UPDATING OCCASIONALLY (FOR NOW)

9 thoughts on “542 – Catching Up”

  1. Keith

    Some friction, but yeah. IRL, I’d like these two…they should have kids. 😉

    1. Dawn

      I might have to draw out what their kid would look like. First thought is that their kid would look like Ongo Gablogian from “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”

    2. Scarsdale

      He’s pushing 60, she’s maybe 30, more likely less. Chuck is most likely shooting blanks, and besides, he’s talking to her like a baby sister than a love interest.

      1. Keith

        Up in these hills, sometimes family is all y’gots. 😉

  2. ConcordBob

    It is really hard to have a favorite character, as there are so many good ones. But I think Rosa is my favorite. Chuck is a good accomplice in sneaking work, but not much for romance. Uugh.

  3. Otaku

    I mean, if they don’t have at least an inkling of what’s going down, I’m actually disappointed in Clearstream. If anything, I’m starting to wonder if they caught on and realized “Wait, we can use this.”

    Because of course they can. 😉

  4. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    I’m way ahead of you – I’ve been waiting for you to catch up. From November 2020:
    I would hope for nothing less – her and Chuck have the potential for a great deal of positive mischief.
    Speaking of which, I received the email notifying me that my order for the NSFW “Chuck and Rosa Finally Do It” (age verification required) limited edition hardcover is going to be delayed due to the pandemic. I think it’s really cool that you’ll be adding some additional stretch goal goodies when it ships – thanks for all your story and art.
    As for the inscription, ” We owe it all to you ” will be sufficient.

  5. Crazyman

    Partners in crime! 😈

  6. TKG

    A crime so perfect she went full on wall-eye!

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542 – Catching Up
Posted on April 9, 2025 by Dawn

The limits of conflict

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Clint
Fight scenes are a staple of fiction, the end expression of conflict that has escalated to the point of actual violence. By that view, they represent something that has gone completely out of control… yet the fiction creator doesn’t have the luxury of just “letting it happen.” In any medium there are boundaries that have to be observed, and comics are no exception. Two guys sitting on a couch debating the latest videogame controversy is arguably rather easy compared to portraying those same two guys rolling around the room trying to bash each other’s heads in. Sure, there’s something to be said for a fight being naturally exciting compared to talk, but it’s still something that requires thought and effort in presentation. I don’t do storyboarding for every page of Zombie Ranch but fights are something where it feels like a mandatory part of the process, because here you are trying to get this conflict across in a limited, bounded space, and you’re trying to get the action and storytelling beats you need presented in a way that the audience can not only follow but impart a momentum to them. The “gutters” and the concepts of closure come into stark focus as you struggle to find that Goldilocks balance somewhere between too much and too little, and do what you can to guide the reader’s eye so that Punch A is clearly understood to happen before Reaction B. For instance, in the western mode of reading we go top to bottom and left to right, and so adhering closely to that format will hopefully lend itself to proper order and sense of momentum. Going against it can look odd. Originally I wanted Oscar to get tackled off to the left of the wagon, with an impact marker as they hit the ground that would point downwards to the next row of panels. Fancy. But you put that on a page in a sequence and, because of the left-to-right default, it might look weirdly like they were rising back onto the wagon instead. Switch it around, and the impact marker now points to the bottom right instead of bottom left where it should. So, we ended up abandoning that. Sometimes you can play around with the paneling — for instance more and smaller panels tend to punch up the sense of urgency, and skewed panel borders impart a sense of imbalance that can be usefully dramatic — and sometimes you just end up playing it straight, whereupon I have to remind myself that Watchmen was able to present several memorable fight scenes without ever straying from its grid pattern. If getting too fancy is getting in the way of the storytelling rather than enhancing it, well, I’ve learned to swallow pride and let a more plain layout carry the day. Fights are messy. But it’s up to you and your creative partners to try not to make a mess of them.