Page Commentary No. 85

Gunwild: I know "touché" wouldn't even be what you say there in real fencing. But I also know that Cassiopeia wouldn't care. She just likes saying things related to butts.

Psu: I'm looking at this page and it's actually the first bit of melee action I've done in a LONG time. Like the previous time I did something with swords clashing, I was working with you on Salamander.

Gunwild: Swordfightin' is so cool we've made it the talent of a couple of characters, even in this far-off future of lasers and spaceships and stuff. But we're in good company on that score. Geez, that's a hell of a tough dice/chips stick the dealer was using, though.

Psu: It's a classy casino! There's a lot of things though that I would rethink doing this page again. I like the overall composition, but I wasn't quite so good at drawing a sword thrust yet. And Cassiopeia's block isn't the smartest. But considering she's using a craps stick, there weren't too many places to give Cassiopeia a cross guard. Ideally what should've been happening is Maddy could be swinging downward and Cassiopeia is supposed to be letting it glance off to her side. But Maddy is clearly doing a thrust which was deflected, and doesn't read so well in that angle. Also it was probably more fatal looking than I meant it to be! I think we even added a little electric shock effect to the blade to try to 'handwave' the stabbing motion as non-fatal. But it was totally going where Cassiopeia's head was!

Gunwild: She was prolly gonna cut off Cassiopeia's cute ponytail! It would be a devastating blow. Also I'd say we'd wanna make Russ look less like he's smiling. He's not much of a smiler.

Psu: Oh he was DEFINTIELY not supposed to be smiling. That's just how it came out. He was supposed to be shoving Ison away hurriedly. It actually makes him look like he's up to something. There are a couple things I like about these pages, the strong use of blacks in ink lines look really distinct compared to a lot of other pages in the comic. The simple but strong shading was also better than most of the previous black and white pages. But I had ended up having trouble on the acting on this page in particular. I was too busy messing up sword swinging! The only person's acting that's totally on point is Lefyne who's letting a little bit of his useless self show. He might not actually be the best "adventurer."

Gunwild: His idea of adventure involves a lot more hitting on people than people being hit!