Page Commentary No. 262 (Patreon)

Gunwild: Okay, so, the reason this is bit good is Psu, naturally. It mostly wasn't my idea. But I'd like to think I helped a lot in the execution, and we didn't betray the premise of Zeke being a cyborg that I'd set out before. Also we showed he's empathetic. 

Brellom: As an aside: I didn't work on this page, but I did do a bit of work on the chapter. It's interesting to point out how unique this page looks because Psu wanted a new process so they could produce pages much more quickly... And then we immediately went back to our usual, time-consuming work process a page later.

Psu: YUP.

Gunwild: It looks really nice though...

Psu: Well... I like to think most of the work here went into figuring out how this story was gonna work. I'm not quite sure when I had the idea but I knew that with Zeke out of commission it was also an opportunity to dig into their past a bit more. Like... we've spent a few years with them now and we hadn't really explored where Zeke comes from or why he hangs with Cassiopeia. I think we were hesitant about it, even during the writing of this story because there are a lot of things that are better left unexplained. But then I think I was able to sell Gunwild on doing a Westworld spoof, even though he likes Westworld more than I do. I think... The HBO show I mean, the original Westworld movie kinda rocks.

Gunwild: I would say you could have a good time watching either! But y'know, there's some deeply sad stuff in MOST HBO Originals, even Babar. I had to get a reassurance from Psu that this could end with friendship and ice cream. That way I was able to write it as sadly as I wanted without getting sad myself.

Psu: I hadn't figured it out to that part yet! At least I think... gosh. It's been a while and I'm trying to remember the process. But I think I had this page and the next written in my head like... instantly. Figuring out the rest was important to selling it to my fellow creator here. And that part came a little less naturally but I think we got to a place that works really well. We just needed to make sure that we didn't introduce a race of poor theme park androids just so they could suffer in darkness. That's just not the Cassiopeia Quinn way.

Gunwild: Yeah, there are morally gray things in our tale - Cassiopeia is a thieving criminal, but is she someone who should be arrested and imprisoned? That kinda stuff. But we definitely come down on the side of "Okay, if you created an intelligent being capable of learning, it should get some chance for self-determination." That's a stand we as creators could take against theme park corps or controlling parents alike.

Brellom: Yes stealing is bad.

Psu: We'll probably get to talk about it on the next page, but the character of Ezekiel and his lines were really important to humanizing the park. And then giving Zeke a kind of a mission to make something more out of his life. We had some ideas about what his origin story is, and we hint at that in the next page too. But for this moment it was enough that he was really dissatisfied. And the tourists were too. Like... just how interested would aliens be in visiting a theme park based on the 1800's American west? It wouldn't even be that authentic! I bet there's still So2Da stands inside that Saloon.

Gunwild: Maybe they have locations closer to Earth that work a little better. But, you know, Red Dead Redemption II and Ghost of Tsushima and, let's face it, Epcot... aren't really about the authentic experience of a time or place. It's more like interacting with a movie or something.

Psu: I suppose it like a reverse Star Wars theme park. Except you can shoot the stormtroopers here.

Gunwild: I bet Westerns will persist as a genre for a long time just because of their importance in the first century of filmmaking.

Psu: Well, the story of a lone man driven to the edge of the law and honor on the wild frontier has a lot of legs. Especially ones where they meet leggy dames.

Brellom: Also being a cool dude wearing a cowboy hat and a duster is cool and timeless. 

Gunwild: Most importantly, the sets are cheap! A dusty shack? We can set that up no problem. Lumber's easy to come by. And dust is free! 

Psu: You know who'd look good on an old west set with a cowboy hat and a duster? Josh Hartnett. Gosh that guy has a handsome face. This might not be the first time I mention this in one of these commentaries but the only actual "fancast" I have for this comic is that I want Josh Hartnett to play Zeke's voice actor. His voice is just so somber and rugged at the same time. I think that actually affected the way this chapter got written. It affected how I drew his "face" at the least.

Brellom: He visits the Old West in season 3 of Penny Dreadful. Don't remember if he wears a cowboy hat and a duster, but he was playin' a cowboy character.

Gunwild: 🤠

Brellom: yeehaw

Psu: Yippiekiyay.