Page 1134…
I changed the dialog for yesterday’s page a bit.
Please let me know your thoughts.
And today’s page was actually going to be something else (what you’ll see next).
I felt we needed a transition (which is why I carried over some dialog from yesterday’s page).
This should work well with tomorrow’s page.
Hope you like.
He’s standing!
Just a little confused. Yesterday Nicodemus was walking out the entrance. However even when confused I love your story. I look forward to it every day.
I think this page might be a redo of yesterdays page. Though I could be wrong. 🙂
I like this page better than yesterdays. As you said more of a transition page rather than the one before. Personally the last line “The day of Humans is done.” is awesome, and we can guess where it will take us.
keep up the awesome work!
🙂
oh – is book 4 out in print yet? did I miss it? I’ve bought 1 – 3 and have eagerly waiting the rest. Because I know you have nothing else going on 😉
[scratching head] There is something significant going on here, but I can’t really put my finger on it….Where was Arthur’s dream-body when the sword was taken by young Alex??
Yes, there is no lighting under Nicodemus like if he’s still inside the cave.
I like this dialogue better!
Very, very nice…the depth of the writing is getting good and so are the visual subtleties.
Just to comment on the last panel:
“The day of humans is done”
It was more than one “day” that a human king ruled dreamland. And “done” might suggest a full completion whereas “over” might be more appropriate to suggest an abrupt ending.
Actually, the term “day” can also be used figuratively to cover an arbitrary timespan, especially if one tries to give it a beginning and/or end.
Since Nick will try to “usher in a new day” for dreamland, I think it works quite well.
Also, personally I find “done” conveys an abrupt ending better than “over”, it reminds me of the phrase “being done with” something.
Oh, and nice job on the rewording of the previous page, it reads much better like this.
We get a page on a Saturday? Or was that just a typo?
yesterday’s page was better character development wise. you can see that he still actually liked author but he has become what he did due to having his hand forced and having to deal with this situation. It doesn’t show that, it goes from remorse over author to evil, the jump is so quick with this current page that i believe he’s been evil all along opposed to the progressing into it like you wanted.
Maybe instead of “tomorrow’s page” Scott means “the next page”.
I think that it does work better with the rewrite.
Look back a page, guys! He redid yesterday’s as well, to fit better with this new one. He said so in his message.
That aside, I love this new page + the changed old one. I think it does more justice to Nic’s complicated character. It better shows how he puts Dreamland first and yet has begun his trek into becoming an awesome bad guy… sinking into the darkness of evil, if you want to be dramatic about it. If that makes sense, haha. If not, then I’ll just say these pages were awesome. Thanks for the great story telling, Scott!
After seeing the revised version, I must admit that it certainly carries a more noble tone than before, where instead of merely accepting the support of the king of the nightmare realm, he expresses the more weighty desire to maintain peace for the entirety of Dreamland.
I think this entire story arc has done well to make many of its readers second-guess, to rethink the motives and alignment of the dragon who has come to be ruler for Dreamland all these centuries after the disappearance of King Arthur. It has shown above all that he truly believes the righteousness of what he is doing despite the prejudice he has directed toward us humans. Even then, many of us can sympathize after witnessing the sampling of humanity set before him prior to Arthur.
I liked the graphics for yesterday’s page better. The focus in this one on Nicodemus’ hands and feet… and on him standing is kinda… confusing. I don’t get the significance of it. I think the dialogue in this page is stronger though.
“There will be no dawn for men.”
Is what Saruman would’ve said, I’m sure. 😉
Ah yes, that’s what was bothering me, too…. now you say it.
He’s still using yesterday’s graphics for the page before this one. If you click back one page from today’s, you’ll see what I mean. He just changed yesterday’s dialogue and then added a new page.
I think that what we’re seeing is Nic getting up on his hind legs because he’s about to take off into the air. Looks like he’s one foot away from leaping into the air. That or he’s about to make a characteristic badass victory-stance.
I disagree.
“Day” does not cover an arbitrary timespan, it covers a very specific timespan, namely a day, which can mean either 24 hours or from dawn till dusk. The only time when the term day does refer to an arbitrary timespan is in the phrase “back in the day”, but in this turn of phrase day is exchangeable with days, so “back in the day” is likely a short form.
An example:
You wouldn’t say “during the day of the second world war”, but you would say “during the days of the second world war”. “In the day of 6th June 1944 the allies invaded Europe” is however accurate.
Also, I feel “done” coveys a idea of completion, not ending. To convey the idea of coming to an end, he should damn well say “come to an end.” Letters don’t cost, it’d be perfectly fine for him to say “The days of humans have come to an end.” Additionally, I feel a longer sentence gives the message more purpose and Nicodemus if anything is very deliberate.
Oh, and all those using a proxy server, do a shift-click (or ctrl-click if using the Nightmare Realm Browser) on Reload button for yesterday’s page to avoid a terminal deja-vu. 🙂
Yes he’s standing, which is really significant. IT shows that he is, or wants to be above the humans. Before when arthur was there he was on all four, like an animal, and technically he is one, but it’s like the master/pet kind of relationship. Now that humans are gone. He stand on two feet showing he’s higher than them and will no longer let them rule etc.
Great job on this week. It’s not easy to show someone that we know is a baddie in their ‘pre-bad’ days like you’ve done with Nic. Either he wasn’t bad and was all for dreamland or he’s a master manipulator and even took in the nightmare realm’s leader.
Princeton wordnet agrees with me though 🙂
The following is an excerpt from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=day
”
# S: (n) day (some point or period in time) “it should arrive any day now”; “after that day she never trusted him again”; “those were the days”; “these days it is not unusual”
# S: (n) day, daytime, daylight (the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside) “the dawn turned night into day”; “it is easier to make the repairs in the daytime”
# S: (n) day (an era of existence or influence) “in the day of the dinosaurs”; “in the days of the Roman Empire”; “in the days of sailing ships”; “he was a successful pianist in his day”
# S: (n) day (a period of opportunity) “he deserves his day in court”; “every dog has his day”
”
I concur that nowaday’s we’d feel more comfortable with the plural version, but since this part of the comic is supposed to be 800 years ago, it works for me.
Actually, Daniel is correct. The word “day” has multiple definitions depending on usage.
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=day – See the sixth definition of “day” and you will see that it can, in fact, be used to describe an era.
The phrase “The day of _______ is done” is a common phrase used when describing the end of an era. His usage here is entirely appropriate. The succinctness of the phrase conveys more finality than extending it into something like “The days of the humans have come to an end.”
It seems you beat me to the punch!
The wraiths hands are green and reptilian in this screen, but humanoid in the scene where they knife the centaur. Something seems wrong there.
I think he’s still in the chamber (for lack of a better word as I am rushed) and heading toward the entrance. Since the camera is positioned so low, and the main source of light is coming from high above, the light is limited in what we see.
Yes, is Book 4 out? There’s a chance (if I can make amends with a friend) that I can pick it up sometime in August, if the Borders in Portland, ME wishes to stock your work on the shelf, as my store does not. (Jerks, but at least I am garunteed the latest Bloody Jack book the very first day)
Scott, you are a master writer and artist (and I include your team in that). These past two pages are STUNNING in dialogue and while I predicted an epic page in which Nick stands on his hind legs to assume a humanoid position, it was nothing compared to what you came up with.
Still waiting to hear from IDW.
They are taking forever.
Book has been in their hands for 6 months now.
It still sounds constipated and isn’t in line with Nicodemus’s usual eloquentness.
That explains the invisible wall that blocked Alex’s friends when he first found the sword.
Nicodemus: “The day of humans is done. The day of Hawaiian shirt wearing is Thursday, don’t forget.”
Nic’s dislike of humans was driven by his secret jealously of Hawaiian attire.
Since everyone seems to be posting long speeches I think I’ll post one to. Here’s the way I see it: Arthur was born and raised in Camelot and, overall, has more history there then in dreamland (note that him being an heir to the throne he wouldn’t be able to dream intell the previous king died which could have been well into his 20’s). Also, as much as dreamland seemed real to Arthur, I think that he -if not subconsiouly- still thought of dreamland as slightly less important then the “real” world. Those two factors combined would be enuff to sway twards loyalty to Camelot. Even more so, I don’t think he fully understood how powerfull the nightmare realm was, and how badly more humans would anger them. Yet another reason for his actions. Nick, on the other hand, has (I assume) lived in dreamland his intire life so he could not possibly be quite as concerned with human matters. I think that Nick (as the highest in command that was actually a dreamlander) felt as though he could -in severe casses- have power to overide Arthur’s decisions for dreamland. So baisicly, he did, indeed, think that he was doing what was right. In the end, I beleive Nicodemus fell pray to power hungry greed himself, causing him to be more of a jerk later (Note: Speaking of later, that spell he cast explains why Kiwi Pad and Staj couldn’t get into the tomb). If you think about it, the real fault here is in the nightmare realm. If they hadn’t been so touchy about other adult humans in dreamland this whole thing never would have escalated. As for what Nick said about the other dreamlanders, I really don’t think they’d mind. They like Alex well enuff don’t they? And even if greedy humans started causing trouble I’m sure Arthur and Nick would be more then capable of keeping them at bay. Don’t forget it was the nightmare realmies that segjusted spying on Arthur. It was the nightmare realmies that swayed Nicodemus’s trust. It was the nightmare realmies who complained about humans. (Nightmare Realmies! name of the Century!) So overall, I beleive that the whole situation was caused by the nightmare realm, and Arthur and Nick both had good intentions on how to stop it.