Page Commentary No. 194

Gunwild: French is the language of professional sport-stabbing, for some reason.

Psu: Also all your favorite war history stuff. There's a lot going on in this page. Wanna talk about design or story stuff first?

Gunwild: Ehh, what is there to tell about the story? I wanted to give a reason why Russ wouldn't be upset with Maddy for doin' the thing.

Psu: That seems big! Don't sell yourself short. I'm not quite sure who initiated the idea that we could soften up Russ's role in the story but I think this was our first hint that he would be a little more nuanced about everything. Also it would be our first "post-beebot" thing so we get to talk about how Maddy's actions might appear to the rest of the crew.

Gunwild: FYI, I don't actually think courtesy is always honorable. But you should probably return lost dogs if they have a good owner waiting for them.

Psu: Well we've seen some cases throughout our lives where courtesy is just gonna be used to cover up some nefarious deeds with pretty pictures. But anyway, I think we thought it'd be good to setup the sword fighting chapter with some training on the ship. I know our many an episode of Star Trek Next Generation where a lot of important dialog is done on the ship's gym.

Gunwild: Normally when people of unequal rank are competing you like to establish that the junior isn't going easy on the senior. But I figured that wasn't necessary this time, since he's specifically trying to help her get better for a competition.

Psu: Well also we'll, in a few months time, establish that Madison is actually a REALLY REALLY GOOD swordsman.

Gunwild: I think this is establishing it really though, so we can use it then. But you get the idea.

Psu: She only lost to Cassiopeia from interference from the audience! On the visual side of things, it's really need to see the quilted dueling suit again. I forgot how much I liked this design and the story telling the light up guards afforded me. This is definitely a little closer to real world fencing suits. However there were a few reasons why I went with something else for the upcoming chapter. One, the next suit is KINDA cuter. Two, I couldn't have the swords be attached to anything since I think we already planned on doing some extra fun spins in the real duel. But three, and this is something I learned from having done comics for a billion years, never design an outfit you aren't willing to draw three dozen more times. This one had a lot of fiddly parts that I would easily lose track of if I had to repeat it more than a few times. I already have a hard enough time remembering which hand is the right hand on a page.

Gunwild: Bap!

Psu: On more design notes for this page, it's actually one of my favorite subtle background tricks I've done for the comic. I was using this to experiment with how I could setup a floating hologram to help with the visual storytelling. I took a lot of inspiration from a fighting game for it, what with the victory pips and stuff. But to make it easier to read, I set the first few panels in a dark room. But in one of my favorite bits of subtle story telling, the window opens up as the match is over. And we see a whole planet and the panels take a warmer more saturated tone, along with the dialog. Anyway, for what it's worth, this page wasn't just practice for Maddy. It was also a good test run for the visual language I'd need to use in the following storyline. Even down to lookin all hot and sweaty!

Gunwild: I like how the characters change position without flipping the line.

Psu: Yeah, we're gonna be pushing just how far we can go with or without the line in the next chapter... Wait. Is that another metaphor for the story?

Gunwild: I don't do themes and metaphors, that stuff's for audiences to make up after I've conned them out of their time and money. Oh, well - at least they got a history lesson in the bargain this time!