik. Janik looks so cute in that outfit. I also like how happy and at ease the two of them are . . . I can guarantee you that won’t last.
Lovely page as always. I wonder who we’ll be heading to next? Will Quin and Dak make it to Sunsgrove? Will Janik run into the Sand Spiders? Will Kenosh and Ashtor ever smile again? Find out next week, on BTWD!
I couldn’t resist.
Some good fan art this week. Been going through the old pages, fun to see all the old fan art as well. See you all next week! Catz out!
That last panel is so good! Not only is it good at showing the passage of time, but in connecting all three stories as well! I’d love to see it as a poster or something!
My big fear, when my eyes rested on that panel for the first time, was that maybe this was meant to be the conclusion of Chapter Three … which might not have been a bad thing in and of itself, but considering how long the wait was between Chapters Two and Three, I’m not ready for this chapter to be over just yet.
I was thinking it might be the end of the chapter too. Honestly it would be appropriate, pacing wise. This whole chapter has been about the aftermath of Chapter 2, and right now all the characters are on their way to somewhere else, where I’m guessing Chapter 4 will pick up.
As far as the wait goes, I think it might be a good thing to give Rachel another break. Poor girl has been hard at work cranking these pages out week after week.
Rachel, that last panel is masterfully done. This is why i love this comic so much
Unimpressed Bevan is unimpressed. I love this comic.
Hardin doesn’t seem too enthralled with Rathik right now.