WEB SHOOTY THINGS!
on January 14, 2018 at 12:01 amThere are few things an artist anticipates more than seeing someone else take a crack at drawing his own characters, and so this strip in particular is Christmas Day for me. Lots of squealing and rolling around on the ground the day this page came in the email. On top of that, working with T on this storyline helped me solidify how Tony should be. I had some bare thread ideas on who he was about, now that he was undeadened, but T began writing him as this singular, focused, whiff-of-vengeance-obsessed spirit who would not rest until Head Alien is gone, and a lot of stuff began to click into place in future storylines. He’s a ghost, and he has unfinished business.
So here’s the first real rendering of It’s Walky characters by the Campbell/Waltrip team. Jason has a supremely adaptable style that was invaluable to Fans, though crossovers like this also benefited from an audience a lot friendlier to artistic experimentation than the last decade or so has seemed to be.
Dialogue-wise, if I put my insecurities on hold, I think I did a reasonably good job of encapsulating everybody into a line or two of dialogue each that clued the Fans reader into what they were all about.Joyce’s lines surprised me, but all the Squad members radiate immaturity in different ways, so somebody has to be the maturest, and Joyce did seem to be slipping into that role, if only to protect Walky (“I know you can do this,” etc.). That’s a contrast with her original character concept and a lot of her remaining surface mannerisms, which gives her some interesting layers at this point. That’s no surprise to you guys, I’m sure, but I was in a new position to appreciate it.The Columbia space shuttle disaster would’ve been just two months and change ago when this page was first published. Some might question the taste of invoking it in this story, but I think it’s a good way to contrast the mood in the air– Walky’s like, “Whee, mecha battle!”– with the anguish on the ground, and a reversal of the “It’s just like that show” joke mentioned earlier.
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I’m pretty sure the Columbia wasn’t fighting a spider-shaped alien spaceship though.
I mean, they’re not from the same reality as us, so who knows; for them, it might have been.
Maybe she’s talking about their Columbo series finale, which nobody else watched yet so they don’t want it spoiled.
Since Sal had an emotional breakdown, Joyce.
Somehow I have completely forgotten the Columbia explosion.
So I read the last panel and was baffled by what I thought was a Columbine reference. Which made being reminded it’s really an actual space shuttle disaster reference actually a step up in tastefulness levels from my brain’s fill-in.
Same here.
I think I conflated it with the Challenger.
Likewise. Now I’m flooded with memories of all the news stories about where they found *yet another* piece of the shuttle.
So Semme built the first Planet Express ship?
A much better punchline would have been that it resembled a reverse Galaga.
I like Walky’s dialogue here since it shows that Walky is the leader and knows what he’s doing, but also is the “doofus” of the group
So how is Squad 128 not being thrown from one side of the aircraft to the other? Because they are clearly not wearing seatbelts or harnesses. Are they just clenching to sofa cushions with the super strength in their rears?
Inertial dampeners. Yeah that’s it, inertial dampeners! When the ship gets hit everyone just rocks around a little at random while the camera shakes.
Originally Posted:
April 27, 2003
I’m not surprised T would come up with that idea for him, or at least help. Fans feels like an R-rated It’s Walky! In a lot of ways, and characterizations like that are a big contributor to that.
Not as a bad thing, I should stress. It handles being an R-rated It’s Walky! Very, very well.
Joyce, you became the mom the second Sal left.