“I’m afraid that man no longer exists.”
So, we knew Doc wasn’t himself – he was sullen, withdrawn, and drowning his sorrows with copious amounts of booze – but who could have imagined that he was this far gone (to be fair, I did, but that’s kind of a given, right?). Before his transformation into a vampire and all that followed, Doc was a man with “ever curious eyes…eager to study and catalogue new and unusual phenomena.” And, on top of that, as you well know, he was a HERO.
But now, Doc seems to have rejected all that once defined him. When confronted with the peril facing the island and its people he showed no curiosity, no empathy, and straight-up refused the call to adventure. Just how far has he fallen?
Fortunately for us though, Joe’s luck hasn’t changed and it seems that once again he’s falling ass-backward into some kind of craziness. Be here NEXT WEEK to see just what your favorite boy First Mate has gotten himself to this time! Knowing the kid you can bet that whatever it is, he’s in over his head. In just 7 days, prepare thyself for ADVENTURE! I mean, this is an adventure comic, so somebody has to do some adventuring, right?
Speaking of being adventurous, why not take the PLUNGE yourself and sign-up for the MAILING LIST! If you like to be in the know, and receive emails with cool stuff in them then HOT DOG – what are you waiting for? The BIG news I’ve been teasing ad nauseam is about to hit! Trust me, you do not want to be left out in the cold on this one.
Welp, as I am writing this it has just occurred to me that this is like the 130th blog I’ve written to accompany a page or other various and sundry update; when you break that down into words it clocks in somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000. That’s enough words to fill a NOVEL, you guys. Holy crap.
Anyways, till next week!
-Matt-
0) 40k words is technically a novelLETTE.
1) You are the ones who put the AD in front of the VENTURE; mariners becoming marines, taking a comic from the world wide sea to terra firme.
2) When you said that this story would be rather more like SotBS than PBD, I was a little apprehensive, but you got me around, again. I love the way you make sufficiently advanced magic indistinguishable from technology. And that island engineer is Kayleeesque.
3) I like the pacing of the story. Page seven, lower right panel, may seem a little late to start with actual ADVENTURE, but I think it’s a perfect fit for this story. Cold Open / In Medias Res is a great way to start a story, and you did that wonderfully with PBD, but it’s not the only game in town. You open with tension and suspense rather than action, and you keep raising them with every page. Paraphrasing Hitchcock: If we see a bomb that explodes, it’s action; if we see (or infer) that there’s a bomb under the table that doesn’t (yet) go off, it’s suspense. And right here there’s a BIG bomb under the table …
4) Showing how deep Doc has fallen is a praiseworthy task, but a difficult one. There’s a thin line between pathetical and pathetic. Compare to Hollywood’s Low Point or The Price To Pay For Victory scenes, which in many movies are those that you fast-forward through when you watch the DVD, because they are over-the-top, whiny, awkward, or just blech. Not so with the Daredevils: Instead of repeating the Deveraux tragic opera perfomance with its compelling visuals, which would probable get stale the second time, especially without the quick dramatic resolution, you put Doc’s lament – continuing dialog, not narration – in caption boxes that frame another scene which leads directly into action/adventure. Great use of the medium.
0) Well, believe me it FEELS like I’ve written a novel.
1) Indeed, we have moved the action onto land and out of the water. It’s an away mission. However, soon enough we will check in on The Custer.
2) So, I’ll take it that your favorite story so far then is PBD? I’m always going back and forth between SotBs and PBD on which is “better.” What’s your take on it?
3) Thanks. This has definitely been a change of pace for us, going for a slower burn. Though…our slow burn still paces pretty quickly on the bell curve, I think.
4) Again, thanks. In a lot of ways this IS Doc’s story, and we’ll continue seeing new and different sides of the man.
0) I do believe you.
1) You may have missed some subtext. The phrase taking a comic from the world wide sea to terra firme alludes to your upcoming big announcement.
2) Yes, PBD is my favorite. But then, I like acient curses even less than vampires. (Unless I happen to enjoy the story.)
I think both stories are told very well.
Visually, SotBS has an edge, because there were more different things to show.
Pacing, dialog and all the technical stuff (panel layout etc.) are great in both.
The way you start either story is truly excellent: Diving into action immediately, revealing the backstory on the way.
I like the story structure of PBD better, especially the way you use different subplots (POVs), make them interact, and switch context just at the right moment. Also, the story progression through the five parts is perfect. Re-reading the story from the archive feels like watching a really good episode of one of my favorite TV shows.
3) You’re g**d**m right. Dead Slow Ahead on the Custers chadburn is faster than many webcomics’ Flank Speed.
4) Great, new and different pretty much precludes whiny and awkward.
Well, remember that in SotBS we also kept the suspense/tension after page 8.
The 315 definitely know how to tell a story!
That’s really nice of you to say, Danilo. Thanks!
And, we’re always trying to improve and try new things.
Re: Timothy Cramer
1) Yes, I certainly did miss that subtext. BTW, 2 more weeks and Mailing List subscribers will know exactly what ‘s coming. The countdown has begun…
@Danilo: You are right.
IMO the core of their unique storytelling abillity is their handling of exposition by releasing the necessary information about the story, the backstory and the worldbuilding gradually and always just in time. Whether the story builds on tension, mystery, suspense, drama or action, they always surprise us, and often in a twisted, or even double-twisted way.
Maybe if you took all our wordy comments, and added them on to your commentary, your NovelLETTE would be a novel. Or you could immerse it in coffee, and see if it turns into a noveLATTE.
Hey, I signed up for the Mailing list, and no one mailed me a hot dog! Can I get a 1/2 pound all beef dog on a toasted pretzel bun, with salsa and cheese? Please?!
As for the strip, I can’t see Doc letting down a fellow man of science, in an emergency situation, and I’m also sure that Joe fell just where the plot monster needed him to fall in order to make sure of that.
Also, Like Timothy Cramer, I’m liking this mystical engineer and ancient device tangent.
Yes, my blogs and the comment together would be like a MOBY DICK sized novel!
And, yeah, Joe is REALLY good at falling ass-backwards just where the plot needs him. Let us not forget he was swallowed by the Whale in SotBS and it tuned out they needed the Whale’s ambergris to summon Sedna…Yep yep yep.
Still no Hot Dog, as clearly stated in your blog:
“If you like to be in the know, and receive emails with cool stuff in them then HOT DOG”.
I guess I’ll write it off as being like another one of those Diamond scams people keep getting Spammed with…
I had brats for dinner tonight…does that count?
I have 3 Brats at home, but that is my fault for the way I raised them…
Ok, I’ll let you off the hook, but only because you guys ROCK!
“That Man Is Dead”, eh? Well, just like my favorite TV Tropes (which Will Ruin Your Life), they are almost never Killed Off For Real. Trust me, I’m Dangerously Genre-Savvy.
Ah, yes, around these parts we call that TV ESP.
Trust you your instincts, crazyman!