Page Commentary No. 180

Gunwild: This is so wordy and exposity and I am never comfortable reading my own writing. King is pretty cool-lookin' though.

Psu: I’m not quite sure when or how we came up with the idea for King. It was definitely not something we started the comic with. And then we had these jellybean creatures, how do we make one seem truly regal or majestic? I don’t know how much we discussed what King would look like. But as far as it came to drawing him, I believe this drawing that made it to the page was the FIRST drawing for King. As far as the visuals go, there are a bunch of inspirations. Maybe the most obvious are “cosmic horrors” but I wanted to bathe it with a gentle light and give it a benevolent appearance. It’s tendrils are like the roots of a tree, and it would be gently caressing these spheres of information and data. It would be giving orders across the Vanaa empire. It’s likely this isn’t the only conversation King is having at this moment.

Gunwild: Yeah, I think I thought of that because of... uh, maybe it was an interpretation of super-evil mythological figure Ravana. I think it was in one of those Ashok Banker books that are basically fantasy novel takes on the Ramayana? meone was talking to one of his heads when he appeared in a vision, but the other nine were whispering other things, as if talking to other people in other places and doing other machinations. Anyway, I stole that for this. King's not so much evil as really efficient, though. Which is of course a super alien and impressive concept to people like me.

Psu: Well just because you’re omnipresent and moving armies around, doesn’t make you evil. it just means you’re a multi talker. I think though, there’s an extra level to this call in that there’s a sorta... loneliness? I think that comes through in your writing. Like there’s this godlike father being hovering before Gleb and yet the conversation they have feels distant and detached.

Gunwild: Ehh it's probably just hard to relate to anybody who uses the royal "We." What is up with that as a thing, anyway?

Psu: Well, King IS the State. So it sounds a little like... I speak for everyone. Other visual notes to speak of, while we’re here. I love the little hovering bonsai in the floating orb of nutrients. I like how the House Gleb symbol shows up above the holoscroll. Though I’m not quite sure I like how Gleb looks without his shell. I don’t think he’s required to remove his shell when speaking before King, but it seemed right for the moment.

Gunwild: That's actually the Aid Corps symbol, it's a little odd that it pops up here but eh, it's what Gleb wears. Also I wrote this as being a recording, not a conversation, but eh. You know in the 19th century people still had to bow to messages from the Chinese emperor before they were opened?

Psu: It’s all about keeping people in line. Anyway, as far as e-mails from parents go, this is pretty intense. I really like the colors on this page. The sky and stuff. It’s all very gentle, belying the kinda intense nature of what’s going on. The glowing lines inside King were meant to evoke a sort of mood and could go from stern to soft as they changed between panels.

Gunwild: Good resolution on this scroll's display, too. Wonder if it has a Netflix app.