bigandtalltales

[bigandtalltales]

Hunter Black Page 140 - He's Back!!!

What I Said Then: "SOMEBODY missed Sordon. I had a question or two about him on Facebook. Is he a harbinger of death? He IS a ghost, after all. Visually, I’m digging the juxtaposition of the bloodstains on their shirts, Hunter’s all red and Sordon’s in gray. Just a little something."

What I'm Saying Now: I STILL dig the the two bloody shirts next to each other.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #killer #ghost #desert

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Hunter Black Page 139 - I'm Going To Die

What I Said Then: "This is one of those pages where Will decided to tweak what I had in the panel descriptions, and as usual, it comes out beautifully. I had Hunter on his belly, which is less dynamic and would have looked kinda crappy given Will’s style. It’s funny, because now that Will and I no longer live together, I find out these things SO MUCH LATER than I used to. It’s nice to have a level of trust there. Needless to say (I hope), the broken vial is the last of Hunter’s store of betrayer’s blood. He has no means to heal himself."

What I'm Saying Now: I think this was the page where I found myself wondering what would happen if Hunter stabbed himself with The Revenger. He was, after all, quite guilty of betrayal, having struck down Vermis Riid back in Book One. It was weird to realize that the answer was whatever I wanted it to be -- it was one of those moments where it sunk it that this was OUR comic.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #blood #killer #ghost #desert #dying

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There are no truer words.

There is always too much money available to punish the vulnerable, then no money to make their lives worse.

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Hunter Black Page 138 - A School Without Students

What I Said Then: "Sometimes, I think that this running commentary that we do is as much as curse as a blessing. I know that I don’t really always have to do it, but I also know that it’s one of the things that people are drawn to about the comic. There’s nothing to say about this, other than I accidentally wrote a whole commentary…that is devoted to the page for the NEXT update. So, on Friday you can expect something less whiny and more about what’s actually happening on the page. 🙂"

What I'm Saying Now: Just a little reminder that this page is only Four Panels. In Panels Two and Four there are poles that are supporting the tent that only look like panel borders.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #bookie #henchman #desert #The Great and Grand Tourney

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Hunter Black Page 137 - Silent But Deadly

What I Said Then: "I’m a big fan of pages where I do so little of the heavy lifting. Also, I love how Will has decided that there is a human skull just sort of chilling in anyplace where grass doesn’t grow. I LOVE the last panel; Will really gives it that sense of mood I was hoping for when I wrote the panel description. I look forward to what comes next…a couple of our more vocal readers get something they’ve occasionally asked for."

What I'm Saying Now: I can't believe I gave this page THAT title and didn't make any kind of crack in the commentary.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #fall #killer #henchman #desert

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Hunter Black Page 136 - Dedicated To Mark Waid

What I Said Then: "So yeah, I’ve dedicated this page to Mark Waid, since I have seen him trashing exactly this kind of page of late. I saw him single out Geoff Johns for doing it, and I can handle being in such illustrious company. Don’t get me wrong, I take all of Mr. Waid’s criticism of this move to heart, and I think he’s mostly right. But this was something I didn’t want to pass up on any level. We’re building up to something here. It helps that Will just KILLED it."

What I'm Saying Now: I love Mark Waid. He's an incredible talent, a decent human being, and one hell of a nice guy. But I loved this page back then and I love it now. I don't remember his exact criticism of this kind of thing -- us being a page a day (or really, three pages a week) comic might change his calculus a little. (Or it might not.) (Geoff Johns is an awesome guy too -- I've had some great conversations with that guy.)

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #Mark Waid #Geoff Johns #backstab #killer #henchman #desert

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Hunter Black Page 135 - Damn Her Eyes

What I Said Then: "In some ways, I used this page to remind myself, as well as the reader, that Hunter’s not ONLY in this for his health. He is seeking REVENGE, a revenge that he has had to put on hold in order to gain the knowledge he needs to take that revenge. Also, we needed someone to ask the question, 'What exactly happened?'"

What I'm Saying Now: I'm pretty sure this all speaks for itself!

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #killer #desert #The Cur

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Hunter Black Page 134 - To Take Up The Sword

What I Said Then: "This is probably my least favorite page of the comic thus far, at least from the standpoint of my own writing. I hate having to do so much exposition, but it felt like the thing to do at the time. Now, I’m not so sure, and the needs of a schedule mean this isn’t changing. Ha! I’ve just noticed the moon. I bitched at Will about every moon being full, and me referring to a “scimitar moon” in the script. Finally, I get my crescent. Oh, I forgot, the reference to the “Thylian nunnery.” Thylian is the eldest of the lesser gods, and is the god of magic."

What I'm Saying Now: Thylian nunneries? DAMN IT. (If you're reading the comic in the present day, you'll find out why I'm cursing soon enough.)

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #flashback #warrior #samurai #swordsmen #family

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Hunter Black Page 133 - I Know When To Shut Up

What I Said Then: "Every once in a while, it seems appropriate to inject a little levity into the comic, even though we’re going for a harder edge most of the time. I mean, we’ve managed to feature Bert and Ernie! Anyway, there’s a little of that here. My script just suggests a beach in Panel Two. Will rightly decided to have himself a little fun."

What I'm Saying Now: My original commentary shows you how immature I still was as a collaborator. I mean, the island is a little goofy , but in a very cool way. I think I was pooh-poohing it a touch for not being exactly my vision. Fortunately, I wasn't so immature that I tried to make him change things that didn't need changing. These days, the changes I ask for tend to me much smaller. "Make her look much angrier," things like that. Otherwise, I just want my partner to execute what he sees in his head when he reads the script.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #training #island #blood

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Hunter Black Page 132 - The Sword and The Quest

What I Said Back Then: "Whence came the name 'Finian Kos?' It has no gaming antecedents for me, but I really like it. For the record, he’s the guy you’d most likely describe as “old” looking among the heads of the schools. I love Will’s sense of design. I mean, this is a swords-and-sorcery setting, but he’s got our heroes decked out in wife-beaters. Pretty sure Peter Jackson never put Aragorn into a wife-beater. That isn’t criticism, by the way. I think it works really, really well. Maliya’s channeling Kara Thrace."

What I'm Saying Now: When I referenced "the scimitar moon" in the first panel, I was expecting to see a crescent moon in the sky. (I'm not going back to see if I specified that in the script.) But if there's one thing I've learned in a dozen years of making this comic: For William Orr, the moon is almost always full.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #webcomic #amwriting #hardboiled #revenge #magic #killer #samurai #warrior #swordsman #moon #desert #oasis #The Great and Grand Tourney

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Hunter Black Page 131 - We FIX This

What I Said Then: "One of our weirder problems: lines in the background, that are intentionally there, but look suspiciously like the gutters between the panels. They’re not. We screwed that up two scenes ago when Jobo and Hunter met. The great thing about Will, Jacob, and me is the fact that we’re all pretty professional. We can trust each other to handle our business. The bad thing about that is the fact that we don’t double-check each other often enough as a result, and mistakes sometimes slip through. No harm in the previous instance, aside from a disgruntled artist. Here, all is as it should be."

What I'm Saying Now: A bookie? "FIXING THINGS???" I'm shocked, I say, SHOCKED to find gambling going on in this establishment!

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #bookie #henchman #The Great and Grand Tourney #gambling

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Hunter Black Page 130 - I'll Be Damned

What I Said Back Then: "If it isn’t obvious, that is NOT the Cur. Hunter would not be holding himself back if it was the Cur."

What I'm Saying Now: You know, I've become aware that Hunter has mellowed out some over the years. Some of what we're doing in the comic now is kind of about that, actually.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #warriors #samurai #swordsmen #henchman

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Hunter Black Page 129 - You Are A New Head...Mistress...

What I Said Then: "What’s been a lot of fun lately is people’s reactions to Ckazannisch…people don’t like him! I mean, he’s a massive douche and definitely is one of the villains of the piece, but it warms my heart that people want to see him get his comeuppance. Good villains are HARD to create, and the good ones are so iconic. Looking at him in Panel Two, with that smirk…even I want to put my fist in his face. Did I mention that he’s named after a friend’s Second Edition D&D character? I’ve been having fun at that guy’s expense, let me tell you. Also, note that the two heads of school at either end of the panel have completely unchanged expressions."

What I'm Saying Now: The third headmaster is Wolverine and you'll never convince me otherwise.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #warriors #samurai #swordsmen #killer #mask

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Hunter Black Page 128 - I Shall Be Entering The Tourney

What I Said Back Then: "I love this page, and I can’t wait until you see the next. (You’ll know why when you see it.) Again, I love the amount of personality that Will has given these guys, especially when I gave him pretty generic descriptions of them all. At least five of them, if you include Ckazannisch, have subsequently grabbed hold of my imagination and will get some fleshing out."

What I'm Saying Now: Looking at this page, I'm really struck by how much Jacob's work has progressed in the years we've been working together. The laughter in Panel One is fine...but he'd do something way more eye-catching now, something that would really reinforce the laughter of the characters.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #swordsmen #warriors #samurai #The Great and Grand Tourney

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Hunter Black Page 127 - This Circle

What I Said Back Then: "Now we’re getting to the nitty-gritty. Lyonitt Ckazannisch makes his reappearance in this comic, as the unchallenged head of the Jeramsus School, and one of the men responsible for the Great and Grand Tourney. I love most of the heads of the schools. Some of them are, and should be, pretty vanilla…but what about that dude in the mask?! I think I’m required by law to write him into the story or risk losing every cool point I’ve ever had."

What I'm Saying Now: There's at least one dude out of the heads of the Eight Schools that I wish I had dome something with...and at least one more that I need to get back to. I think I was channeling Roger Stern writing Hercules in The Mighty Avengers back in the 80s for Maliya's dialogue here.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #swordsmen #warriors #samurai #The Way of Scabbards #The Great and Grand Tourney

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Hunter Black Page 126 - Beyond Reproach

What I Said Then: "This is a horrible admission to make, but this is my first time seeing this page. The good news is, I love it. The setting is gorgeous, the costuming impeccable. It looks better than the way I pictured it in my mind’s eye…and that’s awesome to see. Skysteel, in case you have forgotten, is essentially ore from a meteor, one that was sent by the gods. Skysteel has some…interesting properties that we have thus far only touched on in backstory. THUS FAR."

What I'm Saying Now: While I can honestly say that I've gotten better at reviewing pages with ample time to make changes, I wouldn't say I've gotten GOOD at it. Looking at Maliya Pel here, it makes me especially proud that we never even considered sexing her up. She's a badass, a SWORDSMAN...and we never once saw her otherwise.

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #swordsman #warrior #samurai #killer #henchman #arena #The Great and Grand Tourney

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Hunter Black Page 125 - Hunter's Destination

Good thing I woke up on the right side of the bed the day we first posted this page. We have a certain three-man process that we go through to get a page together…but that process was in a slight state of flux, with this page in particular because there’s no dialogue on it. Jacob normally letters and reformats the page that Will uploads to our collaboration folder. Will then uploads the lettered page to the site, and I add all of the bells and whistles (like what you’re reading right now). But there was nothing for Jacob to letter and Will is on vacation. I’m not the most ‘net or computer savvy of creators, so I was extremely proud not to screw this up!

#fantasy #comics #noir #independent comics #amwriting #webcomic #hardboiled #revenge #magic #arena #The Great and Grand Tourney #desert #oasis #henchman