Page 977…
It’s not “technically” flying…right?
🙂
Hope you’re enjoying all of this. I know I sure am!
And thank you all who showed up for the Livestream yesterday. You really helped me work out the dialog for the Unshelved guest page.
For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook…I try to do Livestreams from time to time.
You can check them out here…
http://www.livestream.com/thedreamlandchronicles
Just click ON DEMAND below the video screen.
It’ll show you some of the recorded shows.
I’m not the most interesting person…ha ha. But hopefully I can show you some tricks and entertain you.
My lovely wife Donna joins me too.
Â
And finally…
There’s a few days left to vote for Gary the Pirate.
Tracy Bailey’s and my book was nominated for a Lulu award.
So if you haven’t cast your vote yet. Please do.
The book is GARY THE PIRATE and it’s up for Leah Adezio Award For Best Kid-Friendly Work
Just ONE VOTE PER PERSON PLEASE!
Thank you all. And see you tomorrow.
Scott
I wish I could float a bit.
They had some kids singing The Greatest American Hero theme on the Heroes TV series the other day. Kinda reminded me of this.
what no hitting? Or is staj goin to do that for us.
Yeah…I’m surprised how calm Alex is. Even *I* want to hit him and I know his justification!
What? Alex is being modest? *squint*
He saved Felicity’s life AND learned to fly in one night! Seriously! He did something right.
wonder if he can take a camera to Dreamland using the bag??
me too, id actually be worth more at work then. just think no ladders or scaffolding to climb, it be alot easier. id actually wanna levitate. 🙂
is it just me or has his I.Q. just doubled since his arival to Dreamland
Oooo! A tiny camera! Yess! I have one on a keychain. And yes, I think Staj pushing him off a rock, Felicity near dying, and Orion near killing him might actually be working. Kinda like…a lead poisoning baby rebounding to be twice as smart. Oh dear.
yeah and if the centaurs made the bag do they also know how to teach him to bring someone with him when he goes to Dreamland
Yeah, it would be great if Alex could have all his friends together in one place working together. Then Nicodemus wouldn’t stand a chance.
i was thinking of a reunion tween nichole and fel
Eh, To-may-to, to-mah-to.
speaking of “all friends in one place”… why must the “one place” be dreamland? why do dreamlanders never go to the “real world”? do dreamlanders dream? do they sleep? wonder if orion knows anything about that..? (i’ve asked this before… but last I checked, no one responded. Sorry if you did already and I missed it!)
Funny how there are only 2 of you in this thread and you guys have the kiwi and grandpa avatars =P Sorry for interrupting the family conversation here =P
i am so with you on that man
wish i could upload my own pic for an avatar
Yup… and there’s the “Kum Ba Yah” moment… 😛
I was thinking Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. Get Nicodemous addicted to them and bend him to Alex’s will!!
With all due respect, Scott, I like my version of today’s comic better!
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7671/20091014alternate.jpg
I can’t believe no one’s pointed out yet that it was just falling with style.
No, floating would either be a radical slowing of his descent, or just to hold his position, in my opinion. He levitated, which implies a slow rise in altitude, and stayed in an upright position.
Technically, he flew (since he gained altitude, and shifted horizontally), and he now KNOWS he can do at least that much, but I think he’s still gonna need practice before he’s back to a child’s confident swooping about.
Interesting… He is being modest.
But modesty leads to doubt, and doubt leads to pain, and pain… leads to suffering. [yeah! I’m sure that’s roughly how Yoda put it, which makes it the one time he doesn’t speak in Yodaglish.]
Seriously though, floating in the air is dead useful. Look at some of the Bugs Bunny cartoons- Elmer Fudd knows about gravity, thus, he falls. Bugs Bunny is ignorant of this fact, and floats in the air.
[also, nicodemus can fly. it just struck me just now that flying is rather handy against an aerial opponent.]
Hey! I just noticed that Alex’s boot in panel 2 kicked up some dust.
Cool effect!
LOL XD
‘well I floated a bit’, what happened to mocho man?
If I were there, I’d smirk and say “You want Orion to throw you off the clif again?”
from the hitchhiker guide to the galaxy. how to fly: to fly one must throw himself at the ground… and miss.
This comic is missing more comical relief! NOW PUSH ALEX OFF THE CLIFF AGAIN ORION!
>approves<
Sounds good! Orion could just say “Practice makes perfect!” And give Alex a big shove!
Next panel:
Alex: “I flew?”
Orion: “Congratulations, Alex, I knew I…”
Alex: “Wait a second! You pushed me!”
Orion: “Well, um..”
Orion scratches back of head.
Orion: “Technically I guess I may have…”
Alex: “You’re hearing from my lawyer!”
now he’s playing the modest denier.
I was wondering something about the previous page. In the first page, shouldn’t Alex be more angry than smiling? Even though he has found his happy thought and determination to stay with the person he loves, he still got pushed off a cliff by someone. You’re bound to be mad at this person or at least angry anyhow, the feeling of self preservation just works like that (first fear, or disbelief and then anger). It’s like as if someone hits you very hard in the guts – you’re bound to be angry at them. I guess that’s why so many people write these things about punching Orion in the face etc. it’s just a natural reaction.
Because it’s not really falling in style. Yes, I know the reference, but it doesn’t quite work the same.
That’s awesome.
If he’s starting to float to high, shouldn’t he start burping though? 😛
ah, look who’s still in denial. 😀
I guess it might be a bit much to take in for him right now.
and he’ll still have to practice to be stable in the air. 🙂
I think it would be much faster if they could reverse it, bring some one else in to Dreamland. For example, Dan on the first trip, then Nichole in the second trip (both of who we haven’t seen in a few weeks). But what I think would be really cool, would be if the centaurs in general new how to kind of make the bag expand enough to hold a person on the human side and none of them ever considered that as a way to pass more than just messages between the two worlds.
Yeah, but to get ready for fighting Nicodemus, Alex apparently has a lot more work to do. Nicodemus has actual experience with fighting in the air (see, fire balls replacing missiles). Until Alex figures out how to fight while flying he is going to have to make him self either invincible, or hard to hit. Both ways I can imagine being extremely entertaining.
For most people it is a reaction. For some, its a desire to see some one wipe that smug “grin” off of Orion’s face. For others still, its just slapstick reaction. I am part of the second and third group. Come on Alex, just punch him once at the very least before you do any thing else!! 😛
I was really hoping you would have Alex hit Orion at least once before the weekend. That being said, you just missed a perfect opportunity today. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow. Now would also be a good time to begin a flying practice montage, speed it along for the whole story so that your not spending another couple months in the centaur village and can stop doing the largely barren backgrounds. I know how annoying doing the same thing repeatedly can get when your trying to finish some thing.
At some point, Orion is going to say to Alex “Now let’s fly over to the stone tablet and see what message it has for you.”
In other words, Alex is not only going to have to fly himself, he’s going to have to allow the others to fly using his abilities. THAT should be a real test for Orion to find out just how good a teacher he is.
Huh. Deja vu, lmfao. xD;
It was really cool to see you work on this page, Scott! (It was also really cool that we got to talk to you and Donna.) Looks as great as it did in the livestream. <3
He’s too calm. Grabbed by the neck, and tossed off a cliff and he shakes Orion’s hand?
Scott, for all the wonderful storytelling you’ve done in this series, I think you blew this one. Buddha wouldn’t be this calm after those events and Alex is no Buddha. By any rational standards, Orion is guilty of assault and attempted murder. The fact that it all worked out in the end does not excuse the methodology.
could you let us know on here when you do the next up stream I would love to come. but I dont always check my face book. so Purrrrrlease let us know before you do the next one.
thank you
I just went back and read to this point from the comic where Alex quotes the movies. It happened WAY too fast for a major character development if you were reading right through it. Still an awesome comic Scott.
They lost the “magic” to create a bag of that kind, as it was created my their ancestors… so I’m guessing they can’t make the bag bigger, or reproduce its magic…
He didn’t shake Orion’s hand. Orion grabbed his, if I’m not mistaken. Orion kept Alex from decking him via praise. 😉
I think the compliment from Orion after being pushed off a cliff by the mad/frustrated/angry Orion caught Alex off guard. So a simple ‘What?’ from Alex was all that Alex could come up with. And then being told “you flew” as opposed to “I’m sorry I had to push you off a cliff for you to get the point.” takes Alex just that much further beyond being caught off guard. Plus Alex is being complemented for a job well done, where as in the waking world Alex gets chewed on for not being a good enough student. Then for that to carry over into Dreamland, and also not being very fight worthy yet (the only major help has been with the pirates), plus popping in and out at inopportune moments, I think has Alex is struggling to come to terms with his place and position in both worlds.
Plus all of this happens in like a few minutes, whereas we have days (or weeks) to analyze it. Pacing is just fine Scott. I really am enjoying the flight school.
Same, then P.E. would be SO much easier!!
Yeah… seriously? I’d be haulin’ back and giving Orion there a good punch right in the kisser.
Hilarious!
Suggested on the Livestream.
Last minute thing.
Thanks for noticing.
😉
Thanks again for all the help on the Pride and Prejudice guest strip!
Great chatting with you.
It is hilarious that you all hate Orion so much.
He did what needed to be done. Alex knows this.
Well…he’s figuring this out.
No need to punch someone who just taught you to fly.
I also am not sure why so many feel that Orion needs a punch?
It’s Dreamland. Alex is still coming to terms with that. He just flew. Somewhere inside he knows that Orion is the one that jolted him enough to achieve that success.
I really enjoy reading a daily comic that on a daily basis makes me think “I can’t WAIT for tomorrow!!!!” Thanks Scott!
I was going to say, “At least he wasn’t falling with style.”
I think many consider it irresponsible because it wasn’t guaranteed to work. Alex could have died in the name of a lesson. In our world, such an instructor would face charges.
This is hysterical. I can actually see that as a real page in the comic.
I don’t really hate Orion. I see why he did what he did and do we have any proof that you can be killed in Dreamland? His armor is also magic, maybe it has the power to save him. It’s made shields and done other things, who knows what else it can do? (Besides Scott of course)
Woot! Alex flew! (claps). Cant wait for tomorrows!
It’s all in the timing. From the toss off the cliff to the end of todays comic I figure is about 20 seconds total. Give Alex time to get unflummoxed, sheesh.
I like that version better hehe.
Now Alex needs to fly. Would be entertaining if he woke up and he was in Superman position from all that excitement.
I think “numb” might be a better adjective than “modest” for Alex’s reaction.
Give him a break. He has four different reasons to be badly rattled right now.
Okay, we are coming around. Nancy commented that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad as a book where you could turn the page and find out Alex was okay right away.
But, she said she won’t read until Friday when everything is okay again. Hurry up Friday!
It’s not that we hate Orion (OK, maybe some of us do,but still…) It has more to do with the fact that Alex should be at least a little angry.
There’s another very, very good reason not to punch Orion. With his horse-half to add mass and weight and a horse’s hind legs to add drive, Orion can hit people a whole HECK of a lot harder than Alex or any other human could, and if the armor protected him Orion could just drop him off a cliff again. I doubt blind rage works as well as love as a force of levitation.
I guess that would be the mature adult way to handle it. XD
Nancy: “Now that’s funny.”
Like I said yesterday. Smart girl. 😀
Exactly the fact that he just accepts being pushed off a cliff seems a tad odd. That’s all. Still love the comic, we just wonder why Alex takes being grabbed by the throat lifted into the air and thrown off a cliff so passively.
ok. : )
Yeah, deck the dude who just proved he can and will hold you in the air with one hand and then casually toss you off a cliff for annoying him. Alex may not be a genius, but he’s not that stupid. Besides that, hot tempers do not mesh with slacker mentalities, although I wouldn’t put it past Alex to find some little revenge before too much time has passed.
Interesting note, though — eventually, the boy has to learn to fight, and he’s not the violent sort. I think that might be far more telling in the bargain.
Not bad. Not bad. 🙂
Ever notice how those who were always the most “childish” end up being the most “adult”?
I think if Alex did die, Nastajia would give Orion his own lesson of flying and make sure he flunked it.
Seems like swimming. Floating is the first stage, now to learn how to get somewhere…
Aww, and here I was hoping that we’d have a scene where he flaps his arms like crazy while falling…ROFL!
I half expected him to start crowing, and the Lost Boys to come running around.
“You can fight, you can fly… and you can crow!“
Wow, that dust does make a great difference.
So is humility and modesty going to hurt him while he flies like fear would?
*snickers* I like Kiwi.
I dunno. It would be a RIOT if the dreamlanders came through to the other side. Nicole would freak.
Sweet!
Yeah! Who is this weird Alex? Hey, Scott, bring back the Alex we know! 🙂
Man, if Tim Burton’s Willy Wonka showed up in Dreamland, I’d never want to go to sleep again! 🙂
That brings up a good point. I don’t think we’ve seen an “Alex angry face” yet in this comic. I wonder what Scott is saving that for?
Alex: “You killed my father!”
Nicodemous: “Pathetic human. I AM your father!”
Alex: “NOOOOO! Hey, wait. Were you my mom’s mailman?”
Oh, Scott, some bad news on the Lulu voting.
I know you said only one vote per person, but all 23 of my multiple personalities voted.
We all love you! And we agreed to just this one post rather than 23.
And what happened then? Well, in Dreamland they say, that Alex’s small brain grew three sizes that day.
lol
Grinch reference ftw 😛
Seconded. This makes sense — I get the impression Orion reached out to get him. Good way to deliberately set the mood and keep his right hand occupied. 😉
That’s classic. Now he only has 15 sizes to go.
Yes, the dust is a brilliant touch!
Four?
Er… Orion throwing him off a cliff, and flying. :/ Does Nick count as one?
HA HA HA! Rofl!
Alex, is stunned, not being modest. Would you be stunned is someone told you, “I hate you.” threw you offacliff, you flew back to them and they were “Congratulation! You flew! Now we’re friends again.”
Yeah…
I love how Alex’s character is developing so much!
Friends? Naw, he’s just being hospitable again now that Alex is taking things seriously.
I really hope I was wrong in a previous comment where I said what had annoyed Orion was Alex not showing any “warrior fire”. Actually no, I hope I was right because Orion looks so smug I want him to have failed.
Orion: “I grab him by the neck! I drop him off a cliff! I mock him with how he had failed the woman he loves as he slowly lost his grip! What in the name of Red Rum do I have to do to make him actually show some passion? To take this seriously enough to actually care?”
It just feels like Alex has the opposite problem to many people when they are playing computer games. Something happens, their character dies or they make a mistake and start losing, and they start getting really rather angry so friends have to say “Dude! Calm down, just a game…”
Here Alex has gone through all this, all that fight-or-flight (pun intended) adrenaline pumping through him, and his reaction is such you can imagine friends saying “Dude! Get angry, not a game, he tried to make Nas cry…”
If Alex is going to become king of Dreamland, he’ll need to learn how to take on a whole tribe of Centaurs. I’m confident that Nastajia could take on Orion and win. Alex needs to learn fast to become confident in the art of opening cans of whup***.
But Alex had better not mistake Orion’s hospitality for frienship!
. . .or is he dumb enough to do that?
If I had been grabbed by the throat, thrown off a cliff and then floated back up, I would probably be too shocked and baffled to act rationally. I think Alex’s brain (or whatever he has in its stead) is still trying to comprehend what just happened.
Orion’s facial expression came out quite nicely.
Agreed, and I’ll be disappointed if Alex doesn’t at least try to hit him. The boy needs to grow a backbone, and letting smug SOBs push him around isn’t the way to do it.
It all depends on what Orion’s backup was. Was Kiwi nearby, just in case??
I never saw him as stupid, personally, just careless and self-centered. One of those guys who has never really had to work at anything or be serious about anything. Even the most intelligent people can be like that.
1: Worry about Felicity!
2: Nastajia pushing for more commitment
3: Just had to talk Nicole into an act of faith *eep!*
4: Egad, some big stupid horse-man just threw me off a friggin’ cliff!
Love it!
Last night’s Livestream was fun! (Thanks for letting me chat everyone’s ear off Scott!) We talked about sharing recipes! So…I put that pound cake I was talking about up on my Blog…I may regret this…but here is the link!
http://ohdededear.wordpress.com/
Let’s share some great recipes all! (Boys can do this too…it’s not just for girls!) So…share away people!
Hugs from the Wife!
Donna
THERE IS A P&P BOOK WITH ZOMBIES.
I swear on zombiehood, my aunt saw one. 8D
I was SO going to say that this morning, but after I’d made my first comment regarding what Orion was REALLY doing, I realized I needed to get to work, so I couldn’t. DOH!!
That is totally awesome editing and creativity, my friend!
I didn’t see that expression as smiling so much as firm, resolute, resolved. He was resolved…. 😉
Huh. My avatar changed.
And now it’s back to normal. Wiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrd
Really awesome to have such subtle details that’s there even so small and “natural” to many that you “know” they should be there but don’t notice.
7 out of 5 for Dreamland Chronicles.
But he’s his teacher! Do you go around hitting your teachers?
Spike, you can. Upload a gravatar–the site is even available next to your comment name box as “Get an avatar”
You, sir, are brilliant.
That’s awesome mate! ^.^
true. besides, he’s still getting over the fact that he didn’t fall to his death 🙂 and we all know how quick witted alex is XD
As I said six pages ago…
I half expected him to start crowing, and the Lost Boys to come running around.
“You can fight, you can fly… and you can crow!“
Guess I was at least partly right.
Actually, I was expecting a Matrix reference.
“Don’t think you can, know you can.” (slightly paraphrased. It’s actually ‘you are’)
For once, physical assault would be an appropriate reaction… and it doesn’t happen.
WTFF? Literally.
I dont care how wise he is, I would have punched him in the face.
I’m waiting for Orion to push Alex off again, just to be sure he’s got it.
Oof, last page is missing. And what a page to be missing, too!
Psh, screw gravity.