Here’s another stab at this Webcomic thing. Click on image to see full comic (and click again if it can be zoomed further).
I had a thousand ideas for the second one all to be crammed in 6 panels. Then I realized that pacing can be different in a comic and that my many gags can become a full storyline! (I’m doomed… I’ll hear PM smirking from here tomorrow).
So now we see our yet unnamed pirate looking for his first job in Chatty’s gameroom. Where will that lead?
Includes a tribute to an old webcomic favorite.
I apologize for the crappy lightning, I disabled the flash to prevent giving the minis too much of a glint. I need to try John Arcadian’s cheap diffuse photo light.
So it seems I may do one or two a month if feedback is good. I’m no Shamus Young but these are fun to do! If it does become a regular bonus feature, I’ll probably create a webpage for them and link from the blog.
I’ll need to insert some webcomic tropes in there, no?
As always, constructive criticism is appreciated, the rest I can handle myself… 🙂
I’ve enjoyed what you’ve done so far and look forward to future installments. I had a few ideas myself about where you might take things. You could consider these either my own personal idle speculations or fodder for future strips.
Perhaps you could spend part of your time on what the minis are doing when no one is around, sort of like “Toy Story”. But about small, violent toys instead of bigger play-nice ones. What do they do? I think it would be awesome if some of them had their own D&D campaign — think of the effort it would take them to roll a d20! (As a aside on this one, I thought it would be pretty funny if the Colossal Dragon always secretly wanted to play a halfling thief. Kind of a the-grass-is-always-greener thing. He might also be secretly jealous of the orc and other mook minis because they get used so frequently while he gathers dust in most of the real campaign sessions.)
Also, some might not know they are minis, but think they really are adventurers trying to escape from the dungeon that is your gaming room. “Alright lads, if we can make it over the vat of acid (mountain dew in a glass), through the Maze of Hideous Death (piles of gaming books), and sneak past the guardian sphinx (cat), we just make it out alive!”
There might also be “factions” among the minis that each trying to recruit the new guys to their side. That could result in a huge battle among all of your minis at the end of the story arc.
One of them might get a hold of your credit card and access to internet in order to purchase some “suitable companionship”. “Have you ever tried looking for a mini of a female umberhulk?” “I thought you *were* a female!” etc.
Just some ideas I wanted to share. Please do keep up the good work and I can’t wait until the next installment.
Dave says: Pirates need pirate voice.
Scotticus: Thanks for the feedback and the ideas. Your’re right that the whole Toy Story vibe has potential (although I need not embrace ir completely). I like the idea with the collossal dragon and I need to work it in.
Dave: Thing is… are these character’s personalities defined by the type of minis they are? I seem to be going that way with the Reefer Hulk, but the Cloudreaver for me is still in the grey zone of a mini/method actor… Still, suggestion duly noted…
Your response is well-thought out and articulated.
However…
ARR ME MATEY!!!!
God love 8 bit theater :). I like the personalities you are giving the characters so far. It is kind of interesting to see a photo comic evolve from the first step. If you read drawn webcomics they start out with decent, yet unrefined drawings and characterizations. Every one of them starts like this (unless of course it is the artist’s second or third attempt, or they are a professional artist), and then evolves into more polished versions of themselves with more direction. It is the kind of evolutionary editing process that springs up in any self undertaken medium. You’ve got the same kind of equivalent here, minor framing issues, still exploring character’s personalities as they form, etc, but those kind of things can NEVER be avoided. II can’t wait to see how it progresses.
The kind of “cheat” that Shamus Young has with DM of the rings is that the framing and lighting are already done for him. He has to pick through and find the right picture to represent the scene he has in his mind, but doesn’t have to worry about taking the raw material and adding the polish. That is kind of generalized, but I’m sure it takes out one of the most grueling steps.
Dave: Check later in the forum I’ll have something for ya! 🙂
John: Thanks for the feedback and insights in the process… It is truly an unmorphed jumble of vague ideas, imprecise techniques and enthusiasm so far… Maybe too much as some friends of mine have offered to step in for some quality control 🙂
Stay tuned there will be another one!
There you go dear Dave as requested!
http://chattydm.net/forums/index.php/topic,156.0.html
LOL! Dave got served.
This one is, dare I say, even funnier then the original one…
Dare away dare away… work in progress here!
🙂
Ha, nice one.
My next game is definitely going to feature Canadian Drow 😛
Okay, I just snarfed coffee all over my monitor — at work! — over that Dave supplemental! Chatty, I think that one earned you enough XP that you are now at least 2nd level in your web comic creator prestige class.
Funny how a spur of the moment idea became the funniest one to date…
Well thanks for the bonus XPs! Woot level 2!!!