Rescue

"Rescue" is the next comic in the serial Lady of the Moon.

This is way different than I envisioned what this week should be. Originally, I was going to continue the conversation started last week, but I thought it would bog down the story. It would have been between Kamiko and the bald man introduced in the last panel. It would have been fun. He'd say something very 1960's misogynistic to her (or slightly racist) and she'd return volley. When all was said and done it would lead to what you see into today's episode.

I think it would have taken the fire out of today's comic since there'd be no surprise if I had that one inbetween. Kamiko would talk about rescuing Chang'e and then she'd do it, and that makes for some lackluster comic reading.

Another question I asked myself: who is at the core of this story? Who's journey is this? It's not Kamiko's and having her volley back and forth with baldy would distract from the real story, which is about Chang'e and Jade and their journey to Earth. Essentially, it's their story and it should be from their point-of-view, and this comic is inline with that idea.

That thought about Lady and the Moon, which seems fairly obvious (that the story is about Chang'e and Jade) gave rise to another one: between this and Rabbit and the Moon there hasn't been a story directly about Kamiko. At least it doesn't feel that way.

Epiphany Moment

If I had to ask who was at the center of Rabbit and the Moon: I think it's Hana. It's her dealing with her older sister's shenanigans and living in Natsumi's shadow. It's Hana who believes the mythologies and stories about their local town. She's the one who's clever enough to know that Kamiko and Natsumi are the same person. She wants to save the wolf demon because he's apart of the town's history. She witnesses the Miracle. She and Natsumi also re-enact the myth of Chang'e as well. So yeah, Hana.

I keep telling myself that TMC is about Kamiko as her own agent. She causes trouble. She fixes it, but so far in these stories, it's not about her directly. It's Kamiko as seen through the eyes of other people. In this one it's through Chang'e and Jade's eyes. In Rabbit, it's Hana. She comes into Rabbit following the Red Thread of Destiny, and that to me says she's not entirely there of her own volition -- of course, we don't know why she has the thread, but it generally implies fate and predetermination. She's not entirely in control. In this one, she's at NASA mission control in 1969. She could be there of her own free will, but I probably won't go into it. She's a somewhat major actor in these stories, but these are someone else's stories. That was an epiphany I had when I thought about it over the weekend while putting this strip together.

The stories after this have to be about her, IMHO. Kamiko has to appear on page one and follow through. She gets into trouble. We see directly from her POV. I don't have a script for My Neighbor Kamiko yet, but it's a new idea that's making me rethink certain things about it.

This is where not having a script and being able to change it on the fly have been both a help and a hindrance. Is this how the story should go? Should I have done that other comic instead? Will the gap between last week's and this week's be understood?

4-Panel Process

I kinda wanted to go into some of the process of this week's 4-panel comic. I'll start with the script. Here's the script and the notes for this week's 4-panel:

[Begin Script]

Does Chang'e get to see the outside world? Do a comic before hand where they get interrogated?

One Week Later... Three Days Later... Rescue

[Do we want to express it via the title or in dialogue? What else could C and J talk about in 1 frame.]

1. Chang'e and Jade in an interrogation room. One with a rectangular table and chair on either end. They look uncertain about what's to happen. Chang'e isn't cuffed or bonded in anyway. Jade is sitting on the table.

Version 1: Jade: Unbelievable, they've kept us here for a week! Chang'e: And who's fault is that, Jade? [C sounds passive aggressively unhappy at Jade.]

Version 2: Chang'e: (angry) I hope you're happy with yourself. Jade: I regret nothing! [They're combative, but would she really be asking him this a week later? What if it was a few days later?]

Version 3: Chang'e: I wonder who we'll talk to this time. Jade:

Version 4 (I like this the best) Chang'e: I wonder what they'll ask us this time. Jade: I'm done with this! [Is Chang'e mad at Jade? Is she used to his outbursts and fits of anger? It seems she would handle it quietly. They've had thousands of years together. In a sense, she's probably used to his outbursts.]

2. There's a tussle at the door. Some banging. Chang'e and Jade are shown from behind. They're surprised at the noise.

3. The door opens. We catch the silhouette on the other side of the door -- the shape of a heel and dress and a bit of hair. We see Chang'e and Jade from behind looking at one another. SFX: WAMPF! (the door opens)

4. Chang'e has a sparkly look on her face. Jade has a look of horror Chang'e: Oh my... Jade: Unbelievable...

[End Script]

I had different dialogue variations for frame 1. I wanted to try out different pairs of lines. The ones where Chang'e and Jade are angry at one another seem a bit on the nose. Also for two entities who have lived together for thousands of years, they would be use to one another's quirks. In version 3 Jade has no retort for Chang'e -- I couldn't think of one so that was a fail. I liked the fourth version of their dialogue a lot. Jade's curmudgeonly and angry. Chang'e is still somewhat considerate. I imagine Chang'e is used to Jade's angry outbursts, that she often ignores them and like-wise he probably ignores her so they talk over one another.

The last frame changed a lot too. It was originally going to be a chibi image with Chang'e filled with sparkles from seeing Kamiko. Jade would look on horrified. Here it the sketch:

It wasn't a clever ending to the strip and I thought it would be putting Kamiko on a pedestal of sorts. You know, "every character is happy to see the main character." That sort of thing.

Instead, in the new version they're confused and a bit scared by her presence. She did beat some men with a stiletto.

I didn't change that last frame until I sketched the whole thing and could review the storyboard. It just felt wrong. I don't want it to seem like everyone's waiting for Kamiko to show up and save the day and then become all googly-eyed when they're in her presence. It was an easy punchline, and I feel that the new version of frame 4 is better.

It takes a long time to draw another 4-panel comic. I know I mentioned that some 4-panels took 4-5 hours to complete. I feel like this comic took longer, but a lot of new thoughts went into the creation of the comic strip.

So, that it for this week. I"ll see ya next week, folks!