The Escapist Radio Theater #1

[Remy Cambridge]

Trying not to be too mean. Art style is generic, safe and easy. I could have easily copy and pasted it out of any number of other webcomics(I'll leave the manga comments alone) You should try to to put yourself more into your art, even if people don't like it.

I'm not sure if I was expecting hilarity, but I'm hoping in the future this will be less luke warm.

Sorry if I came off mean. best of luck.

Oh that wasn't mean. I know mean. And that was too apologetic to be mean. But I would appreciate if you'd elaborate on some of your points. I'm more interested with engaging with criticism than I am with praise.

I believe I get where you're coming from, obviously not meaning "literally" copy and pasting the imagery and the backgrounds to create a similar feel. Let's face it, I draw in a way reminiscent of "manga" style and from the appearances it just might not appeal to you. I hope your judgement of my work doesn't stop at a gut reaction to "manga face" that seems like an unfair label to a whole world of comics that fall along that side of things. I deeply appreciate the artwork of cartoonists like Kricfalusi, Publick, and Tartarskovy or webcomic people like Krahulik, Nedroid, and KC Green. I'd be a fool not to. Just like I'd be remiss if I ignored the entire other half of the world of comics.

That said... I feel like I'm just about left of Avatar the Last Airbender and right of Teen Titans (sans the exceedingly goofy expressions) in the grand scale of cartoons versus manga. Unfortunately, this is still a little too far "east" than a lot of people are willing to see.

If that's not the argument, and we're to discuss technical matters, this would be a lesson better served in person if it were possible. Anatomy and structure are hard to point out over text, though red lines sometimes suffice. Aesthetically speaking is another matter.

That it's generic and safe and easy is a much messier argument. To me I feel like I can argue it'd have been safer if I'd gone with big expressions, lots of teeth, distorted proportions, bold outlines and the like. I often find that work beautiful, and expressive. But I myself as an artist and a writer love more laid back scenes. Enjoying the process of considering layered light and flow, atmospherics, along with actors who are not acting but standing like I think they would in a natural location. It's so rare for me to find a comic that attempts a laid back and luke warm sensibility, without placing a strong emphasis on solid visuals.

Not to toot my own horn, but I feel I work pretty hard at this stuff sometimes. I've chosen to handwrite all my own dialog. It leads to lots of mistakes in kerning and line spacing that come with the territory. But it matches my own voice better than any font I've seen so far available.

I don't mean to just dismiss your argument, but sometimes some choices in style and structure just can't please everyone. If it makes you feel a little more comfortable, I made a lot of style decisions deliberately and not just because it was easy. I can share a few examples of my work in different styles here.

[http://img517.imageshack.us/i/ripvanwinklyfinished.png/]

[http://img339.imageshack.us/i/pussinboots.png/]

[http://img156.imageshack.us/i/puntg.jpg/]

[http://img69.imageshack.us/i/memery.jpg/]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us [http://imageshack.us]

I'd love to continue this discussion further if you have the time. This hasn't been the first time I've had this talk, and it certainly won't be the last.

 

[Remy Cambridge]

read this 4 times...still can't find the joke

If it will make you feel any better, there isn't really a joke, per se.

 

[Remy Cambridge]

From what you've shown you've got a nice range in talent. Manga doesn't bother me I grew up with things like Guyver and Ranma 1/2 which are both forebearers of current manga and at the same time unique in artistic style to this day. I completely agree with your assessment of where your chosen style for this comic lays and that's what disappointments me. I do not claim some higher order of judgment on you for picking this style, but I do fear that you may get lost in the mix if you stick with it. I feel like sticking with this is going put you in a box for readership. It's clean, it looks good, there's nothing innately wrong with it, but that keeps it from being striking.

You don't have to stop using "Manga face", but that shouldn't stop you from adding some of your own personality into the style.

I'll drink to that.

I can't promise to do something I wouldn't draw, or anything I'd feel wouldn't be natural for the kinds of comic I'd like this to be. But I've never been a fan of staying stagnant either.

 

[Darzen]

read this 4 times...still can't find the joke

If it will make you feel any better, there isn't really a joke, per se.

wait isn't this supposed to be a "sunday funny"?it's seems to have missed something

 

[The Random One]

It's strange that I'm looking at a bunch of people ready to talk about videogames, one of them a tech-savvy girl wearing her hair over her eyes, and I'm not excited about this. Eh, it'll probably grow on me. Concept is solid and art is good, so I'll be watching this.

 

[Kajin]

Out of all the other funnies in this sunday lineup I think this one has the most potential to be something really good. I'm absolutely digging the art style and the characters already seem to be coming into their own as far as personality is concerned.

I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this.

 

[natural20]

This is super fun! I love the pencil-y art style, and it looks like the story is going to be great Looking forward to reading more!

 

[ThaBenMan]

Very nice artwork. But I must say, I'm not such a fan of the more "serious", narrative-driven comics like this one seems to be - I like 'em more silly and non-sequential. Although I did chuckle at the last panel.

 

[Remy Cambridge]

Very nice artwork. But I must say, I'm not such a fan of the more "serious", narrative-driven comics like this one seems to be - I like 'em more silly and non-sequential. Although I did chuckle at the last panel.

I'm not entirely sure how "sequential" each comic will be though the next one I'm pretty sure will be a sort of follow up. But I must express my love for silly and non-sequential comics as well. It's just, it's not exactly how I think as a writer and also there are about fifty million people who could do that stuff better than I can. Right now though, I don't exactly "want" to be pigeon holed into the "serious" web comic section but there are some ground rules I've set for myself that'll probably bite me in the ass later.


Anycase, time for another profile!

[http://img405.imageshack.us/i/rojprofilecopy.jpg/]
Uploaded with ImageShack.us [http://imageshack.us]

I constantly feel bad that it feels like Roj gets shafted in terms of screen time on the comics so far. She's often used more as setup, and quite a few times dialog meant for her gets moved over to other characters. Her role as a very opinionated "games as art" sort is one of the hardest character types to get across. Without being intentionally mean but fiercely confrontational over her convictions, means I've got a lot of work to do to become a smarter writer.

[http://img687.imageshack.us/i/rojconcepts.jpg/]
Uploaded with ImageShack.us [http://imageshack.us]

Roj was pretty much the second character along with Echo (the hair one) when the comic was originally envisioned closer along the lines of "Two Gamers on a Couch" trope. As the story morphed and grew around the idea of a radio show, she changed drastically from the meeker concept to the sharp antagonist of Sam's (the bearded one) general vision of "games as play." The two are often at odds on gaming and how best to evolve the art form, which hopefully will lead to interesting discussions on legitimate questions facing games in the future.

And as soon as I doodled her in Lightning's costume, I knew we had a cosplayer in the cast. Very early on was a conscious decision that this comic would never break realism to have the cast enter a video game world. At the same time, I knew I'd be missing out on a lot of potential stories and fun visuals. A happy compromise came in the form of introducing the notion of cosplay. (a currently unseen comic covers this ground, and I'll see about getting it to you guys in due time.)

 

[rddj623]

I definitely want to see where this comic goes! And I love that you're loading background info for us! As a film maker character background, though often not seen in the script itself, is highly important to the integrity of the project. I love seeing that part of the creative process

 

[Remy Cambridge]

Sooo... some of you guys following pretty closely may have noticed there were no Sunday Funnies today. But I was pretty sure the Escapist was clear about updates coming every other week. I know, I know, it's a long wait. Trust me, I can hardly wait either.

Anycase, some more concepts and profiles! Because I enjoy doing this.

[http://img203.imageshack.us/i/samprofile.jpg/]
Uploaded with ImageShack.us [http://imageshack.us]

Sam's the leader, the Red Ranger, the head honcho, and the dreamer. There's no doubt he's putting a significant amount of himself into this show, but it's not entirely established yet just how important the show is to him. He'd love it to be a serious destination for serious gamers, but all the same he's more likely than the rest to pine for time playing games rather than talking about games. A pro gamer if there ever was one, he enjoys the challenges and the successes in gaming as a form of personal achievement. And I suppose this is an odd thing to admit but I'll go on record saying he'd be easier to write if I didn't feel he and I differ on so many issues.

[http://img686.imageshack.us/i/samconcepts.jpg/]
Uploaded with ImageShack.us [http://imageshack.us]

Designing Sam was a relatively straightforward retrograde process. I felt he started off too handsome, so efforts were made to sabotage his handsomeness. At the same time, I had to keep myself from entering into generic neck beard territory. I felt that in the end I found a happy hairy medium. He was originally envisioned as a character who would be visually imposing, but as the writing tended to favor other characters, it was important to pull back his role. This may be one of the rare cases that an author argues for creating a more "boring" visual than could have been. Whether or not it will pay off is up to debate.

 

[BrotherRool]

I love the art so much

 

[Formica Archonis]

So... uh... don't know if this is the right place, but...

The other Sunday strips are up. Where's The Escapist Radio Theater #2?

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

Simply the best art style i've seen in a webcomic.

I'm certainly staying tuned to this.

 

[Coelasquid]

So... uh... don't know if this is the right place, but...

The other Sunday strips are up. Where's The Escapist Radio Theater #2?

I was just wondering the same thing.

 

[Remy Cambridge]

So... uh... don't know if this is the right place, but...

The other Sunday strips are up. Where's The Escapist Radio Theater #2?

I was just wondering the same thing.

Sitting on my hard drive.

I'm very sorry to say that I didn't finish the comic in time. Due mostly in part to a lack of time management on my part, and partly due to trying to figure out the scripting.

I decided to tackle a complicated issue, and found the argument intractable between two not so distinct but important viewpoints. This was a difficult subject to write around, and making it entertaining was even that much more difficult to pin down. So the comic also became rather long which in turn made the physical act of drawing take a long time.

Anycase, needless to say that I'm disappointed on my part. And I'd hope to get it to you guys sooner than later.

(note, this would make the second full strip that hasn't seen the light of day on this site.)

 

[Formica Archonis]

I decided to tackle a complicated issue, and found the argument intractable between two not so distinct but important viewpoints. This was a difficult subject to write around, and making it entertaining was even that much more difficult to pin down. So the comic also became rather long which in turn made the physical act of drawing take a long time.

Anycase, needless to say that I'm disappointed on my part. And I'd hope to get it to you guys sooner than later.

So, uh, no way to say this without sounding a bit abrasive, but you might want to scale back the grand designs a bit, at least until you've got A) the plot entirely set up, B) a cast that's more than a collection of names, and C) a much better feel for how long it takes to do X panels. Yeah, viewpoints and character development are important, but if there's going to be a big involved conflict you might want to let it simmer for a few comics. Strip #2 ain't the place for a brave experiment because the comic itself is still a brave experiment.

(note, this would make the second full strip that hasn't seen the light of day on this site.)

Second?

 

[RoyalWelsh]

I like this comic and i'm looking foward to more. Nice artwork, wish I could draw as good as you.

[small]Wish I could Draw.[/small]

 

[Remy Cambridge]

So, uh, no way to say this without sounding a bit abrasive, but you might want to scale back the grand designs a bit, at least until you've got A) the plot entirely set up, B) a cast that's more than a collection of names, and C) a much better feel for how long it takes to do X panels. Yeah, viewpoints and character development are important, but if there's going to be a big involved conflict you might want to let it simmer for a few comics. Strip #2 ain't the place for a brave experiment because the comic itself is still a brave experiment.

Second?

Well noted and lesson learned. Don't worry, I'm not done beating myself up over it yet. Oddly enough, my complaints about time are undercut when you take into the fact that we're around bout twice a month. Which gave me significant impetus to try and get the most out of a single comic.

And yeah, it's a second. Again, I'm looking forward to people seeing them. Me and the other Sunday Funnies folk have put something like seven strips out there. And having more to look up for new readers, should help build a much better sense of what we've all been doing.