Looking over this one after some time away, I’m a little worried I didn’t quite carry the sense of activity between panels well. Any graphic novel is going to have things happen in the space between panels, that’s just how the medium works, but I don’t quite feel like one panel properly flows from the next, here. That’s something I’m having to work on, through this whole graphic-novel-based-drawing-practice-thing. Luckily, the next several action scenes have given me plenty of practice.
I’m don’t carry much pride in New Eden. I know it’s a flawed work. My visual arts skills aren’t exactly of professional quality, I’m writing in a medium I’m extremely inexperienced in, and as a whole, New Eden is far from the greatest graphic novel ever. But you know what? That doesn’t matter. I just enjoy making it, and I’m finding that I enjoy posting it. There’s only a few people following along with this series, but that’s okay. In spite of my initial reticence to actually make any of my work public, It just feels good to have this out there, no matter how many eyes are on it. It’s something that I’m putting out there mostly for myself.
And hey, if you’re reading this, thanks for checking this stuff out.
Hey boys and girls, just back from a fortnight sojourning across the parts of America nobody likes to admit exist. Still not done with life stuff, but until we’re ready for regular content to resume, have some more of this.
Transcript
Panel 1
AGLA: Well, not really a guardian. More like a steward. An archangel, one of God’s most trusted, left to manage the place.
Panel 2
Smythe: You know what? Just take that somewhere. We’ll look over it once we get back to the states.
AGLA: What do you suppose happened to them? The guardian, the archangel?
Panel 3
AGLA: How about another old testament story? Are you familiar with Noah and the Ark?
Panel 4
Goon: Urgh!
Panel 5
Smythe: What the hell? What was that?
Panel 6
Goon: The engines! Something’s wrong!
Life’s getting the better of me again. Have some art while I sort things out. Eventually, we’re going to get to the point where I start realizing I need to make text larger to show up on screen. I look forward to that day.
Transcript
Panel 1
AGLA: That’s what this is about? You abducted me over a video game?
Goon: Don’t play dumb. We’re not the Japanese police, we won’t fall for that. Our citizens have been disappearing directly after playing your game, and nobody knows how your machine works.
AGLA: That’d be more a failing of American engineering than anything else, right?
Goon: Do you even realize the trouble you’re in? If we’re not happy with the info you give us, you’ll be spending the rest of your life in a prison on the ass-end of the Earth! Now, what is your game doing to our citizens?
AGLA: Are you a man of faith, Agent Smythe?
Smythe: Answer the question. What has your game done to our people?
Panel 2
AGLA: Do you believe in Heaven? Hell? Valhalla? Hades? Different worlds the soul travels to after death?
Smythe: Are you refusing to answer the question?
AGLA: What about the Garden of Eden?
Panel 3
Smythe: Refusal will have consequences.
AGLA: The paradise God cast Adam and Eve from when they gained the knowledge of Good and Evil, and lost their purity.
Panel 4
AGLA: God left a guardian there.
Panel 1
AGLA: Hmm?
Goon: The tablet! Give it to me now!
Panel 2
AGLA: That’s what you were yelling about?
AGLA: Sure. Here. Take it.
Panel 3
Goon: Where did you even get that? I thought they took everything off you when you got on.
AGLA: Sorry, I’m not quite fluent in English.
Panel 4
Goon: Do you even understand the situation you’re in? You need to take things more seriously.
Panel 5
AGLA: You’re questioning me, right? Aren’t I supposed to have a lawyer for this part?
Panel 6
Goon: If you were an American dealing with normal police, then yes. You’re Japanese, flying over international waters, and we’re the CIA.
Goon: We can do whatever we want with you. Now, tell us about your video game.
AGLA said he was ‘under the gun‘ right now! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am the world’s greatest writer!
So, the game in New Eden, this virtual reality everyone’s a part of, is pretty much a virtual reality MMORPG with a bit of Minecraft mixed in. I’ve probably spent less than 10 hours playing traditional MMORPGs in my life, total. And I kind of like the creative process that why. I’m probably not going to create something that’s immediately recognizable, given my inexperience with the medium, but as a result, the setting, or at least this game, will be a lot more unique than if I tried to make a generic MMORPG with complete knowledge of the form, and hopefully, more interesting because of it.
I’ve got a lot of experience with MUDs, text-based MMO-style adventures, and that’s what I’ve largely been basing the game off of. I have no idea if most MMORPGs will let you pull up a list of currently online players, like LadyHate mentioned last post, but that was a pretty common feature to MUDs, so in it goes.
Transcript
Panel 1
LadyHate: Agla?
LadyHate: Run?
LadyHate: What happened to Annie?
Panel 2
LadyHate: What the…?
LadyHate: Rain?
Panel 3
LadyHate: It’s never rained in-game before.
Panel 4
LadyHate: Clouds, too?
LadyHate: Annie, are you…
LadyHate:!!
No time, just postin’. 
Transcript
Panel 1
AGLA:So, I’ve got a plan for this game.
AGLA: That’s why I’ve sent each of the Midknights a set with one of these premade characters.
AGLA: I don’t have time to explain now, but find Olympus.
AGLA: He’s in the game, and he knows the plan. He can fill you in.
Panel 2
LadyHate: Olympus is playing? Yay!
LadyHate: Between the four of us, I’m sure we can convince everyone to play.
LadyHate: But… I’ve never seen him on the player list.
AGLA: Yeah, he doesn’t show up there. You’ll have to find him the hard way.
AGLA: I’m pretty sure he’s the only giant in the game, so keep an eye out for him.
AGLA: Anyways, the favor. A
GLA: I’ll need you to do this when you get your set too, Hate. Anke…
Lorelei: Can this wait for tomorrow? I really have to get to bed.
AGLA: The sooner the better. This’ll just take a minute.
Lorelei: Fine.
AGLA: Ok! To start, can you open your menu?
Panel 3
Lorelei: Menu? Lorelei: How do I…
Lorelei: Oh. I guess that’s it.
Panel 4
AGLA: Good.
AGLA: Now, do you see your Creation Aspect at the bottom?
Lorelei: Yes.
AGLA: Could you select it?
Panel 5
…
LadyHate: So…
LadyHate: What happens next?
Panel 6
LadyHate: AGLA?
LadyHate: Annie?
LadyHate: Are you ok, Annie?
AGLA: Hattie, I suggest you run.
I’ve mentioned plenty of times before that drawing a story takes sooo much longer than just writing it, and that’s changed my approach to storytelling. Oftentimes, I ended up mentally developing the characters as I’m writing them, rather than having them all planned out in advance. That happened with AGLA here, who, later on, turns out to have some minor importance to the plot. He’s not completely out of character in this page, but the way I’ve written him since, he’d probably say the same things in a different way.
Also, no dialog breakout this time. All the words are on the page.
LadyHate: Wait…
LadyHate: Does that mean you’re sending me a present too?
LadyHate: You asked if I hadn’t gotten the package “yet”!
AGLA: Well… yeah.
AGLA: I sent packages to all the Midknights.
LadyHate: That’s good. I was thinking you were maybe getting a crush on Annie.
AGLA: No, that’s not it.
AGLA: No offense Anke, I just wouldn’t want to make Silver jealous 😉
LadyHate: Hey!
Lorelei: Silver and I aren’t together.
LadyHate: I thought I was the only one who could speak smileys!
AGLA =^.^=
LadyHate: O.M.G.!
LadyHate: How did you do that?!
AGLA: I’m cheating a bit.
AGLA: I’ll have to tell you later.
AGLA: I’m kind of under the gun right now.
AGLA: I’ve got a couple favors to ask.
Lost to the Aether 