Note: The current story arc begins at Strip 446

May 2, 2005

Today is my Mom's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Some new fanart today from The Man in Black.

So about today's strip: I was faced with a bit of a flow problem. I didn't really notice it until I was nearly done, but some people might not know what order the last two panels are supposed to be read.

The correct order is: Jenn's hand gets grabbed. Jenn looks up. Final frame is Queen Jena and the others on the carpet.

However, it's easy to go straight from Jenn's hand being grabbed to Jena and the gang, then down to Jenn looking up.

This actually stumped me for a while. There are several possible solutions to this problem. The easiest is arrows. Zortic uses arrows to great effect. Here is an example where Mark Mekkes encountered the exact same layout problem I had.

Another solution I consider pretty innovative is used by EYKIR. Rob Sisco puts what he calls "Flow Lines" from panel to panel. Here is an example of the flow lines where he encountered a similar layout problem (in the top half of the comic).

What I finally settled on was a more subtle approach. I had a talk bubble span two frames. You can't help but read them in the right order.

Finally, you'll notice I put a nifty little button on the left to take you directly to the GURPS C&A order page. Cause, uh... you should buy a copy for every day of the week! yeah...

-ATW