A simple ambulance driver?
The final chapter is starting! This splash page was a lot of fun to do, going back through the archives of the past five years. There is one comic from each story arc in here, as well as a couple bonus things like SR: Scouting. Can you name them all? (I decided not to include reference links on this one a) so that you could try to find them all, and b) ’cause I didn’t want to link to each one.)
This is what I was drawing in reference to last week’s sketchbook. Can you name them all without looking? I think I got all of the protagonists except Megan and Chad, but let me know if I forgot anyone else.
I attempted to translate every page of my scrapbook into Japanese. My results may be questionable. I know on my business cards, it says I teach at Johnson Little Bear School. Oops.
Ref: “Guardian Angel” | “Is that light supposed to be blinking?” | Percy’s friends are “voluntold” | Balloon
I can’t resist drawing Stefan and Mikhail every chance I get. Those two deserve their own spin-off, even though they have had almost no on-screen time.
I love Percy’s cocky attitude in Panel 1. It’s not often one gets to stare down a missile and win. And hooray, some characters other than Jorocks and Percy get a shot at some glory! Remember that Chris does not know about Ichabod’s powers. This is also Chris’s 100th appearance, according to my cast page!
Matt is in a new costume; check back Saturday for a bonus sketchbook comic! Bonus points if you realize why he is the chief scientific advisor.
Ref: Percy gets attention | And again
A while ago on Twitter I mentioned that I wish I would have given Percy ear hair. I satisfied this urge with Jorocks’s elf form. I was happy for a change with how the sizing turned out with the elves. Chris’s face is a little off though. In a way, I like it as he kinda looks like his dad this way.
Having a bit of trouble with my mouse. Apparently when I updated to OSX Maverick, the Logitech driver doesn’t play nicely. It makes dragging text boxes a royal pain. If anyone has a fix to cover this until the driver update comes up and can explain it to someone who still isn’t quite familiar with Mac programming yet, I’d love to hear it!
Refs: Gogol | First appearance of Gabriel | Ding-dong? | Left behind
I know, I know, you all wanted to see elf-Jorocks. He’s still getting dressed. But hooray, Percy now owns the North Pole! Yes, there would probably be a huge pile of paperwork involved. No, I’m not going to show it. Paperwork isn’t usually funny.
This wound up being quite text-intensive, which is something I’m working on. However, in this case I felt it was justified, especially as I cut a large amount of material out to make this whole legal matter go faster, and hey, there’s a lot of details that needed to be presented but don’t need to have a whole arc devoted to them. If the comic updated three or five days a week, I would have spread that out more, but once a week calls for a different scripting strategy, especially when I know what needs to happen by certain dates.
Ref: Others taking notice | And again | Percy gets on the news | Thomas Gabriel sees the sleigh | Thomas Gabriel introduces himself | Jorocks’s unplanned appearance | Thomas Gabriel helps | Unscrupulous comrades | John is being watched
I think I just broke my record for most reference links, even if I didn’t include links to this same story arc! This comic pulls together a few old loose ends, some of which I’m betting you didn’t see coming. The big one, of course, being General Anatol’s endorsement of Percy’s plan, allowing him to proceed. Those of you who are James Bond fans will likely recognize him as General Anatol Gogol, who is one of my favorite characters of all time and appears in several Bond movies.
While I have always had the idea of outside forces affecting Percy’s dream, nothing was set in stone until the Tornado arc and the creation of Thomas Gabriel. I really like the name as he was a sort of guardian angel during the events of that arc, and I liked the character I had made, so I expanded his role to maintain that guardian angel character. He then appeared in the airport to ease Percy’s passage and helped explain Jorocks being there (how did he know?), but it was never shown who that was. I have since updated his character tags, so apologies if you’re a new reader and had that spoiler.
Next comic is #200! We finally leave the building!
The shadowy character from the airport returns, only not in shadow anymore! Who is it? Any guesses? You will see his face in the next comic, I promise!
John remains a lot of fun to write for with lines such as the one in Panel 2.
For those of you who are curious, this takes place behind the stage. Also, there was a lot more discussion that took place off-panel, but that would be a lot of details that really don’t fit in a comic.
Ref: How Percy is paying for it (and why Jorocks doesn’t know yet)
323 happens to be my favorite number, by the way. Clearly that is the only significant thing about this comic.
Ref: Big Santa | Thomas Gabriel | Shadowy Guy/Gal
And thus draws an end to this story arc after over a YEAR! I felt that it was a good story arc, but technical problems and life sure didn’t…
And oh geez, the proportions on this strip… Still getting used to the iPad for drawing, as you can tell. Not sure what happened to Jorocks in Panel 2, but didn’t have time to redo it. Luckily, I think the dialogue makes up for it! Incidentally, the Reese’s Pieces joke was totally unscripted; it was meant as a one-shot joke the first time and stuck around. I enjoyed it.
Spoofy Randomness will be on hiatus (yes, again, but this one is planned!) starting next week. The next few weeks are going to be very chaotic, as I am traveling to Michigan to work for a national Scouting event, moving into a house with my wife, and starting a new school year. The MAIN reason for the hiatus, however, is to build up a buffer. Spoofy Randomness will return August 31st on a weekly basis on Fridays, and my goal is to consistently update throughout the next year!
Until next time, have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
Ref: Percy’s emotional display
We actually have seen that paramedic before; he was standing on the bridge in the last storyline. It was a very distant shot of him, though. Despite his relatively small role, his character has already grown on me.
I love this comic in the fact that it explains Jorocks to a “T”. He really doesn’t think about things until he needs to. For example, looking at one of the earliest story arcs he had heard Holly’s last name but never thought about it until Holly and Percy were in the same place. I also have not had Reese’s Pieces in a long time; it makes me kinda sad…
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~