530 | Good Timing

Why yes, it IS hammer time! Not to be confused with Stickle time :P

PAYBACK TIME!

That´s gonna hurt.

Oh and…
Wup?

3rd panel: BITCH, PLEASE!

love it <3

Now it’s Naveed’s turn to lose an arm and see how it feels.

 I ♥ Kasey!

;)

Berserker > ninja.

Hi.

I’ve been
quietly following your work on zap for a few years now, and I have to say,
you’ve certainly come a long way since those first hundred or so issues. In
fact, every week I look at your work and I think “Yes, I can definitely
see even more skill, talent and improvement in
technique and composition than last week.” If you look back, you can
literally see how your skills as an artist have progressed. It’s quite
impressive when you think about it. Unless, of course, I am gravely mistaken
and you’ve merely been putting more time into it, in which case… this whole
comment is pointless.

That said, I
don’t think people give you much criticism here, constructive or otherwise, and
since I neither know you nor care if I somehow hurt your feelings, I am in an
excellent position to provide you with some:

You’ve had
some panels that have looked a tad off in the past, but those last two from
this week’s issue are simply horrible, compared to the rest of your work. And I
don’t mean that the artwork is bad, because it’s not. What those panels lack is
composition. One of the comic book rules of thumb is that when someone is
hitting/kicking someone, you usually have the so-called “wind-up” and
then the “follow-through,” which are, of course, the moment of the
preparation for the kick/punch and the one slightly after the actual
kick/punch, respectively. And although sometimes the “wind-up” could
be omitted, you should never show the actual kick/punch connecting since you
would get a weak-looking punch/kick and a boring fight sequence. I’m sure that
you know all this but you’ve made that mistake a couple of times, so I thought
I should point it out.

Just to
emphasize my point, imagine that Kasey’s leg was fully extended in the
second-to-last panel and that there was a bit more distance between her and
Naveed. Now wouldn’t you say that that would look much better? It just occurred
to me now, that you may have intended for that kick to look weak, but then
isn’t that a bit out of character for a character wielding a giant war hammer/sledge-hammer?

Furthermore,
in the last panel the swing looks a bit weak, or rather, nonexistent. It
actually feels like Kasey has assumed a threatening stance and not like she’s
“about to drop the hammer and dispense some indiscriminate justice,”
don’t you agree?

And speaking
of swinging a war hammer… a minor element overlooked here: it’s a giant
hammer with a handle flimsy enough to bend during a swing? Even with futuristic
materials such a thing will be counterproductive since some of the energy from
the wielder’s arms would have to go towards bending the handle, thus being lost
for any useful purposes, like say hitting something. On the other hand, an
ever-so-slight bend in the handle during the “wind-up” phase would
have been an excellent illustration of a natural optical illusion (related to
observing spinning objects, ah it’s good old physics again!) which would make
the swing look faster and more powerful.

Once again,
I’m not trying to attack your work, I’m merely pointing out some things you
might want to think about in the future. Also, shadows. Most, if not all of the
other panels that have looked off to me is because of either shadows not
falling the right way or bad action segments. And if you’re interested, I can
tell you of a good short book that has some valuable pointers for drawing comic
book action sequences.

Keep up the
good work,

D

Oh, that was even worse… it’s an HTML enabled weblog system… grand. Now I really look like an unprofessional dick.

 It is the same feeling I get as when photoshop crashes before I save something.

Forget the arm – crush her skull, Kasey! >D

Pretty sure that crashes are literally forged of pure evil. Especially in regards to any art program ever.

I started reading your comic yesterday… look where i am now xD

Great job, i like it.

Still, i’m starting to think that the “main character was a bad guy but for x reason he lost his memory and now he’s good” argument tends to be a little overused in webcomics. IDK why.

The other comic i can remember that uses it started on 2004-2005 if i remember correctly, so you were there first anyway :)

Oh man, I’d take on Kasey just for a close up of her on that 3rd panel. That is just pure AWESOME face.

Something to remember, @f6ec0245766e47f390f9eeefb3ac93a4:disqus :   there used to be a lot of criticism (mostly constructive) before all the old comments had to be left behind and lost when the site moved.

I think the sequence works well as drawn, though of course there is always room for improvement, and I could see your suggestions making Kasey’s actions more dynamic.

Some advice for future “criticisms”, though:  the word “horrible” never qualifies as constructive criticism, and tends to taint everything that comes after it.  It doesn’t matter how you qualify it – “horrible” is connotatively a negatively judgmental adjective.  If you use that word, especially in reference to a well-beloved artist like Calle, expect people to hate you for it.

;)

Wow! I’ve never read those, but I consider it a huge compliment for my drawings to have leeched into your subconscious like that. :)

I wouldn’t want to be the left arm, tbh.  It looks like it’s right in the smashing arc.  :x  *anticipates pain*

Well, it’s not just their appearance, they have similar personalities, too. If you haven’t read them, then you should.

lol *pulls driver out of car* I’m not stealing this, I need it though *gets in car* really, this isn’t theft. calm down. *adjusts mirror* ONCE AGAIN, this is for the best. There is no stealing here. Just letting you know. *drives away* 

Because the engine would have taken up to much space, and she liked the durability the force field created better.

Amen. Favorite lady in this comic.

I want a to see some artwork with Renoa dressed as Ed now. but who would be al…?

Bye bye elbow.

Kasey is a Stickle.  What else need be said?

;)

(P.S. welcome back!)

But Al is just too cute to be Grontar, but Grontar could be Major Armstrong!
Armor-wise, Robot would be the closest thing, but he’s too perverted to be innocent angelic Alphonse…
Naveed could easily be Lust, Gunner would make a great Envy, William has the Colonel Mustang haircut, but Io has the flame abilities…
Kasey=Winry, bar none.
WHO WOULD ZAP BE, THOUGH?!?!?!?!? I suppose if you died his hair black, and he turned evil, he could be Greed (as weird as that would be).

I might have to go make a fan art thing with FMA tie-ins now, despite the disturbing mental images… ^_^

What richly-deserved nastiness is about to happen to her right arm – looks more like it’s her left arm that’s about to get smashed.