The last page also sees the return (at least as a cameo) of one of the favorite characters from Alexander the Prince, Lefty Lucy. I originally had planned for Black to give the baby away to an orphanage or perhaps just a friend that owed him a favor. A few days before starting page 25, however, I thought of using Lucy instead. I’m happy about this idea, because it links the two stories together, albeit tenuously.
As I think I already mentioned, I’m going to take a break from working on my comics and turn my attention to my role-playing game based on the Imperium universe. I don’t know how long this hiatus will last, but it should be at least a couple of months. I may not actually wait until I finish the game before starting the next story; we’ll have to see. Either way, I’ll continue to use this blog to say how the game is coming along, in case anyone is interested.
Congrats on finishing 'Magnus' - I know just how good it feels to finish a story ;o) Just went back and re-read the whole thing, and I think you've managed a nice, tightly told short story. Feels like a prologue, and I get the feeling that it is, but only time and your motivation will tell if I'm right ;o) The opening sequence presents a real anti-hero, like The Man With No Name or the 'hero' of the 'Collateral' movie. "I kill people for a living" has the same steely cynical ring to it as Leone's "At at time where life had no value, death sometimes had its price." The more noir-ish look with deep shadows really become your work. You still have your own intriguing like-but-not-quite-like slo-mo rhythm; still not sure I like it, but I like to read it, if that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteThe Magna Supremacy raid that orphans Magnus is a bit underwhelming, despite the explosive FX. I think it has to do with too few characters on-screen. Yeah, I know how hard it is to pack the screen with CG characters on a home PC, but that single Magna guy with the raygun just can't convince me he's part of a planet-wide Final Solution. I'd suggest - ever so softly, I'm no expert on these things - to check out some early Ridley Scott movies, he's an expert at making a screen look packed even when there's only a handful of people on it (his first film 'The Duellists' is a tutorial in itself).
The pirate and ordinary-soldier interludes are almost too short (and the ordinary-soldier battle stuff a bit tame for the same reasons as mentioned above), but sets the stage nicely for Magnus' entry into the ranks of the assasins, and THAT training is a really good story-within-the-story! The final test, page 20-21, are superb, with the ominous shadows and the fatal surprise for the unfortunate assassin colleague.
The final sequence leading up to Magnus desertion from the assassins corps, is a bit predictable, story-wise, but superbly and believably told. No nauseating speeches or moralistic preaching in voice-over; Magnus is man of action - when he changes his mind, he doesn't stop for speeches, he changes his course of action. It is in this kind of emotion-action scenes that your curious rhythms really comes into its own - and at this point, you've really mastered the chiaroscuro thing, it's movie-quality stuff! And hey, it's good to see Lucy again.
I'd like to close with some of my usual self-overestimating suggestions about your graphics - I just can't find any improvements to suggest any more (except, possibly, to boost color and contrast to "comicky" levels by duplicating image to new layer and setting top layer mode to 'Overlay', but this is really a matter of style/taste, not quality).
Sorry to hear you are taking a leave of absence from comics, but I know it's hard to do it all the time, considering the limited attention and praise that one's hard work gets. You should consider putting your stuff on DrunkDuck or some place like it - didn't boost my own comics' viewings all that much, but at least it's viewings from a genuinely comics-appreciating audience.
...And good luck with the game.
Cheers / thip
Thanks, Thip! I appreciate that you took the time to give such in-depth comments.
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
William