Page 1650…
Happy Tuesday!
Boy… I could have tweaked this page for days. Sorry it’s a few hours late.
I still want to work on it more…but need to work on tomorrow’s page…sigh.
Anyways. I hope you like.
Scott
Happy Tuesday!
Boy… I could have tweaked this page for days. Sorry it’s a few hours late.
I still want to work on it more…but need to work on tomorrow’s page…sigh.
Anyways. I hope you like.
Scott
Wee.
OK, they’re carrying Nas off, so I think this means they’re not going to be leaving the Nightmare Realm anytime soon after all. 🙁
a small thing, but i really like how in a moment of distress she drops the formal long name and calls him Alex.
I actually struggled with that.
I just thought ALEXANDER was too formal for such a moment of fear and desperation.
Where stupidity does not occur, and intelligence threatens to foil the plot… BREAK OUT THE DEUS EX MACHINA!!!!
LOL, I was thinking she gave in too easy… something had to happen! just glad this wasn’t a Friday post 😉
Well, good choice! makes it more real!
We interupt this heart felt moment to bring you “The Gargoyle Creature That Stole My Girlfriend.”
We apologize for any inconvenience.
i don’t know if this is what you were going for, but to me it implies how somewhere in the deep dark parts of Nastajia’s mind she wants to drop the pomp and just be with Alex.
mayhaps i read too much into little things though, haha.
Either Alex and Nas were very distracted indeed, or the assailants are amazing at stealth and/or speed.
I do not think that means what you think it means.
I’m torn. On one hand, this single strip represents everything I’ve been waiting for since the defeat of Nicodemus. We can finally transition from “Slay the Dragon” to “Rescue the Princess,” which is the only traditional plotline capable of exceeding the former’s level of emotion and nostalgia, at least as far as I’m concerned. Despite the cliche, “Rescue the Princess” stories tend to have a tremendous effect on me, and I usually don’t finish these without feeling very emotionally attached to the characters.
On the other hand, I’m concerned how cheaply this abduction moment might be executed. Alex JUST finished telling Nastajia’s parents he could protect her, and what’s the first thing that happens? Two experienced combatants are taken by complete surprise at point-blank in the middle of the Nightmare Realm by at least four flying gargoyles that cast shadows, displace air when they fly, and like to screech “HSSSSS!” I’m inclined to pity Alex as a victim, not of his own inadequacies, but of plot railroading.
Either way, maybe Alex still won’t make it that easy for them, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this week’s strips unfold.
I agree with this – for the plot line’s integrity, the taking of the princess would have been better executed while Alex was away on Earth, so that he returns to find her missing. ALSO, in terms of Scott’s dissatisfaction with the page, it is unrealistic that as gargoyles claws have already grabbed her, she is still mid-exposition – this is more than ridiculous. My advice: drop the speech bubble in panel two (the words are extraneous anyway) and have her eyes go way wider and opener if possible, to express shock and surprise.
Not only that, but I’m sitting here wondering what’s going on in Alex’s mind.
“You’re going to try to FLY away?” Flies after the gargoyle.
If I missed something, and flight is somehow not an option for Alex in Dreamland, then so be it. I haven’t followed the story from its inception because of school. Well, two different schools. I just figured I’d buy up all of the volumes once I have a job that will allow me to do so.
Well, after taking a second look, I notice there is not one gargoyle. There are at least 3 in the panel where Nastajia is being abducted. Gargoyles aren’t the easiest thing to bring down. One would probably be no trouble for Alex at this point. Two, especially if they have any mind for tactics, could really slow him down, if not be an outright threat.
I think this situation would turn out okay as long as Alex doesn’t lose sight of Nastajia. However, if he is slowed down enough to lose track of where she’s taken, then it could be more complex than just flying after the abductors.
I believe deus ex machina is always in the hero’s favor. For isntance, if lightning were just now to suddenly strike the gargoyles, forcing them to drop Nastajia into Alex’s arms…that would be a deus ex machina.
But I get what you’re saying…so much for the planning!
Oh, no you didn’t!
There’s also how it’s meant more for when you’ve written yourself so much into a corner, that you have no plausible way for either the heroes to win, as you mentioned, or for anything to reasonably go wrong, and you have to pull something out of thin air for things to keep going. (uh… suddenly… uh… then GODZILLA SHOWS UP AND STEPS ON THE BAD GUYS. “but we’re playing a star wars game” … IT WAS SPACE GODZILLA.)
This was not entierly implausible. They’re in the middle of the nightmare realm, in the open, not paying attention to their surroundings. It’s not hard to see how anything from there that from what I can see specifically deals with the shadows to sneak up on them while they weren’t paying attention.
There’s also how we’ve had a whole 1 panel since she was grabbed. The girl is barely even off the ground yet, it’s not like alex has had a lot of time to react so far.
As for plot railroading stuff, well first off of course they were going to do more here, but even without that. We’ve just had a few pages of the two of them absorbed in conversation. Considering what they were talking about, it’s not hard to imagine they were paying less then full attention to what was going on around them.
You can’t tell me you’ve never had someone sneak up on you before while you were talking to someone. And these guys are supposed to be things of nightmares that should be even better at sneaking and stuff. I don’t really see what’s so unbelievable here.
Yes, it’s possible for people to sneak up to you when you’re not paying attention. It’s also your responsibility to know when you’re supposed to be paying attention. Lingering around in the middle of the Nightmare Realm after having been previously attacked there–that would be one of those times. I do hope he still flies off in pursuit and chops off a gargoyle head or four. But both Alex and Nastajia deserve a slap upside the head for not paying attention.
Agreed on the last bit. Nastajia I can excuse a bit since she just found out about her parents deciding to jump the gun and visit the future inlaws. Alex could have stood to be watching out a bit more, ended up getting too involved in the conversation, and they got jumped. Now that they have though, time for a fun chase scene. 😀
well, he been a-calling for it, so there it goes.
Go, Alex, Go! For your sweetheart’s sake!
btw – this calls for a murphy citation: everything which can go wrong… goes wrong. scnr ^^
I like it: back to action at a whim. That’s what I call storytelling, especially in nightmare realm, where the sudden can happen at all times it seems. *gg* just wonder: Scott, you been a-listening to some music whilst doing this scene? Or no sound at all?
Yep! I knew it was a matter of time before Abbaddon’s followers captured Nastajia and Alex as well. 😉
I never thought of her as the damsel in distress type.
I see battered guards and a “Warning: Do Not Taunt Prisoner” sign in her future. Assuming they make it to Abaddon in the first place.
Can someone explain what is going on with Nastajia’s armor in the second panel?
OK so I used the wrong term. I wasn’t sure what the right term or phrase WAS so I just used that similar term. You guys all still got what I was trying to say though, so… good enough I think.
I would agree, but your initial reaction is spot on, and would be the reaction of a good publishing editor. Alex is determined to MAN UP and BE RESPONSIBLE and KEEP NASTAJIA SAFE…therefore he’d get her OUT of the nightmare realm (assuming she was still there, and free – this is the part I find hardest to believe) to inform her of his news, where they wouldn’t be exposed while talking about an emotional issue.
I’m a former U.S. Marine. A lasting sense of paranoia comes with the territory. Also, I’m easily distracted. It’s not easy to sneak up on me, even if I’m in a conversation.
Staying on-topic with the conversation is a totally different matter.
That demon eye looks so cool. Amazing!
Indeed. 🙂 It’s just one of my favorite terms…so had to speak up. But I totally got what you were going for.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DiabolusExMachina
Still saw it coming