Page Commentary No. 61 (Patreon)

Gunwild: So, it's always irritating in a sci-fi or fantasy setting where lots of new concepts are introduced all of a sudden to make the story work without them really being explained to the audience. We're all familiar with someone using vaguely-defined technology at the last second to save the day. I think this page visually introduces a lot of world-building type concepts about how Vanaa do things, but you don't need lots of understanding of any one thing to understand what's going on. They're having a meal and talking about the events of the previous story.

Psu: I think it clearly helps that the setting still looks like what we think of a restaurant. They're at a table, there's plates of stuff. There are other patrons. There's a tv on in the background where a Vanaa appears to be wielding some kind of blade which isn't very scary to a Vanaa... there's one reader comment I remember reading that brought up how I felt I would miss the Vanaa. I honestly really didn't think we'd revisit them so soon. And it's the first full page that features ONLY Gleb's crew! I know if we did a whole comic about them, they might outlive their welcome but I think we gave them each enough distinctive characteristics that they feel like they could support their own Saturday morning cartoon. 

Gunwild: I fully admit that it's a luxury of the format that we can get away with leaving our sometimes-present second-stringers as enjoyable character sketches.

Psu: We have so many second stringers! Anyway, I really love the coloring of this page. I felt a bit sure that I could do the coloring fast since Vanaa are "simple" character but honestly it took as much work as they always do.

Psu: A big part of it was just inventing new things. Getting the Jelly Spheres to look tasty AND weird was a nice creative challenge. It's hard to describe exactly what they do but think of the Jelly Sphere as a way of extracting or encapsulating the full flavor of whatever object is inside into a form that's pleasantly digestible for Vanaa. So they could get away with lots of different types of organic matter. Everything from bugs to flowers to weird watermelons.

Gunwild: I feel like it's rude for that fightin' Vanaa commando back there to bring his weapon to the table, but maybe he's just a security guard on a coffee break type deal. 

Psu: Some Vanaa are rude! Anyway it was important to reinforce that they are a warlike species! I thought about putting some of those hints into this page, but as I was drawing it in my mind this place was actually a conquered outpost. It doesn't really come up in the series but you could theoretically tell the difference between a conquered base and one that the Vanaa built for themselves. Check if the staircases were made for legs or for sliding!