160 replies to this topic

[randomizer]

I needed to read the previous page, but it took me a while to find it. I didn't realise it was way back in September!

[furrykef]

Damn, I'm like two chapters behind. I gotta catch up.

You had all that time and you never got caught up?

[LogiTeeka]

Wow! And I thought the cliffhanger to SatAM was tedious...

At least this comic gets the chance to continue.

[RedAuthar]

I can't believe nobody posted a news report on it yet...

[furrykef]

Don't look at me! It ain't in my job description

[RedAuthar]

I know...it's mine. 

 

Or Chief's. 

[furrykef]

Or JonBob's.

[RedAuthar]

Or if needed Shadow. 

[Uncle Ben]

I can't believe nobody posted a news report on it yet...

 

I could of...

 

if i had access....

 

or i didnt work.....

 

or if i had access

[ILOVEVHS]

Don't look at me, I'm too lazy to do jack shit.

[Speedy_25]

YEESSS....I'm glad the comic is back up, SATAM LIIIIVVVVEEEESSSSS!!!!!!    

[sonicroc]

Yes. YES! YE-E-E-E-E-ES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At last the Sea3on comic can continue! That makes me happy.

 

Welcome to the crew, Tim! Your artwork looks pretty cool. I will have to give a critique at some point, although first I need to get all caught up with the story, so I actually know what's going on. (I haven't started reading Chapter 5 or the Rotor short as of yet.) Whatever is happening, it appears to be quite violent -- I see you guys are bringing SatAM into the realm of morally-ambiguous subjects.

 

Oh yeah, and I too noticed the mouths that are floating under their corresponding faces. Is this by any chance inspired by James Fry's Sonic work?

[chief]

http://sonicsatam.com/sea3on/

[Uncle Ben]

2 chapters in 2 weeks??

 

WHAT IS THIS MADNESS

[chief]

So now that we have been going steady on our weekly schedule for a couple of months...What do you all think?  Glad its back?

[RedAuthar]

So now that we have been going steady on our weekly schedule for a couple of months...What do you all think? Glad its back?

No it is terrible, you should start over.
*gets booed off planet*

It is going pretty well in my opinion at least.

[sonicroc]

So now that we have been going steady on our weekly schedule for a couple of months...What do you all think?  Glad its back?

 

Well, I was originally planning to wait until Chapter 5 was complete before reading it, but I couldn't resist a request for feedback; so over the last few days I read through the whole thing from the beginning. Without further ado I bring you... (brace yourselves)

 

SONICROC'S SEA3ON CHAPTER 5 REVIEW OF IMPORTANTNESS

 

Story / Writing Review:
 

The Negative:
 

- This first point is less a criticism and more just a word of caution. You have now introduced a more realistic war setting to SatAM, as well as person-on-person violence [see: Evangeline]. I feel uncertain and small when it comes to the topic of violence, so I can't tell you how to handle it in your story. My main concrete thoughts here are (1) the throwing-blade-into-arm thing might be a bit much, especially if you animate it and kids watch it, and (2) if the War Claws continue to be in the story, please don't make them all pure evil or anything; the "other side" is never as evil as would be convenient to believe.
 

Apart from that, I only ask that you guys think carefully about how you want to handle violence and war in SatAM (as opposed to just doing whatever is convenient plot-wise).

 

Now for a few less-serious points:

- Upon entering the cave, Nicole and Bart exchange comments about how hidden the cave was. What happened to the fact that the entrance to the cave was a giant face? That seemed fairly conspicuous to me...
 

- Until the book fell into Nicole's hands, it was very unclear to me where this "book" was supposed to be coming from. I thought maybe she would have to go off on a journey to find the book somewhere.

 

The Positive:

 

- I very much appreciated the fact that you guys not only completely avoided using the Archie version of the back story, but that you made it much more interesting too! I think Nicole is a big part of that; she is far more memorable and interesting than Queen Alicia ever was. In fact... she is now probably one of my favorite Sonic characters ever. (That was quick.)
 

- On a related note, the story was very moving, probably the most moving story in all of SatAM.

 

- I like how you guys are treating the Chaos Emeralds as being actually important in some sort of spiritual way. (Or is it just me...?) Just don't let this de-evolve into "OMG, it's Super Sonic! And Super Sally! THEY'RE AWESOME!!!!" But yeah, the scene where Nicole has the vision is really well done.

Overall, the main thing I want to say is this: Let the story be meaningful to you, not just in a surface-level, moralistic way, but on a deeper level. I am a big anime / manga fan, and I definitely sense that the more emotionally meaningful the story is to the creator(s), the greater the story is. I get the feeling you are taking Sea3on in that direction, and that makes me happy.

 

Art Review:
 

First off, I have to say, Stephen's art for the first half of the chapter was pretty amazing, and a huge improvement over what he'd done for the comic previously. So, it was an unfortunate time for Tim to make his entrance; what a tough act to follow!
 

I'll admit that the transition to Tim's art was at first very jarring. But after awhile, due to some combination of my getting used to the new style and Tim's rapidly improving, I now think Tim's work is awesome!

But, Tim, if you're reading this, I do have one suggestion: When you draw a face, you might want to get in the habit of holding it up to a light backwards before you ink it in. To illustrate what I mean, look at these faces:

 

 

(Sorry for chopping up your artwork like this....) I flipped them to make the problem more obvious. As you can see, they are all slightly skewed diagonally upward, all in the same direction. I think this has to do with what angle you're drawing at.
 

Don't take this the wrong way; I really love how you drew Nicole and Robotnik's faces there. It's just that my eyes are very attuned to this problem, because I have to fight it myself when I draw.

 

[EDIT: Removed the awesome shadowy Robotnik face from the above image; that wasn't supposed to be in there.]

 

On the whole, I love how much you've improved in such a short amount of time, and your style is very cool and unique! And I just took a comic-making summer class, so I definitely know how much effort you are putting into this, and I applaud you for it. Here's hoping you'll be able to stay with Sea3on as long as possible.

 

And it's also great that Stephen has stuck around as the colorist; it makes everything nice and atmospheric.

 

In sum: I already liked Sea3on somewhat, but I am now officially hooked. (First webcomic I can say that about.)

 

P.S.: Sorry I'm so long-winded!

[Sonic J]

*sees backwards images*

 

...

 

*squirms*

 

Oh my gosh, you're killing me. I'll try to weed that out, but I can't make any promises. =P

 

 

Boy do I feel so humbled by your comments on my art, thank you so much! You're right, it was a tough act to follow, Steve is a great artist. You have no idea how nervous I was.

[sonicroc]

LOL, glad to hear that was somewhat helpful. I enjoyed writing the review, although I think I got a little carried away!

 

Yeah, I think the classic solution to the slanted drawings is to use a tilted drawing table, so you're looking more straight-on at your picture. During my class, my solution was instead to bend way over my artwork, which my neck did not appreciate!

[RedAuthar]

Yeah, I think the classic solution to the slanted drawings is to use a tilted drawing table, so you're looking more straight-on at your picture. During my class, my solution was instead to bend way over my artwork, which my neck did not appreciate!

 

 

Not to disagree, but this solution only works if you are more comfortable with drawing with a tilt.  If you try drawing something on a flat surface and than try drawing something on tilted surface, you'll notice a difference in quality.  

 

An easy way to test this is try writing on a white board on a wall.  If your penmanship decreases in quality, likely your artwork will too.  If it doesn't than the solution should work for you.