Clicking next on page2 takes you back to page 1. This is [unintuitive]. I'll leave plot and character comments until we get out of prologue and I have some clue :) Are we to be treated to constant colour, or is this a prologue thing? --Vitenka
Hopefully constant... depends on time and money :) The page 2 -> page 1 thing is because clicking 'next' on the most recent comic in the archives takes you to the strip page. Normally this is the same thing, but in this case it's not. I've done this before with PhoenixFeathers, when two strips went up at once but I wanted people to read the first one first, as it were - SunKitten
I on the other hand am foolhardy, and so will post my interpretation/guesses. A blond-haired person hides in an alleyway. Watching for someone or something, it seems, but scared of being found <her?>self. A cool and confident long-haired guy strides past, and... pauses? Glances to the side? Notices the fugitive? The tension builds, aaand... next strip we cut to a completely different scene.
Definitely notices the fugitive, I think. That's definitely a warding gesture by the blond, and I'd assume he's been spotted - unless the gesture causes some amount of distraction. --CH
I interpreted the warding gesture as "Yikes! A dark elf! Maybe this ward will keep him from hurting me." or something similar. --Edwin
No, I'm betting it has an actual effect of some kind. SunKitten very rarely does magical-looking things randomly. --CH
Not so sure. It looks more like a terrified attempt at a superstitious warding gesture to me too, but we shall see. BTW, SunKitten? I adore the UI but you might need to add some text or something to more clearly differentiate between next/last and prev/first. --K
I'm glad you like it :) PhoenixFeathers only had arrows, and Artifaxis has alt tags (which didn't show up in FireFox for some reason).. it's going to be redone a little soon, anyway, thanks to MoonShadow. It won't change much visibly, but the links will be better separated - SunKitten
On a different note: Oooooh, pretty watercolours! --AlexChurchill
people are gonna hate me, but i prefer black and white to colour, mainly as the colours on the pages seem too...bright on my screen. .... thats my only gribble,so please dont kill memacloud
Well, the printed version will be (mostly) greyscale.. :) - SunKitten
Can you have an A5 central page (or doesn't the binding allow this?) -- Senji
The comics are bound using a pair of staples in the bend in the middle of the A4 sheets they are made of ^^; so no, alas. - MoonShadow
Having not fully worked out how this printing stuff I'm probably going the wrong way with this but... pull-out poster? :) --K
Mmm :) Unfortunately I'm only short two pages (one side) so it'd have comic on the other side... - SunKitten (not a bad idea, though...)
About the colour printing problem - well, having artwork in the middle might be a good idea, but.. not unless there are scene breaks in the comic :( >_< Quite a dilemma.. Anyway, the actual comic is looking beautiful! I'm so glad I caught it at the beginning! It was tough having to read millions of pages to see PhoenixFeathers! ^^; Good job! --Denji
Must make little image for these links... - SunKitten Hehee! Indeed. In the meantime, I'd say that the fast-forward button on PhoenixFeathers strips should really go to the end of PF, unless there's some sense in which Artifaxis is a sequel (in the same universe). However, if that's massive amounts of work then I wouldn't think anyone's that bothered :) --AC (PeterTaylor) End of PF, but have a link at the bottom to take people to Artifaxis. PrincipleOfLeastSurprise?.
It's not clear to me that she has much choice in the matter, from what he said when he introduced himself. And I'm not keen on the newly blurred speech bubbles, but I am impressed by the colouring of the goldfish-bowl lamp, or rather, the things behind it, in frame 1. --AC
Yes, sorry - I realised on the way in what's causing it. The strip is much more complicated to arrange because of the gadgety doo-dahs, and resizing the comic image twice, which is effectively what I did, causes blurring like that where resizing once overall will not. I'll fix it tonight - SunKitten
*snigger* I can put off the paint drying... very droll. --FR
Indeed. I like her style. But why are the faces in the bottom two frames a different pink to the rest of the time? --AC
Because I'm still getting used to scanning markers... the top six panels and the bottom two are on separate pages, and while they're the same colour IRL, either the scan or the post-scan processing was probably different. I didn't notice it on my (admittedly overly bright) laptop screen. I'm not yet comfortable with the scan settings I'm using so they've changed a bit over the course of the first issue. Sorry ^^;; I have had scans where on one half the lab cupboard doors scanned in the green they're supposed to be and the other half - on the same piece of paper - ended up brown... - SunKitten
OK, sorted now. Even on half-brightness, they looked the same on my screen - I kept having to transfer them to the webserver just to view the changes >.< - SunKitten
Mmm, yes, that is better. The only problem now is some discontinuity of colours with previous strips, and you've already said there's going to be some of that for the first few strips while things settle down, which is kinda inevitable :) --AC
Yes, but the shadings in PhoenixFeathers also varied dramatically between strips - keeping things the same per strip is the most important, at least for now. I think the marker work improves a lot later on, but whether the scans show that is a different matter... ^^;; - SunKitten
Flowers or buildings, from those manga I have whose covers stick in my mind :) Or a dramatic scene or pose from the story. Or very often, effectively no background - just plain white, or some kind of abstract starburst graphic. In all cases, with low contrast so that the characters stand out. --AC
I think, in all honesty, that it's a little unfair to ask us this when we know sp little of what's actually happening. We might have a better idea when we have some idea of the actual plot... although I definitely don't mean to imply that it's moving too slowly. I think a little monument-sitting is called for... --FR
Sorry, I (deliberately) didn't make it clear. I was asking in general, with the intention of applying answers to LookingForTheSun. Artifaxis is a looong way from graphic novel status XD - SunKitten
She really shouldn't be asking that kind of question of a cat :) --K
You might need to watch out: the cogs in the top-left corner mostly obscures the label "later". Conceivably you could switch which ones are on top and which underneath; or just bear it in mind in the future. --AlexChurchill
Alternately, the 'later' is mostly superfluous. It's pretty much implied by her coming home and picking up her cat. --Vitenka (Still watching and wondering where this is going to go)
Yes, I did notice that. It's mainly there for the print comic - it's not necessary in webcomic format, and it's just about legible anyway. The first page has a similar box and that did have to be moved for the webcomic :) - SunKitten
... and what may not be obvious is that the start of this strip is not the start of a page in the printed comic; it's the second row down - SunKitten
Going to have to ask for clarification there - do the cogs not appear in the print version? --Vitenka
No. The page numbers are in little tiny cogs, but to make the big cogs work I'd need the framework, and that just gets too complicated, not to mention making the actual comic much smaller to fit onto the A5 page. I did think about putting the big cogs in but we decided not to - SunKitten
The cat in the bottom left hand frame is absoloutly perfect. So cute even though you can only see its back! -- Xarak
Yes. Again I forget to comment on the important things in life. You will surrender that cat immediately, and you may be unharmed. Eeeeeeeee! Kitty! --Vitenka
>am i selling myself and my principles for catfood?> well poeple have done it for much worse....macloud
Hmmm. One wonders in what way he is illegal. Is he a well known Fagin or something else? And the boy is clearly being locked away for having red eyes and a bad coat. :) --Vitenka (Bad coat! Down boy!)
In the sun. Interesting. The plot veers off in a seemingly normal direction. And I love the old style hats. --Vitenka
Indeed. Did anyone notice that both Rua and the kid he brought in had red eyes? Just a by-the-by... And in the final four frames, is that the character from the prologue seemingly evading Rua's attention? --AC
Sneaky. There was indeed a film of 'we were eleven' and it was very good and yes, it is somewhat reminiscent of Starship operators (though the latter doesn't have half as much creepy - or, I hope, internal murder) Did you ever find XenoSaga, by the way? --Vitenka
Yes. It was interesting but, like everything else, did not grab me. We'll probably watch some more, if we find it, when we get round to it. I did like the art style - SunKitten
Enough to supply a rugby team. About right. --Requiem ^_^
Unsubtle questioning deserves pain. Still a lot of drinking to do, there. --Vitenka
Thing is, he's probably not absolutely required to pay - Miriam is plainly being unreasonable, even if it's in retaliation to his being arsey. --CH
Mmm. Playing on a sense of honour. I get the feeling that any sensible waiter would question such a request, anyway. --Vitenka (Odd, we're discussing the trivia more than...)
Only if they're a rugby team of lightweights -- Senji
So, guesses as to how Lance knows? Did he order it stolen in the first place? It seems plausible he'd have keys given he's the one who got the funding council to leave her department open. I suspect it's way too early to guess what the artefact in question actually does, but one does wonder just what Lance's motives are. --AlexChurchill
Guess - heard about it via someone else letting it slip. He's just being arsey because he's like that and is clumsily trying to show interest, and mock. --Vitenka
Wai! Pretty, pretty picture of Saryth! If that's halfway through, I can't wait to see the final item... --CH
Ahh. Is there anything more petty than University politics? Re: Picture, my monitor at work is too dark - the hair band blends in with his shoulders. This makes it look like he's growing wings :) --Vitenka
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