Murphy's Law 4 (4 Times The Mayhem!)

[Qwertystop]

Intentional or not, the A-Z thing is a great detail. (And makes me wonder what Zz'dtri is atoning for in Rich's comic.)

Zz'dtri = drizzt its an anagram

I know. But now I'm equally convinced that there was a Dark Elf named Aa'wgir, who is hiding waaaaaay at the opposite end of the alphabet to atone for his past sins.

(He probably talked too loud in a library.)

I'm sigging this!

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i_O_Oi_
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(Thats a smily madde of smilys (and text)

Also, Great Comic! I've been lurking for a while, but this was the one bit that pushed me to posting (The Lloyd thing, not the thing I'm sigging).

[Ranielle]

Oh exploitable

[CoffeeIncluded]

I'm sigging this!

_
i_O_Oi_
__\_/ _
_
(Thats a smily madde of smilys (and text)

Also, Great Comic! I've been lurking for a while, but this was the one bit that pushed me to posting (The Lloyd thing, not the thing I'm sigging).

Haha, thanks!

[Allan Surgite]

Well, well, well. I wasn't terribly surprised, but I did think that Lloyd would avoid revealing this for a little while longer.

[mucat]

Probably. So, I really wanna know what you think of this.

Well, it's hard to know what to think yet...except that I can't wait for #92! This strip is clearly the prelude to some huge upcoming revelations, but many of the things it tells us directly, we already knew. It was clear that Lloyd was ashamed of his past, and the way he now goes out of his way to study other religions and to preach tolerance suggest that his past crimes came because he didn't act this way before.

We didn't know he was a Paladin of Kago, but it fits the foreshadowing well. Their reputation for single-minded intolerance fits what we could guess about Lloyd's past...and since they believe that what they do is right, it confirms Lloyd was never knowingly evil. I can't imagine him doing evil intentionally, no matter how ignorant he used to be.


Still, the big revelations and possible surprises will be in the next strip (or the next few!) So the things that grabbed me most about this one are the little details. In no particular order...

I'm pretty sure Lloyd wronged this Drow woman personally, rather than just being a well-known villain who she recognizes. Lloyd's wide-eyed horror when he sees her seems less like "Crap! It's a Drow! Will she recognize me?" and more like "Crap! It's her!"

I'm curious about Matt grabbing the Drow's shoulders in Panel 4. Is he capturing her to stop her from fleeing, or steadying her to calm her down? It looks more like the latter. If so, that's a nice piece of character growth: Matt is being nice to a Plavaan stranger.

I always like watching Fir's and Remic's expressions to see what surprises the animals and what doesn't. Here, Fir makes freaked-out eyes at exactly the same points that Serrin does. So Fir also wasn't expecting the Drow's panic or Lloyd's confession. (As opposed to #86, where Serrin randomly leaping into the air and catapulting Fir skyward from her head didn't appear to surprise the cat at all, or #90 where Serrin is freaking out and shooting wind gusts at people while Fir seems to think, "Yeah. She does that.")


One small art detail I thought I would mention for your consideration. The haft of Lloyd's halberd that usually hangs alongside his leg can be distracting; it either looks like he's wearing a splint on that leg, or like there's a diagonal gap in the wall behind him, with some earth and some blue sky visible through it. Do you think it might work just as well to have the blade of the halberd visible over his shoulder as usual, but have the haft disappear into hammerspace instead of paralleling his leg?


Even though I usually try to be the voice of reason and say "Don't work so hard, Coffee...we can wait for the next comic"...right now I'm thinking that Friday can't come soon enough!

[Marnath]

I think it would look weird if his halberd didn't stick past his back.

[Tulio d Bard]

Y'know, tenterhooks doesn't actually mean anything dirty. Unless Lix has posted a personalised version of the definition somewhere, and rigged google to always show it first.

I didn't think so. But seeing that it was Lix who posted, it's not safe to assume...
'Tenterhooks' does have 'tent' and 'hook' in it, as pointed out by the post that brought my (and possibly Lix') comment.

Hmm. Pacing felt a bit quick to me (it seemed there should have been more of a delay between Serrin defending Lloyd and Tinder asking if he was hiding something) but it's not enough to be a problem. Dramatic reveal of a dark past (and name change) is good.

Tinder was already curious about that subject (Lloyd's past), so I believe he would take the first chance he had.

Inevitable flashback showing Lloyd doing Bad Things (TM) makes my inner evil fangirl cackle with glee.

I just thought: if something happens and Lloyd's explanation gets delayed, it would give me a heart attack!

[CoffeeIncluded]

Thanks for the commentaries, guys! And yeah, Friday can't come soon enough.

[Mystic Muse]

I'm personally waititng for Saturday. No school, all the comics I read are updated, and my family's halloween reunion party is that day.

Avoiding the Football game like the plague though. My one cousin got a broken jaw from it.

[Marnath]

My favorite thing to do on the day of the big game is go somewhere where people are really into it, and when they ask me about it/what team I'm rooting for/etc., i ask all innocent" There's a game today? O.o" and watch their jaws hit the floor as they stutter in shock. It's funny how many people take it as a personal affront that I could not know about something so important! Hehehe ^.^

So, what about my theory?

[Mystic Muse]

Kind of hard to pretend the game doesn't exist. The only players are my cousins and it happens semi annually.

I'm allowed to just not play though.

[CoffeeIncluded]

So, what about my theory?

I'm sorry, what was your theory again?

And yeah, Matt was trying to calm her down. He's getting better.

[Mystic Muse]

Okay, no more off topicness.

Can't wait for the next comic.

[Marnath]

Just had a thought: Is Lloyd's comment about "burning books leads to burning people" from personal experience? That suddenly seems likely to me.

This is what I theorized. Any merit to it?

[CoffeeIncluded]

This is what I theorized. Any merit to it?

Geez, hold your horses! Everything will be clear in time.

[Marnath]

Geez, hold your horses! Everything will be clear in time.

I sowwy. Just an innocent question, not trying to rush you.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Sorry, Marnath. I didn't mean that to be rude.

On a random note, here's a random factoid about Tobeem culture: Parents don't name their children until their first birthday. This is because the infant mortality rate, especially in the really cold places in Tobeem, is really high (Around 25-30%), and they don't want to name the kids until they have a higher chance of surviving.

Also, Matt's full name is Matthew Reed Silver.

[Marnath]

That's a really high mortality rate.
The ugly side of medieval stasis I guess.

[RdMarquis]

I really shouldn't go so long without checking back on this thread. I almost missed the update. Anyways, nicely done. This was a cool way to bring Lloyd's secrets to the surface, and giving him an assumed name was a good touch.

[Zefir]

This Comic is really good. You have good chars and a good story.
It only makes me sad to say that I can hardly follow the comments here whith also include story relevant informations. For me I allways see 2 new pages every time I take a look^^.

That lead me to the question do you sum all the information you give out here in the first post?

[Allan Surgite]

^ What he said. It might be worth compiling little trivia, either by mentioning it in-comic (e.g. "Oh, have you heard? The death rate in Tobeem's gone up to 28% in the winter just gone..." said by some background characters eating dinner or something.) or putting it in the first post. I'm deliberately trying not to read your posts, simply so I can try and understand the comic without needing to be clarified on minor issues.

[Asta Kask]

I'm sorry, what was your theory again?

And yeah, Matt was trying to calm her down. He's getting better.

I thought he was copping a feel.

[blackjack217]

I thought he was copping a feel.

[Marnath]

I thought he was copping a feel.

Well then he's doing it wrong, as those are her shoulders.

[CoffeeIncluded]

^ What he said. It might be worth compiling little trivia, either by mentioning it in-comic (e.g. "Oh, have you heard? The death rate in Tobeem's gone up to 28% in the winter just gone..." said by some background characters eating dinner or something.) or putting it in the first post. I'm deliberately trying not to read your posts, simply so I can try and understand the comic without needing to be clarified on minor issues.

Actually, by putting it down here and thinking about it I figured out how to put it in.

I really need to make a notebook of all this stuff.

I thought he was copping a feel.

No, he wasn't.

[Symmys]

Attack of the fanart!
Yeah, I got bored in math class, so I drew Serrin.

Spoiler

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I think I like the first one better.

[Silverraptor]

Attack of the fanart!
Yeah, I got bored in math class, so I drew Serrin.

Spoiler

Show

I think I like the first one better.

*Happy School Girl Scream*

...What? I helped make Serrin and thought I'd do the scream for Coffee.

[Marnath]

Fir is adorable, it looks like she's nomming on Serrin's hair.

[CWater]

Attack of the fanart!
Yeah, I got bored in math class, so I drew Serrin.

Spoiler

Show

*snip*

I think I like the first one better.

Aww, that is so cute!

[CoffeeIncluded]

Eee! Yeah, the first one's better (It's the smile...), but that's pretty much how I see her, with a big grin on her face! (Except Serrin wears sandals, but whatever. )