And that wraps it up for Chapter Eight! To read the chapter from the beginning you can start here, or if you’re completely lost you can start from the very first page.
I wouldn’t mind getting some collective opinions on this page, so I can correct it if necessary for the eventual print edition. I wanted to make this final scene a full page shot, but now that it’s done I’m concerned some of the key details are too obscure (I leave all corrections for the print edition, and I’m sure it’ll make a fun game for somebody to go through the books and spot what I changed). Can you parse what is going on, or are you left shrugging your shoulders?
Also, if last week’s comments are anything to go by, I think it prudent to apologize in case I’ve just caused someone’s head to explode. I promise, no more REEPS after this week!
When I do a comparison with page 244, where we last saw Aria, I assume a whole bunch of things. Aria has been abducted. The body on the landing is the local guard who had been protecting this entrance to the underground lair. The “~rustle~ =mumble=” on page 244 is the guard being rendered unconscious or dead. The equipment scattered on the stairs is pretty well every piece of equipment that Aria is carrying on page 244: backpack, belt packs, Abacus, and wrist comm. That implies that the people who attacked her have taken no chances and removed every piece of technology that they could find so that she could not be tracked. The metalwork looks inspired by that at the entrance to a Parisian metro station. On page 241, Zan set up Aria’s wrist comm so that it linked via her Abacus. As the Abacus is lying broken on the ground, the wrist comm’s emergency REEP should not be transmitting to anyone.
Actually, the bracelet was originally just an EAB (Emergency Alert Bracelet?), not a wrist comm, so that part of the bracelet should still function normally. Zan rigged Aria’s EAB to -also- function as a wrist communicator… and that’s what requires the Abacus link. That’s possibly why Aria’s abductor(s) destroyed the Abacus… unlike the rest of her gear which was simply dumped.
Another page of REEPS… poor Glennnn!
Somehow I’m not surprised by this page. I believe we can now conclude that Aria has been abducted by the Miestani. Right? (Look, I made a new word!)
However, there is one thing I’m wondering about: the person on the ground. Is s/he alive? Somehow I doubt the Miestani would have left someone alive behind if they could be, uh, “converted”. Or perhaps it’s late and my tired brain is reading a little bit too far into it?
Seems clear enough to me, save that I can’t immediately tell who’se body that is, which was probably the original intent. I like the full page shot, it’s such a change from the normal style that there’s lots of impact.
Ohhh snap!
Re: the page. I think the page works as is – with the possible exception of Aria’s wrist comm (which is pretty small on the page but still recognizeable), everything is clear. I don’t think anything needs to be changed per se.
The picture seems pretty clear to me. The comm is small, but I can tell what it is.
The only thing about the page which bothers me is that the identity of the body is ambiguous. I don’t *think* it is Aria, but the shape is close enough to make me a little confused. If you want this effect, great. If you want to be clear that it’s not Aria, a little more detail is needed to make it clear this person is not her. The easiest fix for that would be changing the shading between the shirt/pants, since Aria’s outfit is uniform in color.
Also, I second Insectoid’s comment about leaving people alive. Why would they take Aria and not anyone else? (I’m sure you probably have an explanation coming soon, but as a single page it does seem odd.)
Bait. Why work for your “food” when they are willingly coming to you?
The body isn’t in uniform, so it clearly isn’t Aria.
It gets the point across to me. I personally would’ve gone with a couple of inset frames to point out the key pieces of equipment broken, but that’s just me. This page answers the mail well enough. I wouldn’t dwell on it.
I can tell the figure is not Aria, but don’t know who it is. Others’ musings of a guard seem plausible.
All the items on the page seem recognizable except the wrist device, but we can tell what it is because of the REEPs emanating from it.
The thing I find weird about this page is that, combined with the last page on which we saw Aria, it seems clear that this stairway is an unobstructed pathway into their hideaway. It seems weird that they would just leave it open and post a guard, however well hidden. I would have expected them to block the passageway off, with a possible secret door so they can still use this as an emergency exit.
A part of me is screaming “Yes! Action! Let’s GO!”
The other part is screaming “No! She’s gone! She’s been Miestified!” (Look, I made a new word! *smiles brightly*)
And, unanimously, my whole brain is thinking, “We’d better get back to the Galaxion in the next chapter!”
Great story so far, Tara. Please keep drawing!
Would that make what’s going on a set of very ‘Miesti-rious’ circumstances?
I don’t think that Aria has necessarily been kidnapped. it quite possible that she has been taken over by the Miesti (remember the ‘bite’ many pages back?) and is simply attempting to find the rest of them). I do agree with Sean K that this seems to be remarkably open entrance/exit to the underground hideout…unless the guard on the ground was inside and attempted to follow Aria, that seems like a rather conspicious position to have been posted at.
Possibly… But she hasn’t exhibited any of the symptoms of the other bite victims, so I doubt that’s what it is.
Woo, somehow I had forgotten about checking this comic! I’m just in time for Aria’s abduction. Yay! (ahem) We’re closing in on the paper issues. I’d guess jus only a year left. *grins*
I see all that there needs to be seen. Broken equipment, wrist-comm activated – obviously Aria activated it as she saw the guard crumpled on the floor and the Rautani lunging for her. Maybe even that is why all her equipment was broken. RIP (‘pieces’) the modified Abacus, it didn’t survive long…
Sadly, I won’t be at Ad Astra, and I missed the Comicon by a week (was in Toronto the week after). And now Tara won’t be at TCAF, one less reason for me to go…
Hey, Glennnn, you know what? I think this page is just plain cREEPy!
Reepent and you shall be saved.
Am hopelessly addicted.