Mar08
Last time, on The Fourth
on March 8, 2017 at 12:40 amChapter: Chapter 4
Characters: Blank, Cyril, Davis, Derk, Ecta Livingston, Floyd, Lord Tiberius Skärva the Fourth, Lorelei, Slice Finnegan
Courtney
WE’RE BACK TO THE MAIN STORY!
…Ok, so this is a recap. On Friday or Wednesday we’ll be back to the main story. Friday is my birthday, so maybe not then. But maybe so!
This is a good intro page to our whole comic, and a good one to show your friends if you think they’d like it. Wink, nudge.
Also, fun fact, I’ve weaned myself entirely off of Photoshop and will be doing everything in Manga Studio from now on. You may not notice the difference, but working in one program for everything will allow me to do some fun stuff and encourage me to experiment, whereas I feel I had been getting pretty stagnant before (especially since I didn’t want to experiment stylistically during Chapter Zero). I look forward to it!
Welcome back!
After so long away from the main story–and especially if “chapter zero” is intended to be a gateway for new readers–a recap seems like a good idea, to me.
I’m really glad that Manga Studio seems to be working out for you–I imagine that it is rather more convenient to work in just one program, indeed! (And I’m especially glad if it allows you to experiment, and thus perhaps extend your abilities further still.) ^_^
As to critique, the sharp rays in some of the panels (such as the bottom-left, with Lorelei), feel a little out of place to me. I think that where most of the comic has a fairly loose, almost soft feel, these are hard and sharp, and that to my eye this clashes a bit.
Thanks! I’ll take that into consideration and try not to overuse it in the future, although I for one like the “flashes” as they’re called. I’d like to know if anyone has additional feedback.
I’m glad you think the comic is “soft” though. I’m going for that with the coloring now – one example being the line art isn’t pure black. Not sure why I like it this way, but I think it’s because it provides kind of a storybook feel, or maybe it’s that it’s a nice offset to the pointiness and harshness of my drawing style.
Ooh, I hadn’t (consciously) noticed the colouring of the lineart–but now that you mention it, I think that it does indeed contribute to that softness. ^_^
(Honestly, I don’t think that I would have called your style either “pointy” or “harsh”–there are things that are pointy, but overall I feel that your lines tend to be fairly flowing and rounded. This may be a matter of what elements draw our focus, however.)
As to the “flashes”, I think that it’s less their presence than their sharpness that slightly clashes, to my eye–they feel like they’re done in a slightly different style to the rest of the art. This is perhaps especially so in the last panels of the first two rows, and the first panel of the last.
Perhaps if they were a little more textured (something a little more like the lineart, perhaps)?
Probably the harshest (but most honest) critique I’ve ever gotten was that my art style was like… unappealingly pointy and jagged? I guess I internalized that a lot. Granted, it was a long time ago and I’ve consciously tried to do better since. Another thing is the way I do expressions (which I never want to change, hehe) can make the whole thing seem a bit manic without a softening influence…
Ah, that’s fair. They’re generated by the program and can be manipulated after the fact, so I think they’re more like vectors, which would be why they’re so crisp. Maybe I can create one I like but then draw over it with the brush I use to make it fit better.
Interesting.
Going back to the first few pages of the comic, the art there is perhaps a bit pointier, and less appealing, than it is now.
Hah, yes, I can see some of those expressions reading as “manic”. The middle panel of the second-to-last row above, for one. XD
That said, I think that hyperbolic expressions actually work well with the cartoony style–they don’t feel out of place to me. The softer lines might well help–I’m honestly not sure.
Hmm… Possibly. Are there tools that might allow you to generate a textured, tapering line? That might be another approach. (You might even be able to get away with creating one “spike”, then replicating and rotating it to create a whole “burst”–I’m not sure.)
Lovely recap!!
I’ve missed these guys so much, its good to see them again. I love how everything flows on this page, and as always, the colors are fantastic.
…I like how both of the comments so far have the Derk emoji
I MISSED THEM TOO, I mean of course I’ve drawn Lorelei and Davis and Cyril here and there, but it’s not the same…
I completely forgot the Derk emoji was a thing…I forgot HALF the emojis!
Let this be the page of happy Derks.
For some reason I initially misread your first line as referring to a “dark” emoji. ^^;
Ah well, in line with your call, have some Derks, who are not dark:
Here’s a question I’m boldly assuming nobody has asked you before!
The minions seem to all really like Skarva or at least enjoy working for him to a certain degree. Is the Skarva family just particularly good to it’s minions?
What kinda benefits plans to they get? ARE THEY HIRING?
Well, they get food and board in a sweet castle. Most of the younger minions (and the ghosts) live in the castle itself, although a lot of the older ones and those with families live in the castle town (which we’ve never explored in detail, but it’s there). They get some modest pay beyond that, and healthcare via the doctors and nurses that work for Skärva. It’s actually a nice deal, the drawback being that you have to put yourself in physical harm’s way, of course…
The Third was a really great boss, super involved with his minions, knowing their names and situations and families, etc. He really built out the reputation that working for his family was as good as it gets, if you’re gonna be an evil minion. The Fourth doesn’t pay as much attention to his employees’ personal matters (although he at least knows everyone by name, less because he especially cares and more because he’s smart and detail-oriented), he sometimes snaps and gets angry and might make fun of some of his own workers, BUT for the most part he is a good boss too. Partly for pragmatic reasons, maybe partly because he got at least some things from his dad that he wouldn’t admit.
And sure, they’re hiring! Derk would love to talk to you
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
Tbh I missed Lorelei.
We all did
I like how the middle bits of parchment have blood on them, it matches the events, but who is beating on Cyril so precisely?
Do I perhaps sense an indicator that the Minions group may be collecting a new member?
(tried to post this yesterday, it didn’t take. Twice)
Need more of this comic in my life. Glad y’all are finally back! Happy Birthday!
I missed you!