Am I a real webcomic artist? I have no idea. I think perhaps I put too much work into my comic, and that's why I only get it done once every two weeks. It's been awhile since I've been able to pour myself into drawing a comic, and quite frankly I wonder if that's a bad thing. This latest comic taught me something: You honestly have to plan ahead. The cityscape cropping of Tripura bothers me immensely, considering it was supposed to show three times as much of the area.

With Christmas and the New Year coming up, I wonder if I'll be able to do more with the comic. I honestly need to start doing a bit less here and there, such as overstating the backgrounds. I also plan to use more conventional methods for composing the characters, such as graphic powder for the shading. I want to get inventive while simplifying, suffice to say. The easiest panels for me to draw are the "chibi" pictures. While they aren't superdeformed in all actuality, they're simple and easy to draw, and were I a lazier artist, I'd use them all the time. However, I can only really bring myself to use them when the situation calls for it, such as Sera's flaming eyes and giant head contrasting their forced passivity.

What I am happy with is how I've planned ahead this time, not in terms of storyboards, but in terms of script. I generally don't even write the script until I'm done the comic. I always have an idea of where I'm going, but I've never written a set word of dialogue before I put it in the word bubble. It's worked out well so far, but I think I can do much better. I know my jokes don't pack much punch at this point, but I don't want to be a one-liner "ha ha" comic. This is somewhere between a romantic sitcom and an action movie in my head. The action movie part hasn't come in yet, we're building up to that.

Well, we'll see how things proceed. If you have any words of wisdom for me, post them in the forum. I'm still having problems with that damned thing, but at least I can read it, even if I can't post much.

The comic's done, albeit not how I wanted, but it's done. I should have arranged the panels differently, and I really wish I could show you all of Tripura's cityscape, but I'll save that for another comic. I know the balloons are cramped, but eh, they do their job. The next comic will probably introduce Rich's IAF buddies, Ark and Tony, as well as the concept of mechanoid "shift" technology. And no, that one won't be in colour. I'll do a special issue like this every once in awhile during holiday seasons and whatnot, sort of as a bonus for the festivities. Thanks to all my readers for this year, I hope you'll be back in 2004. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Friday, December 12, 2003 | Archived Commentaries