Today’s comic is gonna be a bit late, I was dead set on finishing a commission piece I was nearing the end of. I just thought I’d take a moment and ask, flat out; what do you guys think of it?
Obviously I already know the whole “animu” thing has been done to death, and the plot friggin’ meanders until about Track 4, but it’s pretty much by design (the worst ones in my book are the ones where I went ‘off script-‘ the Kami as magic girl side story in particular, even if in the broad scheme it turned out to foreshadow with the sublety of a sledgehammer. After the reveal in 12, I decided to push for Disc 2 to go to a grittier feel, which is what I wanted all along. Something more Westerny than it had been. Ironically, this is the story arc where Kenji leaves the Wastes for much of the duration.
And probably some of you have noticed I applied the softer line style I was messing with here out on the last couple of comics. I’m pretty satisfied with how it makes the coloring feel a bit more ‘solid’ to me, and less coloring-book, though I’m going to need lots of practice to sharpen it. Incidentally, it seems to make things go a bit faster since I’m sketching/inking/coloring more or less simultaneously rather than breaking it up into distinct steps. Distinct steps I get sidetracked with RPG level grinding in between, anyway.
This is really just to gauge interest, anyway. So if you read it, by all means, drop a comment and maybe you can get to claim a hand in RK sucking less.
Lord Zeta would sound… hmm. I’m not sure if that would be more or less cliche.
And Sara is awesome. I know you weren’t happy with how the redacted part of 13 was going (I was amused, but I guess that’s not hard), but I did enjoy Sara’s character a lot there.
There actually is a definite, final point I want the story to go toward, but I don’t want to make this into one of those ‘broken record’ quests. Yes, say- Bioweapons are important, but I don’t want every other line to be “WE HAFF TO BEAT THAT BIOWEAPON! THE ONLY WAY IS TO STRENGTHEN MY BIOWEAPON WITH THAT BIOWEAPON, OVER THERE!”
A lot of the ‘throwaway’-seeming cast will be coming back soon, like Seth, Kain, and Sara, nobody’s really been featured as a fluke or gag without having a place intended for them later on.
T Xephon: Does it help that his name’s just the letter Z? (Pronounced ‘Zed’ or ‘Zeta’) Nobody ever seems to know his full name, or at least address him by it.
I’ve been enjoying it from day one, really. While the inspiration might be a little bit overdone, it stands apart well as its own entity, and it keeps things juggled entertainingly enough that I don’t mind seeing any familiar cliches crop up back and forth.
And, frankly, it’s nice when the plot meanders hither and yon. I like the way that the story has gone off in a direction for a bit only to sort of lose interest and develop something else… it’s the best of both a fully fleshed-out scripted plot and a more loose approach.
If the strip ever had the feel of an anime fan trying to make his own manga, it doesn’t anymore. It feels more original, and doesn’t feel as if it’s reminiscent of any art style in particular.
Grittier? Yes, disc 2 feels way different and strikingly more ‘gritty’. The change in direction toward a softer line style isn’t very evident unless you look for it, since, for the most part, it still has that hard, edgey feel.
“Oh, Edgey! Please, marry me!”
Sorry, Old Bag moment.
As for the story, no real complaints here.
Only negative thought: a name like “Lord Z” is cliche as hell.