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Robot, why were you scrapped in the first place? Insurrection against the Court and the Wood, you say?
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Jun 27, 2011 09:49
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An insane robot cult, awesome yet ominous!
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Jun 27, 2011 10:45
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Robot, this is not a very good way to get a date.
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Jun 27, 2011 10:47
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Seriously, Robot is getting really creepy. It's a bit jarring, since we haven't seen him like this before. I wonder what changed over the summer. Referring to her as an angel is one thing, evangelizing is weird.
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Jun 27, 2011 12:22
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So Kat is basically Robot God now. Creepy. EDIT: I've had the thought that Kat and Annie were being set up as modern-day parallels of Diego and Jeanne in terms of where their "heart" was at (Annie clearly has her roots in the forest, Kat is all tech), and this kind of seems to back it up. But in a really creepy, "Robot what are you even doing" sort of way.
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Jun 27, 2011 13:13
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Man, that last panel. So bloody effective.Bonster posted:It's a bit jarring, since we haven't seen him like this before. I wonder what changed over the summer. Referring to her as an angel is one thing, evangelizing is weird. Let's make a small list: * Robot is dead and brought back to life by Kat * First thing he says is "an angel" * Then he sees her studying the old stuff and fixing the robot population * The reader begins to see that ALL robots are now in awe of Kat * Then she makes an entire new body for our Robot here * Which brings us to the present where she actually revived one of the old ones in front of Robot It's a progression. His fascination with her is just growing to the point where he can't distinguish trivial from myth any longer and falling into fanaticism. Well done, Tom.
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Jun 27, 2011 14:04
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I was not very pleased with this chapter. Back when I was writing it, it just seemed off, even though it contained events that are important to the rest of the comic. Towards the end I was just wanting to get it finished and ended up making it shorter than it was originally planned. Judging by reader reaction, people did not find it too interesting, as I guessed. I love writing about the robots, and Kat discovering about them, but it doesn't provide visually interesting imagery for the reader.
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Jun 27, 2011 16:06
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It felt like it was all setup with little payoff at the end, if it makes any sense. Very little got explained besides the tomb, then the robot goes 'Welp, time to die.'
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Jun 27, 2011 16:22
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Tea-san posted:I was not very pleased with this chapter. Back when I was writing it, it just seemed off, even though it contained events that are important to the rest of the comic. Towards the end I was just wanting to get it finished and ended up making it shorter than it was originally planned. Judging by reader reaction, people did not find it too interesting, as I guessed. I think you had some really great individual pages in there, they just didn't hang together as well as usual. The successive pages with the dancing robots and the dead robots, for instance, were interesting both from a visual standpoint and from a story standpoint. And the last page was pretty effective, as people have just said a few times in this thread. Personally, I think you would have been right to make it longer - you'd have had more breathing room to have other things going on amidst the exposition. But if it wasn't working for you, better to get it over with and move on. Not every chapter is going to be Sky Watcher and the Angel.
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Jun 27, 2011 16:45
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SynthOrange posted:It felt like it was all setup with little payoff at the end, if it makes any sense. Very little got explained besides the tomb, then the robot goes 'Welp, time to die.' I agree, it just ended... a few more pages of resolution would have helped make the set up seem more worth it.
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Jun 27, 2011 18:54
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SynthOrange posted:It felt like it was all setup with little payoff at the end, if it makes any sense. Very little got explained besides the tomb, then the robot goes 'Welp, time to die.' And everything that he'd seen was lost like tears in the rain. I agree though, I get you couldn't have the robot sit down for a Q&A and give everything away, but the ending was just, really rushed. The set-up was really wonderful though. So other than creating a creepy cult, what exactly is Jeanne's painting reprogramming the robots to do. 
wyoming fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Jun 27, 2011 |
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Jun 27, 2011 19:03
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Tea-san posted:I love writing about the robots, and Kat discovering about them, but it doesn't provide visually interesting imagery for the reader. At the very least, I liked how self-aware the entire thing was. "Microscopes now. Will the fun never end, this chapter?"
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Jun 27, 2011 19:14
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Boxman posted:"Microscopes now. Will the fun never end, this chapter?" "She wants to thank him for the free door"
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Jun 27, 2011 19:48
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I thought it was plenty interesting; someone put it best in the thread, "Put your stone away Annie, this chapter is about robots." The old robot interacting with the new was pretty neat and it was fun to watch the hoodie robot perform a take-down. The only jarring element was the time-to-die moment. Plus the chapter lent itself to the best below-page comment ever. Free door!
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Jun 27, 2011 19:49
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Tea-san posted:I was not very pleased with this chapter. Back when I was writing it, it just seemed off, even though it contained events that are important to the rest of the comic. Towards the end I was just wanting to get it finished and ended up making it shorter than it was originally planned. Judging by reader reaction, people did not find it too interesting, as I guessed. I liked the set up for events to come but reading through this made me feel uneasy about Robot though and worried for Kat. Like watching a stalker tracking it's victim. Maybe this was your intent.
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Jun 27, 2011 19:51
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I liked the chapter, but it would have been better with more variation between the background robots. Just having fat-bot and creepy-bot around helped some, though. I really like the way the characters in this comic are so expressive, but the crowd of samey background robots seemed to play against that strength.
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Jun 27, 2011 20:42
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There was also one specific robot that I think we all noticed a distinct lack of...
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Jun 27, 2011 22:13
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Dodgeball posted:There was also one specific robot that I think we all noticed a distinct lack of... Grasshopper weatherbot. 
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Jun 27, 2011 22:26
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McGravin posted:Grasshopper weatherbot. I also would have accepted "Jones."
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Jun 27, 2011 22:50
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But what about Robox?!
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Jun 27, 2011 23:04
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Detetsu posted:But what about Robox?! Robox exists in our hearts. We are never without him.
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Jun 27, 2011 23:33
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Ape Has Killed Ape posted:Robox exists in our hearts. We are never without him. Boxbot, however, exists within our livers. This is why there is alcohol.
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Jun 28, 2011 02:47
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Tea-san posted:I was not very pleased with this chapter. Back when I was writing it, it just seemed off, even though it contained events that are important to the rest of the comic. Towards the end I was just wanting to get it finished and ended up making it shorter than it was originally planned. Judging by reader reaction, people did not find it too interesting, as I guessed. Eh, I love the robots and hearing about them. I don't think there was any problem with the content of this chapter; the pacing was just a bit off, stretching too long in the middle and then far too fast at the end. That and the final payoff after activating the old bot was a severe letdown given the amount of mystery set up in the comic about the early court and how much he could have answered. It was kinda like when you're watching Lost and want to shake the characters for not asking obvious goddamn questions when they have the chance. MikeJF fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Jun 28, 2011 |
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Jun 28, 2011 03:54
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I liked everything in and about this chapter. I was perfectly content with it. But then, seeing as you haven't flaked out on writing Gunnerkrigg in any way, shape or form, I am confident you'll eventually finish the story and draw the conclusion as you want to see it. Long-term storycrafting is hard, especially long-term episodic storycrafting. Sometimes you have to leave people in the dark, so that the payoff is that much sweeter. Now get to some of the fukkin' payoff. <  >
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Jun 28, 2011 06:23
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rotinaj posted:Now get to some of the fukkin' payoff. < Two more years...
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Jun 28, 2011 06:26
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While I always try to improve my art, I also really want to improve my writing. It's my standard excuse, but I only have a limited time to work on the comic, and I wish I could spend a lot longer on all aspects of it. As long as the comic remains nothing more than a side hobby, I'm always going to be aware that it just isn't as good as it could be. Anyone looking for a professional story edited to perfection will not be finding it here, I'm sorry to say.
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Jun 28, 2011 09:21
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Tea-san posted:While I always try to improve my art, I also really want to improve my writing. It's my standard excuse, but I only have a limited time to work on the comic, and I wish I could spend a lot longer on all aspects of it. As long as the comic remains nothing more than a side hobby, I'm always going to be aware that it just isn't as good as it could be. Believe me, you have the plotting and pacing and editing down ten times as well as any number of professional stories I could name. We nitpick because we love but any complaints are minor at worst; you don't see any of us not eagerly checking three times a week.
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Jun 28, 2011 09:36
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Tea-san posted:While I always try to improve my art, I also really want to improve my writing. It's my standard excuse, but I only have a limited time to work on the comic, and I wish I could spend a lot longer on all aspects of it. As long as the comic remains nothing more than a side hobby, I'm always going to be aware that it just isn't as good as it could be. If you ever feel bad about the quality you lose due to not working on it full-time, just take a look at Dresden Codak, written "full-time" by Aaron Diaz, and you'll feel better.
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Jun 28, 2011 09:48
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Tea-san posted:As long as the comic remains nothing more than a side hobby, I'm always going to be aware that it just isn't as good as it could be. If anyone deserves to be so, it's you.
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Jun 28, 2011 10:47
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MikeJF posted:Believe me, you have the plotting and pacing and editing down ten times as well as any number of professional stories I could name. We nitpick because we love but any complaints are minor at worst; you don't see any of us not eagerly checking three times a week. Seriously Tea-san. Monday, Wednesday and Friday my routine is clear: get into work, open Chrome, click address bar, type G, boom. This is a drat good story with the odd weak chapter - so what 
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Jun 28, 2011 13:36
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Seriously dude, you're like a comic machine, I can't think of many other comics that look so consistently good and also update like clockwork. You haven't missed an update in like... well ever. If you don't mind me asking, what is your day job, anyway?
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Jun 28, 2011 13:51
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Tea-san posted:While I always try to improve my art, I also really want to improve my writing. It's my standard excuse, but I only have a limited time to work on the comic, and I wish I could spend a lot longer on all aspects of it. As long as the comic remains nothing more than a side hobby, I'm always going to be aware that it just isn't as good as it could be. You're doing great on the comic nonetheless. You actually put out comics on a consistent basis. Your art and story are compelling and your characters garner interests from the readers. A story doesn't need to be perfect to be appreciated. I just hope your new publisher gives you a bigger cut on your books.
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Jun 28, 2011 14:35
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Tea-san posted:While I always try to improve my art, I also really want to improve my writing. It's my standard excuse, but I only have a limited time to work on the comic, and I wish I could spend a lot longer on all aspects of it. As long as the comic remains nothing more than a side hobby, I'm always going to be aware that it just isn't as good as it could be. Nine out of ten of your tweets are a variation of "finished x amount of pages". You are seriously a machine and am honestly surprised to find out you don't dedicate all your time to GC.
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Jun 28, 2011 15:13
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Tom, Penny Arcade is done by two fairly competent guys as their day job and it updates with a smaller comic that requires less plotting and frequently less complex art on exactly the same schedule as yours. And for better or worse they're basically in the top tier in the webcomics world - a lot of other comics update less frequently, or less reliably, or with smaller pages, or aren't as good. Obviously your comic could be better. Virtually anything could be better than it is right now. Even if it were your full-time job, there'd always be something that would make things improve just that tiny bit if you could get it... you know, if you just had this new tablet, or if you had a month off to practice, or if you tried a different coloring technique, or etc etc. That's just how it goes in the creative world. I hope you'll pardon me for saying so, but when you talk outside your comic you always seem to be a glass-half-empty kind of guy. You shouldn't always focus on how things could be better - at some point you should look at the things you have done and realize what you got right. I mean, somewhere around the time when you have Neil Gaiman telling everyone to read your comic, you have to realize you've got something going on there. I'm not saying it wouldn't be great if you did your comic full-time, because it would be; if nothing else, it seems like you'd be happier, and considering the amount of happiness you've dished out to the rest of the world for free in bite-size installments, I think you deserve it. Just... please, try not to be so hard on yourself about what you actually have accomplished so far.
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Jun 28, 2011 16:11
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I forget the name of it, but there's basically a law out there that says the more competent you are at something, the better you are at seeing what needs to be improved, and the harder you are on yourself for it.
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Jun 28, 2011 16:55
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A little self-doubt and a realistic sense of ways you could do things better is a healthy thing, as long as you also allow yourself to be satisfied with what you do right. I think this repeats what some people have already said but I like hearing the sound of my own voice. For what it's worth, I can only think of a small handful of artists/authors that can match GC's quality (in both art and writing) and quantity (in both frequency/regularity of updates and duration) in the entire universe. You have every right to be proud as hell of the work you do (though I understand if it makes you feel kind of gross to say so publicly)
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Jun 28, 2011 17:16
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Fucknag posted:I forget the name of it, but there's basically a law out there that says the more competent you are at something, the better you are at seeing what needs to be improved, and the harder you are on yourself for it. Yup, the Dunning-Kruger effect.
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Jun 28, 2011 17:49
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Can we run a kickstarter campaign to buy Tom a Nice Cup of Tea? I don't know how the comforting beverage market is down south, but I estimate that £1.20 would be a realistic goal. If we made it up to £1.70 maybe he could get a biscuit too! Realtalk: I suspect your discomfort with the writing of that chapter communicated to the audience, plain and simple. The robots and the shady history of the court have both been popular/interesting focuses for the plot before, and we were ready for a bit of Kat time after Annie's summer, so it's not like it was intrinsically dull subject matter. Funny that you feel robot chapters limit visual interest, too, because a lot of my favourite imagery from the comic comes from the way you work with the tension between the court's very human elements and its industrial appearance. Just got to try not to let your anxieties have a bigger say than your imagination in the way your story comes out. [/amateur opinion]
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Jun 28, 2011 18:07
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The Dunning-Kruger effect primarily deals with those who are incompetent vastly overestimating their skill level, but it does have a corollary that states the inverse, which is pretty much exactly what we're talking about: those with a great deal of skill tend to underestimate and undervalue their skill level. The DK effect describes a lot of webcomic authors, really. Especially those who are really bad but seem to believe their comic is actually a perfect gem. However, Tom is genuinely skilled. I actually really hate it when he is so self-deprecating, which is pretty much always.
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Jun 28, 2011 18:12
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Tom you're genuinely awesome, please don't be so hard on yourself.
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Jun 28, 2011 20:51
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