Page Commentary No. 71

Gunwild: Panel 1, I didn't get it until you explained, but you have a little Steve Globs back there.

Psu: Oh man I miss the color... But I also totally forgot about Steve Glob. Is it time to admit we didn't actually intend to end this little story with an action beat when we first set out to do it? Frankly we didn't even intend for it to go longer than a few pages right?

Gunwild: Yeah, I honestly thought it would just be a fun bit of the Vanaa poking around this museum that explains them a bit and sets up useful parallels. But our friend Mindwipe, who is famously immune to the charms of the Vanaa, said this felt like a waste of time to him unless something exciting happened.

Psu: But this is a comic book, gun. We need to have action happen every second! Every other page! Even in museums!

Psu: ...I actually very rarely add sound effects throughout this comic, I often only use it when I need to define something happening that is hard to imagine just from the imagery. But that boom was a concession to the explosion happening off panel. It comes out okay, and introduces a neat new member of our menagerie.

Gunwild: You may notice that we decided to turn this into a story with a fight in it, and immediately before the abduction attempt happens, I threw the solution in place. On the very same page. Namely, that dummy that looks just like Gleb. It's not set up dozens of pages in advance or anything, but simply because the pieces are put in place before they get used, it seems clever later on when they come together. A lot of stories - even ones by me, when I've messed up - pull things out of nowhere without setting them up at all, and it's meant to be dramatic and exciting. But you spend a lot less time cutting into exciting moments with explanations when everything is set up beforehand.

Psu: It's a Chekhov's Mannequin. I definitely enjoyed a bunch of the designs here but my favorite is just the Alternate Gleb. It was nice just to take some of the different motifs and twist them around a little. It really is just another Gleb but the subtle design differences must mean a lot to a Vanaa!

Gunwild: "Poolg "is "Gloop" spelled backwards. Thanks for the Patreon money, folks, clearly I richly deserve it.