(I’m going to have to shade the comic later. I dallied a bit too long, and I need to get to sleep.)
Aaaaand this closes the arc. The next few sets are going to be a bit different from the norm for a very important reason.
As a few readers have noticed, time has moved at an absolute CRAWL in the comic’s canon. Aside from a time skip of about four months during the initial story arc, the entire comic so far has taken place in about three, almost four, weeks. Selkie was adopted mid-August, then the school year started, and the last three arcs (first day of school/shirt incident, visit to grandparents, and the dinner with the Fairweathers) have taken place in the same WEEK.
It’s time for summer to end. I’m not going to do anything drastic like skipping to the end of the school year or anything, but I’ve been stuck in mid-to-late August for too long. Time needs to advance, at least into autumn.
So, to advance time a bit, I am breaking up the long-format storylines just a pinch. I am going to do a few short arcs/short stories to advance things a bit. Kind of like when I do shorts between arcs, except different because these shorts, more or less, ARE the next arc. …arc-ish, anyway.
I have one more brief Summer story to tell just to give Selkie a little more time with her aunt and uncle before they have to leave town, then we’re finally leaving the summer.
I’ve never thought of the “time slows to a crawl, because there’s so much to tell” to be a bad thing in webcomics, since it usually means there’s a ton of interesting stuff going on that’s causing the slow-down. And apart from a few strip-type comics (a joke in every trip, even if there was a longer story arc in the background), I don’t think I read any that kept pace with the real world time.
That said, looking forward to seeing little glimpses of Selkie’s daily life soonish.
Oof! Panel 4 is like a kick in the gut, a very effective panel. I like how Todd handled it by reassuring Selkie rather than dumping his own issues on her. At some point they will need to discuss it as I’m sure there are some among Selkie’s friends or enemies from the orphanage that have a background similar to Todd’s that will need explaining.
*ISN’T THE REASON FOR THE DELY OR ANYTHING.*
Dave, even without the shading, it still turned out great today. <3
😀
I totally love this foreshadowing into his past. I very much love this comic, and Todd’s response was great ^__^
No director’s commentary?
Oops, forgot. >_< Thanks for noticing.
I love the background in the fifth panel – very effective.
I don’t think you need to be tied to realtime to tell an effective story. (Unless, of course, you need to be tied to realtime for creative purposes.) Just tell the story at your own pace. For me as a reader, it’s far more important that you update on time (at least mostly) than it is for the background in the comic to match what I see when I look out my window.
The time-crawl bothers me too because some of the story points I am building up to I intended to come after about a year of in-world time, but right now it’s been less than a month. XD Also, I want some sense of advancement in Selkie’s life and relationships, which can’t happen if I keep telling stories in summer of 2010.
I disagree, you can have your time era happen regardless of irl time, it even helps because instead of predicting the future we as readers can look back on it. I also disagree on your statement that you haven’t advanced. Selkie’s relationships are completely and totally different than the beginning. Maybe you should re-read your comic 🙂
Huh. So he was abused as a child. I’d gotten the impression that he just got into a lot of fights at school.
I feel for you on pace though. My fanfic is at 137 chapters and I’ve only covered 16 months. And, like you, the best stuff is still years away.
But ya know what helps with that?
Updating more often. 😀
The story reads fluently and convincingly- plenty of opportunities to advance the time frame between arcs. Don’t go forcing it with any montages. Or any “seventeen Summers and seventeen Winters passed in the sleepy Shire…” stuff.
Er… unless you want to. Keep up the good work, and don’t let any mathematicians tell you how to make a comic strip.
I am sure somewhere somehow there is mathematical proof to either back up or discredit my intentions to time-skip. 😀
ouch. looks like todd’s story is pretty ugly. if/when you tell it it’s going to need some careful handling, if only for trigger issues.
as to the pace, take as much time as you need. on webcomic scale, that isn’t even remotely slow. consider mansion of e. it has been running seven days a week continually for something over 10 years. the first day took about two weeks iirc. the second day is still going on. and the author has a plot that will cover years if not decades of comic time. and it doesn’t matter at all because the story is great.
I have just acquired a new webcomic for my list. Your description made me click the link, and it does not disappoint. Thank you very much, anatman!
I’ve started in on this as well. Fun stuff!
I wonder what Todd’s story is…
Also, what does Selkie think temerity means???
I love how ridiculous that fist looks. 😀
Oh I’ve been meaning to ask. Have you ever considered doing Selkie in the style you did Sue and Cathyrin (sp?) before? That style was FABULOUS and so fluid looking!
Thought about it, but I’m afraid that if I went to vectors it’d be too easy to just copy-paste everything into each new strip (Although I do read some very good vector based comics that disprove this fear). I also just simply like the feel of drawing the comic, even digitally, and I find it faster and easier to just draw the line I want instead of making a vector path, tweaking it’s shape and curve and points, and making sure there’s no overlap, etc.
That being said, I am actually considering going back to vector tools for backgrounds, with a few tweaks.
Did you just start signing your comics, or has this been happening I just haven’t noticed?
I started doing it to signify the end of long arcs.
I just noticed that Todd has really muscular arms, and really thin neck. Usually training arms/pecs in the gym also adds to your shoulders and neck, especially for guys.
Hmm, I didn’t notice that, honestly. >_<
I’ve commented before, but I wanted to let you know that I really do enjoy this webcomic. I never thought I’d get so attached to the story of Selkie and Todd <3 But I have!
I found this webcomic because it was an add on GirlsWithSlingshots, and I am glad I clicked it! Thank you for making such an awesome webcomic, and for being so in touch with your fanbase 🙂 I drew Selkie when I first started reading, but it wasn't very good… But I might send it, along with another, much better fanart when I get out of an artists block. 🙂
Anyway, despite my dorkiness- Thank you for making such an inspirational comic! I enjoy reading it twice a week~
Have a good day! ^^
Is Todd’s car some reincarnation of the Knight Industries 2000? He has a yoke, not a steering wheel…
It has an aviator-style steering wheel is all.
dear god could selkie possibly get cuter?
I’m gonna leave a comment on this page to remind myself we still need Todd backstory please and thank you oh wise Dave *3*