Signed in just to express my deep admiration for this story arc. Beautifully executed & emotionally engaging.
I'd certainly like to see more similar 'flashback' arcs with Brian & Malachi. Yes he's now the kindest member of the camp, but perhaps you could explore a background in which he wasn't such a gentle soul. I could very well envision Brian as a former bully who decided to change his ways due to a traumatizing event in his past --just a humble suggestion from a long-time fan
Yes he's now the kindest member of the camp, but perhaps you could explore a background in which he wasn't such a gentle soul. I could very well envision Brian as a former bully who decided to change his ways due to a traumatizing event in his past
Scattershot inferences offend me.
Brian is big -> Brian was a bully
Nerd pet peeve. Just because you can make free associations between existing plot elements doesn't mean you should.
This comic had me tearing up in the coffee shop of my office building. Dammit Katie, warn me next time! Someone might see me! "Medium roast?" "Uhbluh uhbluh uhbluh..."
It's rare for me to be moved as I am by this comic strip. I found myself in tears - with absolutely no warning - in the final frame. I thought I was prepared for whatever came next, but the condensation of past to present and that simple affirmation of a friend had me choked up all day.
Katie and Adam, you two are the most amazing writing team ever! "We do" is so simple: two tiny words, four letters, no poetry or even room for embellishment, yet here it became the most powerful affirmation ever. Amazing! So many threads tied together all at once. Very nicely done!
Brian honestly strikes me as the kind that was a 'problem kid' for anger management issues. The grey rage he went into with Purdy shows an example of anger management issues at best, and potentialy bipolar. All of these kids are 'flawed' in their own ways -which is why they're so relatable. Part of the point I get from this series, though, is that they really are just 'normal' kids. It really makes it kind of beautiful.
Katie! I'm so happy to see your work. I love how it has developed. This is fantastic, and in years to come I hope you will learn so much from reflecting on this experience. Keep on plowing forward!
I'm desperately hoping 17's sibs really did mail her. From the way they were talking about 'getting rid of her', and the crushing, sinister dread of the scene, I was terrified things was headed down a far darker path... Which I'm still not entirely sure we've avoided.
Why did she make no attempt to break free of the flimsy box earlier, and why did her count end so suddenly? There didn't seem to be any postage on it either. For all intents and purposes, it just appeared at the gates. She also seemed extremely traumatized, as though something very, very bad had recently happened.
Maybe all the campers met similar ghastly fates, their deaths either too sudden, or too traumatic, to be remembered. Collin recalled being abandoned in the forest, but not at camp. It's entirely possible he somehow met his end in those woods, or misremembered that as well.
Crap. Why am I helping you friccasee my heart Katie?!
I signed up for an account specifically to say that I just found this comic, marathoned it across a series of airports, and have found it to be utterly brilliant.
I've read Penny Arcade for years. The newspapers are depressing, so I prefer to read webcomics with my coffee before work in the morning. Everybody says this, but there's a very good reason for that and I'm gonna say it too: I set up an account here purely to thank Katie for this wonderful strip. I nag my mates to read it constantly. It strikes a balance between sublime humour and sweet moments that I haven't seen since Calvin & Hobbes. To think it's only a year old is incredible. Most strips take years to hit this kind of stride. I hope it runs for many years, and I have no doubt it's gonna come to be regarded as a classic. I'll never throw up again without thinking of the word "BLEP!" and laughing. I'll "uhbluh", and smile, whenever I cry. As for the words "We do": they'll always make me tear up. Especially at polygamist weddings. Thank you Katie.
So, I just noticed something, if you're reading, perhaps you can confirm or deny it, Katie.
Are the colours in the flashback related to emotions? In the first page of the flashback, all the colours are uniformly muted, with the green tone on them, but here, things like the Love Bug and her hair gain colour, with Brian being in brighter, warmer colours in the flashback than he is in reality.
Now, we know that she's particularly attached to the Love Bug, and we see in the second panel that it's in brighter colour than the rest f the page, later, we see her hair gain colour as well, culminating in her entire body being coloured in contrast to the second panel, where the only thing in normal colour is the Love Bug - what I take away from this is that she remembers being cut free by Brian fondly, hence the warm colours in the sequence, as well as her affection for Love Bug, also why it's coloured.
Assuming Brian is about ten to eleven when he found Seventeen, we can make the calculation easier, as human heads don't actually grow all that much in adolecense, so we can assume that Brian's head height is around the lowest value given in source B, which is 21.2 Centimetres
In the younger image, his hair ends just below his nose, according to Source B, the smallest recorded distance from the bottom of the nose to the chin was 6.1 centimetres, so, for the sake of simplicity, let's assume that this is the case for Brian: In the older image, his hair is just below chin height.
Let us assume, in this case, that his hair is precisely one centimetre above the bottom of his chin, meaning his hair has grown down 5.1 centimetres.
So, 0.4X25 gives us 10, or, in this case, one centimetre, so five times that gives us 50, or five centimetres, 25X5 gives us 125, so we have 125 days as a base, adding on the little extra to get us closer, we get 127 (0.4 + 0.4)
So, assuming Seventeen was dumped on the First of January, she has been there for four months and seven days.
Posts
This happens IRL.
More commonly than you think.
With newborns.
Maybe near where you live,
The feels.
I'd certainly like to see more similar 'flashback' arcs with Brian & Malachi. Yes he's now the kindest member of the camp, but perhaps you could explore a background in which he wasn't such a gentle soul. I could very well envision Brian as a former bully who decided to change his ways due to a traumatizing event in his past --just a humble suggestion from a long-time fan
Scattershot inferences offend me.
Brian is big -> Brian was a bully
Nerd pet peeve. Just because you can make free associations between existing plot elements doesn't mean you should.
Apologies for offering my 2 cents. FWIW I happen to be 6'-4" --and I was the one who was bullied at school
Katie and Adam, you two are the most amazing writing team ever! "We do" is so simple: two tiny words, four letters, no poetry or even room for embellishment, yet here it became the most powerful affirmation ever. Amazing! So many threads tied together all at once. Very nicely done!
Awesome comic, love it, love the fluffy chapters, but when you hit me right in the feels like this... This is what sets you a step above.
p.s. Found the kittie, was kinda hard, what with vision clouded by tears and all, but I got him!
This comic even tells how Seventeens erratic hairdo came to be. Brian cut her hair getting her out of the thorns.
Why did she make no attempt to break free of the flimsy box earlier, and why did her count end so suddenly? There didn't seem to be any postage on it either. For all intents and purposes, it just appeared at the gates. She also seemed extremely traumatized, as though something very, very bad had recently happened.
Maybe all the campers met similar ghastly fates, their deaths either too sudden, or too traumatic, to be remembered. Collin recalled being abandoned in the forest, but not at camp. It's entirely possible he somehow met his end in those woods, or misremembered that as well.
Crap. Why am I helping you friccasee my heart Katie?!
Also, kitties.
Are the colours in the flashback related to emotions? In the first page of the flashback, all the colours are uniformly muted, with the green tone on them, but here, things like the Love Bug and her hair gain colour, with Brian being in brighter, warmer colours in the flashback than he is in reality.
Now, we know that she's particularly attached to the Love Bug, and we see in the second panel that it's in brighter colour than the rest f the page, later, we see her hair gain colour as well, culminating in her entire body being coloured in contrast to the second panel, where the only thing in normal colour is the Love Bug - what I take away from this is that she remembers being cut free by Brian fondly, hence the warm colours in the sequence, as well as her affection for Love Bug, also why it's coloured.
Alternatively, I could be overthinking things.
so, I googled this, results are as follows:
human hair, if left to grow totally unheeded, grows at, on average, 0.4 MM per day (http://www.hairvitamins.net/viviscal/study5.htm - Source A)
Also, according to this image, an average human head height is 23.2 Centimetres (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/HeadAnthropometry.JPG - Source
Assuming Brian is about ten to eleven when he found Seventeen, we can make the calculation easier, as human heads don't actually grow all that much in adolecense, so we can assume that Brian's head height is around the lowest value given in source B, which is 21.2 Centimetres
In the younger image, his hair ends just below his nose, according to Source B, the smallest recorded distance from the bottom of the nose to the chin was 6.1 centimetres, so, for the sake of simplicity, let's assume that this is the case for Brian: In the older image, his hair is just below chin height.
Let us assume, in this case, that his hair is precisely one centimetre above the bottom of his chin, meaning his hair has grown down 5.1 centimetres.
So, 0.4X25 gives us 10, or, in this case, one centimetre, so five times that gives us 50, or five centimetres, 25X5 gives us 125, so we have 125 days as a base, adding on the little extra to get us closer, we get 127 (0.4 + 0.4)
So, assuming Seventeen was dumped on the First of January, she has been there for four months and seven days.
YAY! MATHS!
Pun!
That would line up with Malachi saying it's been four months since he was dropped off.
Cutting Seventeen's hair to free her seems symbolic. Maybe?