Page 1039…
Thank you all for all of the wonderful suggestions regarding the TWC questions I proposed yesterday.
I really appreciate it.
Taking yours (and Sarah Ellerton’s) advice…here’s a thumbnail for today’s vote incentive.
I’m thinking of maybe doing some drawings next week. Maybe by request?
The thought of this sounded fun. If I have the time.
Other than that…I hope you’re enjoying the story.
And thank you again.
Scott
Extra crispy!!
Nice vote incentive. The thumbnail is a good idea. You should see if your web designer can implement that into your webpage design somewhere so that you don’t have to post it in your blog section each time you put up a new one.
owwwwwww Medic!
Why do I get the feeling that we’re about to see the standard DBZ thing where someone goes down and then comes back more powerful than ever? But back to the actual reply… Do you want some ketchup with that?
Personally, I was thinking if I’d been in Alex’s position earlier, I would have let Nicodemus be distracted by Nastajia while I swooped in from behind him and carved up his wings, leaving him stranded on that rock. Guess you have to get scorched a few times from doing the frontal assault thing before you decide that maybe there’s a better way…
Well, Alex has to go into a dive anyway if he’s going to go after the sword he dropped. It ain’t over till it’s over. This would be an interesting time to see if Alex has remembered how to let his friends fly too.
No, no, no… it’s crash, THEN burn
Medic![/tf2]
…Actually, he looks like a phoenix, you know, the firebird. Hmmm.
An chance we’ll see Alex’s suit of armor do something cool like grow wings/stabilizers? We haven’t had a lot of explanation on how it works or what its capabilities are….
– Fr. Maurer
Lovely page. I suspect Alex’s armour is fire resistant, but I guess we can’t really know at this point. 😉 So far as the voting thing goes, I generally do vote when I’m here, but I usually don’t read every day. I often let a week or two build up and then read them all at once, but of course at that point I can only vote for the last day. Tonight it worked well, because I read the last page, waited twenty minutes or so, and then read this one; thus I was able to vote for both.
That seems like it hurts. But I guess the best lessons are the most painfull ones. So now the score is Nic 5 – Alex&co 3.
Nicely done with the emotional effect here!
BTW, when I voted 30 minutes ago, the current voting rate for the last two days was at one vote every 104 seconds (yesterday, after 12 hours into the month, it was at 1 vote per 150 seconds). This is compared to last month’s terrible rate of 1 vote every 40 minutes. So, what you’re doing is clearly working for you!
Note: Favorite panel on this page- DEFINITELY PANEL 1! You’ve got right down to even Nastajia being blurry due to the focus of “the camera.” This panel has my gut wrenching from the let down this scene brings!
*by let down I mean as in the current tide of the battle; I was hoping for Mincemeat Dragon, not Roasted Hero. 😉
Maybe Alex didn’t really thought this one out 😀
“Don’t worry, it’s just a dragon…..What do you mean dragon breaths fire?…”
Just got this tune in my mind… AHEM!
Alex in the sky with fireballs!
FLAME ON!!!
lol, that crossed my mind too at first. ^^
I vote to give Alex at least a nice little sunburn. Nicole would be very surprised i think. 😉
To infinity….and beyond!
Mmm… I must be dumb, but first I did not understand what the nice picture was for – probably because I missed the blog and discussion of yesterday. While a thumb is good, you should still probably integrate it with a TWC ranking somewhere.
Anyway, call me lazy, I almost never vote. For my excuse I also never used these lists to choose a comic to visit. And I look at your comic from the office so I am usually a bit conservative with regards to which websites I visit.
There used to be one exception regarding my vote behavior for another comic – I voted regularly because the vote incentive was always the sketch of the next day’s comic. So whenever the story was exciting, you would just at the incentive to see how it goes next, and still visit the next day to see the fully drawn and colored version.
Perhaps you could do something similar? E.g. put a “working render”, the one you use for positioning the scene as incentive, and the finished render the next day as daily comic. If you can automate a bit the workflow it should not cost you much extra work.
wheeee, it’s a comet. and a shiny one at that. 😀
ahem… anyway…
the second panel’s the best in my opinion. really nice angle and fire effect. *nods*
and wow, she used his full name! when was the last time she did that (if ever)?
the wing carving is exactly what I’d thought of earlier, too. would not have been as heroic, but the chance to succeed would have been higher. next time, perhaps. as soon as he stops glowing from the residual heat. might take a while. LOL
Alex has the best armor and weapon but he lacks much in tactics. I’d expect some tense moments ahead as his fate is unknown.
Ooohya, that’s going to leave a mark…
As for the twc thing, if i see it, i’ll click it, although it took me about 10 seconds to realise the thumbnail was the link to click this morning. Not enough coffee yet, i guess.
He’s going to pull a move worthy of Master Chief…drop from an insanely high altitude, while on fire, crash into the ground, and still survive, thanks to his armor. And thus begins Dreamland Halo 3.
Please extinguish all smoking materials, including Heroes, and prepare for landing. You may experience some turbulence and vibration.
Where’s the vote button dang it? I didn’t know you could vote (I’m new to this ok?) and now i do I’m looking for it. You said near the jukebox… nopes… I think I might be blind lol
Look, even if the armor is fire-resistant (which is probable), his eyes aren’t covered–and take a look at the mass of fire on his face!
I’m just hoping this will make Nastajia mad enough to go berserker.
Alex going down in flames? All we need are the sounds of an old WWII airplane diving as it has been shot down!
How many more pages before Alex wakes up?
Great start on the voting thing! Now put “Vote for me on TWC” on the pic itself and you’ll do even better. And maybe put a smallish version of the link above the comic? With the vote for me -text.
Great comic too!
I LOL’D XD
Yeah, he might wake up. That might be a useful tactic if he’s learned to control it. Then again, he might dive to the sword, then turn and burn. The fire off his feet already reminds me a bit of the Iron Giant. I wonder if Nic’s ever seen anything supersonic up close and personal.
loooove the fire-tinged colors, and that first panel is just spectacular. 🙂
ps the incentive is gorgeous, it took me a while to figure out that the picture was the voting link though, lol…
Hey Scott,
If you put “TWC vote incentive” on the bottom of the thumbnail, that might help as well. Once you get a routine I think the votes will go up.
Also, Alex is becoming awesome, even if he’s engulfed in flames at the moment.
Thanks all.
And good morning.
I’ll definitely try to work all that whole vote incentive thing out.
🙂
Voted 🙂
*sings* “Shot down in a blaze of glory” Maybe now he’ll remember how to summon that shield at will.
I have to say today’s comic is just beautiful, from a graphical standpoint. While it’s always sad to see a hero crash and burn, I still have to agree that it’s rather spectacular for us spectators! Panel 2 is my favorite. Hopefully he’s going to learn some strategy from this rather harsh lesson…
(8) Burn, baby burn (8) *disco head-bopping*
& LMAO at that Halo bit
The first thing to pop into my head was this bumper sticker:
“Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.”
I like the vote incentive idea. I haven’t voted in the past simply because I just didn’t notice the voting button. The thumbnail is much more prominent and easier to find. 🙂
His metal armor is on fire? 🙂 (I guess the gloves and the bottoms of his shoes are made of something flammable…)
*sings* “Shot down in a blaze of glory.” I guess Orion never taught him how to summon the shield at will. Here’s hoping Nick doesn’t monologue about his victory for another week.
Uh oh. Before Alex was happy-go-lucky.
Now, I think… he’s gonna be pissed.
For requests for drawing, Felicity! and Kiwi! <3
LOL… I just pictured Nastajia saying “Really” in the last frame… It just seems in her character. or for the lolcat fans “ZOMGPonies!” works too
Intense page, Scott!
Nice vote incentive, too!
oi…auch! That’s gonna be blistery for some time…
On “The Thumbnail” well..that’s some “thumb” you are referring then…… :LOL:
It’s big an remindy-I like it!
*sings* “Shot doooooowwwnnn in a -” *gets smacked* Ow! Okay, okay! I get it! It’s been done already. Twice. No need to get violent. Would it be better if I sang St. Elmo’s Fire instead?
Regarding the fire on his armor, if dragon fire is anything like a real world flamethrower then it carries its own fuel with it. I’m guessing what we’re seeing is the remaining fuel clinging to Alex’s armor burning off rather than the armor itself burning. Alex may have been knocked for a loop but I don’t think he’s out of this fight yet.
Sarah Ellerton is a genius! You’d do well to take her advice. 🙂 Of course, you are too, so… Maybe it’s fine either way. Artwork is fantastic!
Amen to that!
Definitely enjoying the story! 🙂
Even as you tweak it, I would like to point out that what you are doing thus far is already helping. You’ve gone from 1 vote every 104 seconds (last night at about midnight) to 1 vote every 94 seconds.
pfew….!
now natasjia can really say: ‘Alexander is hot!’ ><
Well, making a steady effort calling some attention to the TWC thing has definitely helped a lot. You’re up to #6 right now, compared to #36 back when you started up the chapter and like #18 a week or two ago. While I’m sure the competitive person in you wants #1, and I fully believe this comic is worthy of such a designation, being up high enough to get a full banner displayed is doing pretty well. That said, we are only 300 votes away from #4 and 600 away from #3. I think we can get there.
Just make sure to keep the button up on the front page somewhere.
Maybe next time Alex charges Nic, he’ll remember to put up that shield thingie.
oh noes!!!!!!!!!!!! not good! D:
wait hmmm?? drawings? by request? what does that mean exactly, like drawings of what? :U
usually when she’s mad at him kind of like a mommy xD
Hopefully the pain of being flambe’d does not cause Alex to wake up. That would be inconvenient, since he has to rescue Nastajia in the next little while.
It’s merely a flesh wound!
I might be wrong, but I think that this comic is currently the only one I’ve seen on TWC that’s actually updated daily.
By daily, I do mean of course, M-F.
Goodness gracious great balls of fire! That went well. The fire effect is lovely, even though it Alex who’s being burninated :(. The next page is either a sudden rebound from Alex or Nicodemus evil-laughing and starting another monologue of how all humans are frail and bla bla bla. I’m not too worried, I believe Alex can handle it.
I think Alex is gonna turn around and come back at him like a flaming torpedo. Or something.
But maybe that’s just wishful thinking.
Just when the hero starts showing the potential for awesome is when the bad guy starts showing how much power and attitude he’s been showing.
Alex has been dreaming in epic fantasy, so by no means should a dragon be anything NEAR being a push-over.
Whoops. Meant to say … how much power and attitude he’s been HIDING.
I present to you what might have been going through Alex’s head at the time: “Oh yeah, dragons can fly… and breath fire…”
Love the complex lighting and shadows on Nastajia in the last panel. Is it just me, or do her pauldrons look almost as if they’re made more from a semi-translucent material, such as amber, rather than gold, or other metal? They almost appear to be internalizing and refracting the light to achieve some luminescence, rather than simply reflecting it.
Some say wearing asbestos underwear is paranoid, but who is laughing now? 😛
Here is hoping he is okay, more likely the falling is due to his being distracted by the flames moreso that actual damage (we hope)
Actually, it’s “Pillage, then burn.” (Rule #1 from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates)
😉
*groan* that’s pretty bad …
( … I like it … )
Ha!
😆
It would be the large picture of Nastajia in the middle of Scott’s blog entry (between the comic and the comments).
That said, Scott, you might consider adding a few words to that picture (or future pictures) – just a simple “Please vote for me on TWC” along the bottom or top would suffice …
🙂
Oops! Totally didn’t see this when I posted my reply to Silly Gal above …
😳
More like “ZOMG Pwnies!”, given what she’s looking at.
… aaand I have now exceeded my weekly allowance of internet-speak. Nothing but proper grammar until at least Monday …
😉
You know, it makes for an added dimension of yuck when you consider that dragonfire is likely an internally ignited flammable bodily fluid of some sort …
😛
Of the dozen or so comics that I now follow, only one other comic updates daily; ironically, that one isn’t listed on TWC at all (or at least I’ve never been able to find it).
In case you’re curious, that other comic is Schlock Mercenary. It actually updates 7 days a week, but it’s in a totally different class that TDC – hand drawn, much smaller format, and the art is nowhere near as good (I read it mainly for the funny story and clever characters).
🙂
And what’s going through Orion’s mind right now? *facepalm*
😉
I really hope this was a part of some clever plan….
or, at least, that he’s okay!
yow, baked alex.
Ha ha!
Yeah! Alex showed him!
Thank you.
They have a Shellac material that gives them multicolor look depending on the angle. Like some cars.
you sir are now my new hero for quoting The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates from over at SchlockMercenary
I guess you dont follow User Friendly, then. It’s been updated daily since ’96.
:mgreen:
[mumble]dang typos … [/mumble]
let’s try that again …
One thing I noticed about the last panel; she looks to ‘static’ for what’s going on. I’d turn her upper torso a bit to her left, then have her left hand reach out like this. Beyond that, it’s the same fantastic artwork as usual.
Lol, seriously! Fly around BEHIND the giant dragon, THEN do your awesome sound-barrier-breaking move. Silly college boy. Should’ve paid more attention in “Fighting Dragons 101″… namely the section entitled: They Breathe Fire.
Maybe Alex’ armor is Dreamland’s equivalent of the Holocaust Cloak… 😀