Comic Report #120 - From Humble Origins (Patreon)

It's not often that one of these posts ends up being the thumbnail phase of a comic, but this was a short week and this is about where I'm at in the process, so we'll work with what's on hand.  I'd mentioned on the Tuesday post that I'd be working on gamedev tasks Wednesday and Thursday, and what that ended up being was finalizing boss animations and boss stage art assets for Kitsune Tails, which I wish I could share here, but it's NDA and I don't want to get in trouble.  So instead, let's look at the origins of a page layout, at the very earliest stage.

Part of the joke of this scene is it's a continuation of the two other times Lizzie and Alice are woken up by someone knocking on their doors- the first time being Chantelle, the second being Molly Leung's delivery girl.  I'd like to capstone the joke with one more instance before the comic reaches its conclusion, so that would be set up in this week's page, with someone tapping at the glass outside their window.  Alice wakes up, looks to the window, and is nervous about this sudden confrontation.

Ever since the beginning of the comic Alice has had a bit of anxiety about unwelcome intrusions and she finds comfort in having someone trusted by her side, which is why she kept waking Lizzie up to go answer the door when a stranger comes knocking.  She's not the brave and mighty warrior, she's antsy about unknowns and other people, but she knows Lizzie is good at confronting strangers, so they have a fun synergy to them.  Thus we set up the opening of this page.

Long-time readers of the comic would probably pick up on the rhythm- Alice has to wake Lizzie up, she pauses to think and has an idea-look in her eyes.  In the third row of panels Lizzie's laying with her ear up and Alice is moving her hand close, but in the second of that row it's shown that Alice is turning Lizzie's chin, so that in the end of the row she can give her a kiss!  Awwh!  Instead of the gross surprise it's a nice surprise, subverting expectations.  The last row of panels continues with Lizzie lifting up into the kiss, like she's waking up in reciprocating, and then she gives Alice a groggy but heartful "morning", to which Alice replies with a worried "someone's outside".  It's a nice surprise, but it's still the same setup as the other two times this has happened.  

So that's where I'm at right now.  I still want to put time into gamedev tasks but I have my comic layout all planned out for this next cycle, I just need to pencil, ink and paint it in.  Next week might be a combination comic and gamedev update, I think I have the bandwidth to work on both at once this week with some other tasks off my plate.  Please look forward to the continuation of this storyline scene.  Until next time, have a nice weekend!