Well, I guess vacation is over and we’re officially back, after a few glitches! Happy New Year! Happy New Page! Demonstrating a classic example of Iris Logic™. If it runs, chase it! If it stops, eat it! Hey, she thinks with her stomach, what do you expect…
Okay, going to try to get the next page up Thursday. I hope. It’s already thumbnailed, so that’s a start. (Status updates will be on my Twitter as usual…)
Actually, the best time to wake up would have been several pages ago, before the Wrecking Crew arrived. Which is worse, leaping to potential doom or hanging on in the face of certain doom? Your call! Vitalia will gladly skip certain lunch to keep a date with uncertain doom. And the vampires pursue with bloodthirsty cries of “hey!” (And yes, this page suffered every possible delay – sorry about that! Tis the season for total chaos!)
Okay. Next week is Christmas week, and it’s guaranteed to be full of distractions, so I really really doubt I can get a page up then. Temporary holiday hiatus! Expect the next update Tuesday/Wednesday of the week after next (so, around New Year’s Eve.) (Status updates will go on my Twitter, as usual.)
And I REALLY want to get a bit of a buffer built up again in 2015. This business of scrambling to make the next page from start to finish every week does not work well, every little thing throws me off schedule.
Someone is nearly at the end of her rope! “Now what” is a very good question. With a lot of very bad answers. NOW WHAT?? Stay tuned to find out!
ACK, today has been so full of distractions. But anyway. Let’s aim for the next update next Tuesday, and see how that goes.
Okay! We are officially BACK. With further mechanical shenanigans!
Sorry for the unplanned hiatus, there. It has been one heck of a month. First there was a crazy deadline interfering with my comic-drawing time, then as soon as that cleared up, BAM, my crusty old computer decided to die. So there was at least a week of running around trying to fix and/or replace the old machine, more time spent screwing around with the replacement getting all my old applications and peripherals to work, and then it was Thanksgiving vacation and a barrage of family so there was no time at all for anything except pie… WOOF. But we are now back to normal! Kinda. Sorta. I hope.
Next update should be ready next Tuesday, if all goes well.
What goes up, must come down. What goes down, must go up! Basic mechanical principles at work! (Fun fact: Vitalia weighs more than Iris.)
Um, just a fair warning, updates will continue to be unpredictable and sporadic until the week of Thanksgiving (that is, the week of the 27th.) Still wrestling with a job that’s due before Thanksgiving, so time is pretty scarce right now.
For now, let’s say the next update is very tentatively next Saturday. That week is gonna be crazy, though, so I can’t say for sure. You can check my Twitter for status updates.
And we’re back in the crypt-mine-gear factory! Where Vitalia forgets the basic rules of adventuring by saying “better not be any creepy-crawly weird things down here”. NEVER make comments like that in places where monsters are likely to lurk! It attracts them instantly! (And I now kind of want to draw Vitalia’s Magical Flamethrower.) (Not like I have time, haha.)
Hmm. Okay. I’ve got a sudden influx of client work to deal with, so the next couple of weeks are gonna get intense. Updates may be even less regular than usual. For now, I’ll say the next update will go up Saturday, but there’s a good chance it’ll end up being posted Sunday. If it looks like it’ll be later, I’ll note it on my Twitter! (Oh and I finally got Twitter to work on my phone, so I’ve gotten better about tweeting.)
Now that’s what we call a splitting headache. What, you thought a giant stone head could hold Iris for long? HA! She has a BIG AXE and ain’t afraid to use it! Iris, maker of headaches and havoc…
UH. Next sequence isn’t even thumbnailed yet. Oh dear. Let’s figure the next update is next Friday, if all goes well? I’ll post a note on my Twitter if it looks like massive delays. (QueenGwenevere on Twitter.)
Meanwhile, back in the crypt/mine/weird underground place… Yeah, remember Vitalia? She’s down there somewhere. And she is temporarily saved by Cadaver’s tendency to follow his captain’s commands literally and without question. (Yes, Cadaver has no imagination or sense of humor whatsoever. He’s dead, what do you expect.)
I have a sneaking suspicion I may have cannibalized that line for a tournament entry somewhere… But what the heck. It’s supposed to go here.
Next update should be around next Thursday. I think that looks feasible…
Baby Brother Strong Like Elephant! But Mammoth-Bot Stronger! Who’s the biggest bully of them all? I guess that leaves the bully boys a bit tied up for the moment, anyhow…
Next update SHOULD be next Thursday this time. I’ve already made some progress on page 164, so I think things will go a bit faster.
Oh no! You got baby brother mad! Baby brother and his big club with spikes in it! BAD mammoth-bots! (WHY am I trying to do Inktober while simultaneously inking pages like this at the last minute, WHAT WAS I THINKING.) (Oh and of course the next page is at least as complex, if not worse. Wheeeee!)
Yes, those are all different sizes of mammoth-bots. Big ones! Small ones! Medium size ones! Frank was in a hurry.
Erm. Still badly behind on everything here… I THINK the next update can be done by next Thursday, or more likely Friday, but it’s gonna be a scramble. I’ll give a heads-up on my Twitter this time if it looks like it’ll be super late: @QueenGwenevere (Might as well use that Twitter account for something.)
Today’s Important Life lesson: Do not annoy creatures that are several times larger than you and bullet-proof.
So yeah, this is the page that got massively delayed due to IlluXcon. Need to learn to plan better if I go to any more cons, haha. (This would’ve had less of a delay if I’d packed the right comic sketchbook… I thought I could at least finish the pencils for this page in between con stuff, but grabbed the wrong book. Not a total loss, though, I got some work done on future pages instead.)
And was IlluXcon awesome? It was awesome. OMG SO MUCH COOL ART. I WANT TO MAKE COOL ART TOO. NEED 48 HOURS IN THE DAY. Plus I did as many panels and demos as I could cram in – the Drawn + Drafted Artist’s Boot Camp series was worth the trip alone. Highlights: Everything by Omar Rayyan, giving up at the sight of Donato’s Iron Throne painting, ogling Dave Palumbo’s brushwork, manhandling original paintings by Mark Zug, snagging Travis Louie’s strange little book and Jim Pavelec’s big creepy book, gaping at the HUGE painting by Rebecca Guay, and the new painting from Wylie Beckert, spazzing over Jeremy Wilson’s entire table, discovering Linda Adair and Iris Compiet, and AUGH so much more cool art. Oh, and the alligator chair. I wants it. 🙂
Oh and there were late-night sketch jams. With booze. Those were fun. 🙂 I’ll post stuff from those on my blog and Tumblr (once I get around to scanning them…)
Okay, I think we’d better say the next update is next Thursday so I have time to catch up. And then hopefully I can stick with the usual once-a-week schedule for a while.
Yes. Run. That’s a good strategy. You guys are big and tough, but not MAMMOTH-BOT big and tough!
Hmm. Next week is IlluXcon, isn’t it. And I am SO going to go this year! Hopefully for more than one day this time. That’s guaranteed to be a HUGE distraction, so I doubt I’ll get a chance to finish and post the next page next week. If I don’t have an update posted before Thursday next week, then I guess the next update will have to go up after the con, so either next week Sunday evening or Monday the week after.
YES, giant robot mammoths! 😀 Because mammoths are cool! Robots are cool! Giant robot mammoths are super-cool! Carnage doesn’t think so, though.
GAH. Not doing so good on timely updates. Deadlines. Heatwaves. Too hot for computer. Too hot for me. I’m melting. Meeeeeellllltiiiiiinnnnggg…. I think we start getting tolerable weather next week, though. So, next update next Thursday? I hope? (Please let there be rain, I have piles of stuff I need to do on my computer, dammit!)
Draw faster! FASTER! I don’t know why he keeps picking the most complicated subjects to draw. I don’t know why I keep picking the most complicated subjects to draw, either. These next few pages are gonna get complicated, yo.
Derp. Sorry for the slight delay, it’s been migraine week with a vengeance (plus trying to cope with work deadlines in migraine conditions. Not fun.) August has been like that. Probably the combination of heat and relentless super-bright sun. IT BUUUURNS. I cannot wait for Summer to be over, I’ve had ENOUGH. >:C
Uh. Will try to have the next page up by next Thursday. (Pleeeeease can there not be migraines next week…)
Why yes, we’ll just leave Vitalia in a hopeless jam and check in with the shenanigans above ground. Where more jams are stirring. Ain’t nobody safe around here. (I’ve come to think of this sequence as “the battle of the old guys”… Frank is in his mid-fifties, and Carnage is in his mid-sixties. They’re both gonna be sore and cranky when this is all over.)
Next update, er… next week, Thursday-ish?
Whoops. Not good. Not good at all. That was pretty much her one ticket to survival, right there. WHOOPS. Well, Vit, welcome to your new permanent home. I hope you like gears.
Will Vitalia be able to use her complete lack of survival skills to get out of this?? Stay tuned! Next update around next Thursday, I hope.
Vitalia and the unintended escape mechanism! Whatever works… Although she may need to escape from the mechanism next.
(I have no good excuse for the late update this week… Other than juggling too many things at once and failing at multitasking. Blargh.) Next update Thursday, I swear!
Well, that’s one way to flee, I guess… Not the most elegant way, but whatever works! (And yes, this page took FOREVER. Especially since this is one of the pages that got rained on and it got all warped and it took a lot of wrangling to salvage the inking I’d already done. Plus the warping made it awfully tricky to scan. GOSH DANG IT I WORKED HARD FOR THIS PAGE.) (Comics and rain, they do not mix well.)
You know, I think we’d better just assume that updates are on Thursdays. At least until Summer ends. So next update, um, next Thursday?
Press the button! PRESS THE BUTTON! Anywhere is safer than here! This place is positively swarming with dead and undead and should-be-dead and everybody-wants-them-dead… D: (Cadaver is supposed to be coming through the wall, there, not sure if that’s obvious.) (He’s a ghost, walls don’t apply.)
I have to say I… really quite like this page? So swirly! I like swirly. Anyway. Next update… er… probably Wednesday/Thursday at this rate.
Also! Part three of the “Comic Page Creation” demo is up! In this edition, we tackle inking! The fun stuff! Yay! Go check out part three over here!
Vitalia, you are being a brat. Stop that. It might get you killed. Look at all that ominous foreshadowy stuff creeping up on you.
Uuuuuugh, many delays here due to heat, sorry! Apparently my crotchety old computer is getting worse at making it through the Summer. I had a scary episode of my monitor going totally haywire, so now I’m scrambling to upgrade this machine (I keep putting it off. Don’t think I can do that much longer.)
This page also took forever to process due to, er, having been rained on. (Hopefully you can’t tell.) My habit of taking work outside backfires occasionally. Especially in thunderstorm season.
Will try for another update between Tuesday and Wednesday..? If my computer doesn’t die…?
Nope, not getting along at all… Vitalia does have a point, though. Anywhere the Wrecking Crew is lurking is a BAD place to hang around.
And meanwhile, the demo of How I Make These Comic Pages continues! With Part 2, Drawing the Page! Where I get into blue-penciling and penciling… Check it out here!
Page 150! In which people are not getting along… Business as usual. (Sorry for the lateness, me and my computer both had a bit of a heat-induced meltdown for a while there…)
To celebrate 150 pages of People Not Getting Along, I’ve put together a demo showing how I make these comic pages, start to finish. Actually, it’s going to be a series of demos (it was getting so elaborate and taking so long that it was delaying this update even more.)
We start with Part One: Writing and Thumbnailing! Check it out here!
Oh yeah, and Happy Fourth of July to all the Americans out there! 😀
Lunch is served! What weapon do you use against a small but enthusiastic axe-wielding vampire? Giant stone heads! Er… Okay, maybe not an ideal choice, but he had, like, a couple of seconds to think of something and draw it, right? So, yeah. Whatever works. (Making it look a bit like the enthusiastic vampire’s boss was likely a subconscious but weirdly appropriate choice.)
Next update around next Tuesday/Wednesday. (And I really need to clear some space off my computer before then – it’s getting to the point where Photoshop is barely usable. Took foreeeeever to prep this page.)
And now is the time in the Wayward Queen where things get weird! Well, weirder than usual. (And Vitalia really needs to develop better reflexes if she wants to survive long in this world…) Has Frank totally flipped, or does he know what he’s doing? Will Vit ever learn to react faster, or is she destined to be toast? Stay tuned!
Sorry about the delayed post, this week got all migraine-y (blegh.) Will try to have the next page up next Tuesday/Wednesday!
SURPRISE. There may not be any huge freaky monsters, but there’s a small freaky monster! With a big axe. But have no fear! We have pencils! Yeah!
WILL EVERYBODY DIE!? Stay tuned! Next update around the same time next week.
On the trail of lunch! Will lunch – er, Vitalia – catch on in time, or is she destined to become a munchable morsel? Stay tuned! (Next update around Tuesday/Wednesday next week.)
Yeah, sending a hungry Iris ahead by herself, nothing can possibly go wrong with that plan, right? (This has been another installment of “Lunch: The Webcomic”. I don’t know how that subject keeps recurring. Maybe I shouldn’t draw this stuff when I’m hungry.)
Next page seems to be fairly under control except for a few spikes and details, so expect another update next Tuesday-ish.
Bail out! Pterodactyl failure! D: There seems to be a drastic shortage of parachutes in this realm. Someone should start a business peddling parachutes, they’d make a fortune.
Woohoo, I updated close to when I said I would! Let’s try for another update next Tuesday, then, shall we? (Making better progress on my buffer now. But holy wow, are we getting into some complicated stuff.) (Giant crazy fight scene, guys. GIANT. CRAZY. FIGHT. SCENE. I’ve been looking forward to this SO much.)
Having a little pterodactyl trouble, here… Rough landings ahead! (This seems to happen a lot around here.)
Fun Fact for anyone who hasn’t followed Erro’s non-canon shenanigans: Erroneous has a few issues controlling his shapeshifting. The further a shape is from his default in size or species, the harder it is to maintain for any length of time. Hence, situations arise…
UM. Still catching up on my buffer and everything else. Making progress, but it’s sloooow. So, next update next week probably around Wednesday.
If the puns don’t kill you, these guys might! Company is coming for… lunch. And they’ve brought their own utensils. SHARP utensils. (My apologies for just about all the dialogue in those first two panels. Possibly everyone’s had too many thornberries. They’re starting to walk into the fourth wall…)
URGH this week has been utter chaos, sorry! Hence the crazy late update… Next week should be back to relatively normal, with an update around Tuesday/Wednesday..
Lunching with the nerd pack and their electric snails! In a world full of sudden unexpected landmarks, radio is a rather practical means of communication. I’ve actually worked out the basic functioning of Fursovich’s kit, though we don’t see it here. Everything is easily cobbled together with homemade parts, the only fantastical bit is the use of electric snails (there had to be SOMETHING weird, or it wouldn’t be me. Besides, most homemade battery techniques looked pretty clunky.) And even THAT’S based on a real thing – yes, someone has indeed made a snail battery!
Electric snails, common enough in the Randomain if you know where to look, come in various sizes of varying wattage… The bigger they are, the more voltage they have. The more coils in the shell, the more amps they have. You can see more detailed electric snail sketches here!
Errrmmm… Looks like the next update will be next week around the same time.
Compounding the technical difficulties like a pro! I think she’s managed to achieve some kind of moebius loop, there…
Okay, updated before Friday, yay! Let’s see if I can do it again next week! (Yeah, still gonna have to stay at one page a week for now, I’m SO behind. But starting to make some progress now…)
Aw, poor confused Bugbat… Mez should know by now not to get on any vehicle built by Pez. He’d be better off walking at this rate. And safer. (And look, TOTALLY RANDOM palace-city-thing! Why did I throw that in instead of doing some nice easy trees, I do not know! Apparently I want to make life more difficult for myself.)
Okay, taxes are done, work stuff is kinda under control, so I’ll attempt to have the next update up around next Tuesday… (crosses fingers.)
Headaches for everyone! The witches are on the warpath – look out!
Ergh, migraines have struck. So yes, obviously only one update this week. Dang it, I’ll catch up one of these days! And taxes are due next week, so I think we’d better say there will be one page next week as well. Tax time is always hectic.
Well. NOW things are about to get messy. Nothing like a little infighting to spice things up! This is what happens if you throw your team a bone and expect them to compete for it. Especially if your team is made up of people with dubious ethics.
And yes, of course the Red Witches use their feathers as wands! Athena’s spells tend to affect judgment and will. (I’m seriously going to regret using rhymes, aren’t I…) (We’ll see how long THAT lasts, haha.)
Hmmm. I’m still fairly far behind on my buffer, so whether I can do two updates next week may depend how productive I am over the weekend. Gonna try to make some progress, anyway! In any case, next update should hopefully be around Monday/Tuesday this time.
In which the girls are fashionably late to the party… (The Wrecking Crew is not very popular, can you tell. Especially not when they trample all over other people’s turf.)
Sorry for the super late update! It’s been a hectic week. (Multiple things are due the end of this week, haha, arrgh.) But next week my schedule should should ease up a bit, so maaaaaybe after next week we can go back to two pages a week. We’ll see how things go. (Crosses fingers.)
The girls are baaaack! And they missed the party. They won’t be pleased. (And yes, the official commands for resizing Bugbat are “Downsize” and “Upscale”…)
Uh, I guess the one-page-a-week thing continues until the end of March (and probably the first week of April.) I have a bunch of things to finish by April and I’m in major multi-tasking mode… So next update will be around the same time next week!
In which lunch is found! Sort of. Could be an acquired taste. And Frank is turning out to be SUCH a troll… I didn’t know he had it in him. (He has a point, though. This is not a good realm to be wandering around in by yourself unless you’ve got a big can of whoop-ass handy.) (Vit is significantly lacking in whoop-ass.)
Next update will be next week, Tuesday-ish… (I seem to have taken on a lot of side-projects for March. This ain’t exactly helping me stay ahead on comic pages, haha.)
That gizmo sure changes hands a lot. Frank really really REALLY wants that thing, you can tell. Vit is having none of that, though. Will Vitalia biff off into the wilderness on her own and perish of cluelessness? Stay tuned!
(Argh, I’m still kinda behind, so we’re still doing one page a week. Next update will be up next Monday/Tuesday-ish!) (Probably in a more timely manner than this page, this one took forever to finish. Next one is simpler.)
New location! Woooo! About time we got out of the woods! And Frank can’t seem to leave that gizmo alone, can he…
(And of course this location is slow as heck to draw, why do I do this to myself… “Thorns!” I said, “Thorns should be simple, right?” HA! But just wait, it gets even more complicated as it goes on.)
So, sticking with one update per week until I catch up on my buffer. Next update will be Monday/Tuesday-ish next week (and I still need to finish inking the next page. And it’s complicated. EEP.)
It’s Errodactyl! Yes I know that’s not an entirely correct pterodactyl of any species… That’s because it’s Errodactyl, Erro’s personal take on the pterodactyl form. Hence the bird-style “backward” talons. (Actually, there’s a good reason for those… In a number of previous non-canon comics, I’ve needed to have Errodactyl grab and carry things, and normal pterodactyl feet are not great for this. So I went with raptor-style feet, and they’ve become more or less canon.) (Oh, and those non-canon comics are all linked in the “miscellany” section. If you’re curious.)
Be glad he can’t talk in most non-humanoid forms. It gives us a moment’s respite from Erroneisms. (Don’t ask me how Carnage understands Pterodactyl…)
SCHEDULE NOTE: Um, I think I may need to go to one page a week for the next two weeks? I’m seriously struggling to stay ahead at the moment, I’ve been trying to catch up on my buffer but at the current rate of progress I’m pretty much running in place. So I’ll post one page a week for a couple weeks and see how things go. If I’m STILL behind after that, we might have to stay at one page a week for a month. (There’s some complicated stuff coming up, it’s slowing me down a bit.)
Carnage is well-equipped to deal with his subordinates. No griping and pouting tolerated in this gang. (Seriously though, it’s like running a kindergarten sometimes.) (A murderous kindergarten.)
(And this page would’ve been up a lot sooner if there hadn’t been a lot of crashing going on. Not a good computer day, apparently.)
Yes, Erro is being a spoiled, uncooperative twit. They go through this every time he has to carry the whole gang. Starting a frozen car ain’t nothin’, try persuading a temperamental shapeshifter to shift. (This comic should be retitled “Uncooperative Transportation”…)
I find it ironically appropriate that the Valentine’s Day page features the suicidal flirtation of Dysfunctional Un-Couple of the Year. Consider it a PSA. Relationships: How Not to Do It!
Yep, they’re a shifty bunch. This is what happens when you hire thugs. Can’t trust these people with ANYTHING.
Erroneous may have cause to regret this, though.
It does not pay to manhandle a vampire, kids.
And no, Iris ain’t the brightest bat in the bunch…
In which the adults take charge while the children squabble… (Why does Mezereon not suspect something is up with those two, you might ask? Well, it’s safe to assume he ignores anything Erro does as a matter of course. Unless compelled to acknowledge him by force of circumstance.)
Iris, just sock the bastard, don’t bother with biting…
Professional cursing! By a master of the craft! And what is Erro up to…? Only Erro knows!
Ugh, sorry for pretty much vanishing this week… It was the Week of Ultimate Final Deadlines on this job that’s been dragging on since… uh…… last February. *Sobs* But! IT’S DONE! The thing that’s been eating all my time is finished, wrapped up, totally out of my hair at last! (The last part should be live next week, I think. I’ll post links when it’s all live, because, why not.)
So this means… Regular updates, maybe!? And… I can go draw stuff! Anything I want! I have free time! I want to draw ALL THE THINGS! (Well, except I think I’m getting repetitive stress problems in both arms from all the repetitive and stressful animation I had to churn out in the past couple of weeks. Ugh. I should behave for a few days. But I don’t wanna.)
Sorry guys! Gotta move fast if you want to keep up!
Also, stay tuned for a process demo of this page! I thought it might be neat to show my stupidly time-consuming process for making these pages, so I scanned process steps while drawing and inking this (hence why it’s posted kinda late, heh. I had to keep stopping to scan.) I’ll probably post that on my Tumblr, but I’ll link it here.
Guys… Hey guuuuys… You might want to clear out of there, like, NOW? Quit waffling and just GO! Cavern of Doom is way better than what’s creeping up behind you!
(There should be six thugs creeping around in that top panel… The innocent and chronically bored bystander may find some amusement in playing Spot-the-Thugs.)
Will the hapless trio escape in time? Or will everyone be massacred horribly? Stay tuned! (Rushes off to finish inking page 124 which was inexplicably left unfinished and we only remembered about it week before last, hahaha… ha…)
LET’S DO THIS! In a big bickering mob! Yep, that’ll work well… More pointing and shouting! Need more pointing and shouting! That’s the key to leadership!
Not that Iris can be trusted to carry out any instructions that don’t involve total destruction, shouted or otherwise…
And yep, Cudgel is Carnage’s much bigger baby brother… He wants to learn to be a successful(?) thug just like Big Brother. So far he’s mostly learned how to hit things. Stealth is a skill that continues to elude him.