StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Fuck!

I gave Streak four whole lines in that last comic, and only now do I realize one of them should have been 'Zoinks!'

Note to self: Next time I bring him back to life (which will be no earlier than the 6th episode and maybe much later depending on how soon Prowl shows up in-person), he needs to exclaim 'Zoinks!', probably right before he gets killed again.

Oh, and I've got a rough outline for episode 4 in my head right now. I have been itching to write a script up for the past few days and just tonight realized that I've more or less visualized every panel and line at some point or another over the last month, so I might as well put it in typing over the next day or so.

.....excellent, Utasnomikononranmaomfgroflmmfaokthxbaidude!1111lolshift_F1. I was thouroughly entertained by that, and your photoshopping skills are impressive. Love the effects, love the humor....keep it up, and soon Geocities will not have enough bandwidth for ya!

Chardok wrote:Love the effects, love the humor....keep it up, and soon Geocities will not have enough bandwidth for ya!

Soon? The thing shat out its own bandwidth 10 minutes after I posted that episode untill I moved all the images to Photobucket. Geocites only has to send about 10k of html per episode.

http://geocities.com/tonberimuyo/transf ... gw401.html

Episode 4: No Intelligent Life Detected.

It's about a month behind schedule (or what passes for it), but I think it gave it time for my draft to improve.

And eventually in Episode 5, Sideswipe and Hound find something even more interesting to gawk at. Oh, and Spider-Man fits in somewhere, too.

Page 4, Panel 3, Sideswipe's dialogue is missing a "be".

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Page 4, Panel 3, Sideswipe's dialogue is missing a "be".

Fixed. Uploading as I type.

So what's your evaluation, Butterchubs?

Even funnier then back when you told me about it.

Seriously, it's hillarious. How long did it take you to do this time?

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Even funnier then back when you told me about it.

Seriously, it's hillarious. How long did it take you to do this time?

One afternoon + evening to photograph the non-vehicle mode pics and do ~12 of the panels, and another evening to take the last couple photos, finish the last panels, and upload it with new html. Besides the first comic (which was a mere 18 panels), this one was the easiest to produce.

The script was a bit tougher, though. I had a lot of information to convey in order to set up just how clueless the Autobots are of Duke's state of being, while at the same time giving them little tidbits of info, such as Earth's name. I also was trying to keep the length down a bit this time, as I knew if I didn't shoot for 2 pages less than ep 2 & 3, I'd end up using even more pages in subsequent episodes. Alas I had to leave out the "If you had a nose, you'd understand how important a sense of smell is" joke. Next episode, perhaps. I compromised by cramming the exchange mainly into one panel, but I think the exchange makes it funnier (Sideswipe gives an impression of clarity and then immediately calls organic life a crock), and leaves the rest of the strip uncluttered.

Well, except for Hound and Sideswipe's long discussion over Duke's body. It may be surprising that these two seemingly moronic Cybertrons would suddenly go into such a discussion, but keep in mind their main problem isn't stupidity, but single-mindedness and aloofness. They're being inapropriately introspective, literally not seeing the forest for the trees. Also I like the contrast in how complex their type of dialogue is versus Duke's; again they totally miss the obvious clues of the situation.

"Wow, look at these structures, aren't they facinating? How long do you suppose they decay, and does it have a method of repair?..."
"I said put me down!"

Somedays I wonder how many cycles of sanity/dementia a Cybertron must go through in ~5-10 million years, as if that explains why beings so anceint can be such screwjobs at certain points in time...

And yes, I do realize that I put an odd level of thought into a parody strip. Did I mention I decided that there are confirmedly 9 Autobots on the Ark in this series? Well 8 if Streak never comes back, but the two I haven't had the chance to mention yet is Wheeljack (I almost referred to him in ep 3 or 4 as being responsible for providing Sideswipe's new launcher) and Sunstreaker (who considers himself a renegade, which means he's probably just lurking in the lower decks and being uncooperative). I've also thought about adding 3 more eventually through a slight revision, but I still need to settle which figures I'll be buying and which I'll kitbach (likely lineup is Cliffjumper, Windcharger, and Brawn, but don't hold me to that).

Good stuff man, I hope to see more.

I have to say that the trees might be my favourite part.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I have to say that the trees might be my favourite part.

Sideswipe's line of 'And what's with all these green... things?' on page 2 didn't actually catch me as that funny untill I saw the comic finished in 4 panels/page format. Before it was more or less a necessary transition that was amusing, especially since I left out the other signes of life I planned to accompany otherwise-pure dialogue panels (birds flying overhead, an insect buzzing past the panel, etc), but I surprised myself with how nicely that revelation worked simply by building up with Sideswipe's complaints.

As for the tree itself, I can only comment that I like how the uproot sound effect is simply 'uproot!'. It's another one of those ideas that crack me up because they come to me spontaneously or at the last minute, so it doesn't quite feel like I'm the one who wrote it.

Finally, did anyone notice that Duke's head isn't always the 3.75" figure's? In all but the farthest 3 or 4 shots of him, I imposed the head from a 12" GI Joe over him (specifically a Voice FX Duke. $15 for the figure, and I got him from Target for his missile launchers, one of which is on Sideswipe). The small figure's face was just too glossy, lumpy, and undetailed for any facial shots, so I went with a trick I tested out 2 months ago. I just love the look on his rubber-puppet face when Hound asks about the horse, it's almost exactly how I imagined it.

Oh God, yes, the horse is great, too.

*Replaces repeat panel in Episode 3 on page 8 with the proper panel.*

Shows how much you putzes pay attention.

Good stuff, Uts! Funny!

FYI Uts, I've been looking through the rest of your site, and you really need to use a spell-checker before you posts stuff. Those bony hands of yours ain't that good for typing.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:FYI Uts, I've been looking through the rest of your site, and you really need to use a spell-checker before you posts stuff. Those bony hands of yours ain't that good for typing.

Yeah I know, I put up stuff too quick just by typing in notepad.