Thursday, April 4, 2013
Amorphous Comic Blob
For once in a, well, ever, I’m actually sticking to my word on this one. Even I didn’t believe me when I said I’d get the site updated today, yet here we are. I really need to make site updating a regular thing so I don’t end up throwing four new comics at it at one time, but now that I know where I put FileZilla, that shouldn’t be too hard. Now, maintaining an actual schedule for these, that’s another story.
#005: Love Hurts
I’m going out on a limb here and assuming that most of my readers have either played or heard of Phantasy Star Portable 2. In it, your player character assumes the role of main protagonist, albeit a silent one. To flesh out the dialogue, we have Emilia Percival, typical fifteen year old loudmouth. As the story progresses, she becomes attached to your character. Like… really attached. Really, REALLY attached. She passes out on your bed a few times is what I’m saying. Her behavior spawned an in-team joke that is represented in this comic.
#006: Monster House
I was a bit disappointed in this one. Not from the execution, nor the little details I put effort into [citation needed], but rather, the plot itself. Yes, the third panel is completely interchangeable, allowing me to churn out hundreds of different comics via the magic of copy-paste, but the fact that none of the people I showed the comic to “got it” was a little bit disheartening. It didn’t come as a surprise; even while working on the comic, I questioned whether or not anyone would understand the joke, being based on a rather cruel, randomly-occurring feature in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. I thought that the visual humor (ie; too many Mags for any sane person to handle) would hoist it up, but I was met with the same “I don’t get it” from just about everyone. Props to one (yep, just one) friend of mine for at least understanding the gag. Next time I face a similar situation, I’ll know not to try.
#007: Something for Everyone
Thinking about it now, this comic is one that won’t remain relevant forever. I don’t really think about it too much when I’m making these, but when I delve into present or future tense, I should probably consider that they won’t always remain that way. In this case, the comic references the April 10th (2013) PSO2 update, in which the aforementioned items were introduced to the game. Whenever I read the comic, I can’t help but find Mag’s introduction humorous, and I guess that’s all that really matters. So, even though this comic won’t be relevant forever, at least I can look back on it and laugh. More that can be said for a lot of my older comics.
#008: Deadly Danger
Krahda. Krahda is the single most useless enemy in the entirety of PSO2. Nothing can even begin to compare to the sheer lack of threatening prowess that a Krahda displays. Not even rare Rappies, who spend most of their time ASLEEP. Any Legion of Deadly Danger should be wary of these things.
This comic hurled itself to the front of my queue after a brief conversation with Jess. I’ve always considered Mag, XII and Jess to be the cornerstone characters of Photon Art, which characters such as Dr.Paul, Angron and Lone serving in more peripheral, supporting cast roles. In spite of this, Jess has only made two comic appearances to date, and I wanted to change that. Not only am I trying to establish her presence as a main character (antagonist?), but this comic serves as a new starting point, of sorts.
This actually goes beyond my notes on the comic and into actual news: The cast of Photon Art will be different than what I’ve done up to this point in future comics. The decisions I’ve made were not easy ones, and I think I’d feel a little less crazy if I explained my reasoning. So, if you just came here for the comics, you’ve already received the four that I can deliver. Thanks for stopping by. Say hello to your grandmother for me. Etcetera. However, if you’d like to read my inner thoughts on all of this, feel free to continue below:
The Main Cast
#1: Mag. The comic just wouldn’t exist without Mag. Every character could become peripheral, and there’s really no way I’d be able to ditch the main. I consider Mag to be the face of Photon Art.
#2: XII. Call it a self-insert if you will, but I feel as though he’s well established enough that he shouldn’t be removed.
#3: Jess. As stated previously, I always envisioned her to be a major character in the comics, to cover territory that really doesn’t suit heroic, headstrong and unlucky Mag.
The Supporting Cast
#1: Dr.Paul. Having a doctor isn’t necessary, but in a comic where physical humor is a high probability, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
#2: Cranberry. I had previously made her a supporting character solely for the Photon Art Christmas Carol (which I still need to finish), but with the list of scrapped characters, I feel as though she serves a more necessary role in the comic. Fitting the literal term of “supportive,” I want a character who can be present to support the main cast.
#3: Hex. I never really established Hex in the Schtserv Chapters, despite my desire to do so. Now, I’ll have plenty of opportunities.
#4: Angron. He hasn’t appeared as often as I had intended, but I can still keep in on board for those moments where over-the-top overkill is a theme.
#5: Nerva. His personality isn’t far off from XII’s, but he’ll remain much closer to the analytical voice of reason than XII, whose attitude does not remain static.
#6: Lone. And, of course, Lone’s Sloth. I’m not ready to write them out just yet, especially not with so many “Dude, X, can you be a Y” comic ideas left.
#7. KEERIK. I mean, come on. It’s KEERIK.
Scrapped Cast
#1: Pmpjr. Pmpjr was always a great friend, and I honestly don’t know why I even made his character the punching bag in the comics. In PSO2, Forces are anything but the scrawny little support slaves that defined them in the first PSO, making her role a redundant one. Pmpjr is now a father, and I wish him and his family the best.
#2: Kol. Kol was mentioned multiple times in the comic, but only ever made two appearances, neither of which had dialogue. The character was based on LKA, but I may have something better in store for that. Clappy hands may be involved.
#3: Ghost. Ghost made a grand total of one appearance, and may as well have not had a face. This was from a time when I thought I’d need a wide supporting cast. Naturally, I didn’t.
#4: ZenyBOT-3000. This one was most painful for me to let go of, because there’s a lot of in-team jokes associated with him. He never really took off after his debut with Miureth, and I think it’s better to just let him go than to keep implying that there’s more to it.
Nothing is set in stone, but I’m going to make an effort to steer my comic’s cast in the direction that I’ve listed. I’m going to refrain from using characters I’ve scrapped, and attempt to build comic plots with the appropriate personalities (characters) in mind. You know, like an actual storyboard.