@everyone
thanks for the invite, opportunity, comments and critics. I tried my best on it xD

@kozispoon
- I'll try to consider trying to give more personality to my future buildings. But what if I wanted the focus on the character as opposed to the background? I feared some scenes would detract the focus on the character (unless the character is meant to look among the backgrounds)
-I cut sam's delivery to save myself from creating more pages that I know won't make me finish the comic.

@Bobo
-my visit to void years ago actually pushed me to start visit life drawing sessions for a year. I still try to remember to practice now and then. My favorites are quickposes.com, pixelovely, and sometimes croqius cafe. Buut usually when i draw free without any references any knowledge/experience i try to apply it usually flies out the window >_<

@MaxieWest
-thanks for the compliment!
-weird thing is that when I concentrate - drawing's come out good but i have bad habit of giving up on working on something if it takes too long. This work was rushed and pushed before I have second thoughts of giving up.


@Julz
-I do admit anatomy is my weakness that I'm strenghtening leetle by leeetle. I was hoping of a panel by panel scene where samuel comes up to the deliveryman.

@stormcrow
-Havoc is a villain, however if he's grateful, money is no question :3

@inksword
-I can't really stick to drawing consistent. I always sometimes want things cute :O But i should try a little harder on that next time.

Aaaah omg thank you everyone for the kind comments and the critiques! I really had a lot of fun working on this comic even with the time constraints of finals and such, and I am glad I managed to at least produce something that wasn't too messy to read! (a task I have failed at many times in the past)

@Inksword - I will keep that in mind next round and try to vary lineart color vs background color! (And lower my screen's brightness XD). Thank you very much for the advice! Also yeah, I was kinda doubting about the whole thing with the colors but I am glad to hear they aren't too clashy!

@Stormcrow - Aaaaaaaah you are so kind! °////° I personally love working with body language, and for this I was trying to push myself in terms of poses and communicating parts of the story mostly thru expressions... and backgrounds! Bc I love city bgs but I really need more practice on them! And yeah, Sam is kinda like a blank canvas here in Void... a blank, naive, easily influenciable canvas surrounded by all kinds of people, so I am really looking forward myself to how he will develop! And yes omg I got my fingers crossed for getting Kao5 as an opponent at some point bc I feel they would get along pretty well! As for battling Shen? Oh my, I don't think I am ready yeeet but my god it would be a honor to XD

@Julz - omg thank you! I was so insecure with the writing, I always have a hard time with it! Also I did try to do my best in the sense of flow, I am glad you found it fine! Thank you again! Also I am totally up for a challenge once I am out of the invite if you want! It'd be a honor for me!

@MaxieWest - Thank you! As for the colors, I will try to prevent them from ending up as dark next time... I hope!

@Bobo - Thanks! Yeah, lineart is not my forte XD And Gimp is no help, but it is mostly my fault for rushing it at the last second! Also yeah, speech bubbles hate me, I gotta learn to make them properly and how to fit them into a page without making it all cluttered XD I hope I can learn such before my next comic! Thank you again for the critique, much appreciated!

@Kozispoon - Haha! Thank you! I was going for that kind of looks! I love neon lights myself, it is one of my favorite parts if not my favorite part of the cityscape, and given that 1- I didn't have enought time to color the whole thing and 2- I wanted to give it all an unified look with a limited palette, that is the option I went for! Also thanks for pointing out the thing about page 2, it was bothering me a lot but I couldn't find why! Also I will keep that about speech bubbles in mind, they are my sworn enemy XD I really need to learn to properly distribute them in the page and to size the font accordingly. And yes, Sam is TOTALLY a lawful good, the poor sap XD  

ISHTARDRAGON- I love the way you used big ol' chunks of color for your panels. They're super in your face and- at least for me- give the sense of a bustling city what with all the neon and lights. That said, there were a couple instances I feel your colors could've been switched around to better showcase events. Case in point, page 2 where Havoc is spotted by Sam. Those panels showing off his face/sandwich should've really been pink. You choose such a dark purple color for that sequence, the viewer is left looking at the pink panel first because it looks like it should be the focal point. Also, I think all the spots of full color characters really stick out. I applaud the effort, but they don't feel like they fit into the color style you established at all.
Also, I know you were probably pressed for time so you packed it all in, but that fourth page seems overloaded with word bubbles. I think adding an  extra page to really showcase Samuels menu of cookable items would've better served to give you more space for your word bubbles and to offer the opportunity to draw some really delicious dishes.
That said though, Samuel is adorable- and apparently quite the cook! He has such a lawful good vibe to him- poor bastard couldn't even steal a sandwich right without feeling guilty, haha!

RAINBOW ICHI- Aww right, round 1 comic in the bag! Also holy toledo that is one impressive page count! I applaud your efforts in working on those backgrounds- drawing a city for your characters to run around in ain't easy! While I get the press for time (which will get easier, trust me!), as ever, I encourage punching it up. Buildings have just as much personality as people. Add some windows, cracks, someones planter on the sill- anything that'll keep your structures from just looking like a rectangle.
Story-wise...I'm not quite sure what to make of your events. I feel like Sam got into so many hijinks and madcap adventures delivering that package, but it all happened off screen. All we get is him screeching into panel exhausted its all done. Yet, we get a whole page detailing how he makes his way home/to a farm? I feel your focus was less on action and more on the mundane.

@Ishtar Dragon: I love the way you used colors to add interest to your comic in places where you didn't have time to do full-color shots (or just chose to mix up your coloring style). Toward the end, it looked just unfinished, but the beginning looked really neat! I love the variety of angles and shots you used, too. My one recommendation would be to work on your lines, because they look kind of wobbly (I hope that makes sense?). They could just be a little crisper, I guess. The speech bubbles felt a little off to me, too, but that might just be a stylistic choice.

@Rainbow Ichi: I'm digging your cute style! It's very much anime/manga-inspired, and I think it might do you good to experiment with other styles to find your own voice, but on the other hand I love the look of anime/manga! I would highly recommend that you spend some serious time as often as you can doing figure drawing from life or photo references. I use artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/ all the time, and I absolutely love it! I really couldn't live without my figure drawings, and even though they're always sketchy and sometimes I absolutely hate how they turn out, I can tell that my drawing improves a ton when I'm practicing the human figure regularly. I avoided it for the longest time because it seemed boring and I wasn't confident in my drawing-from-reference skills, but don't make the same mistake I did! Nothing will make your character art better than learning how the human figure works, and the best way to do that is through regular figure drawing. *Steps off of soapbox*

Awesome battle, you guys! Can't wait to see what you do next!

@Ishtar Dragon; Wow! I'm really digging the color block style paneling some of them are a bit too dark but overall it creates an extremely unique paneling style. The writing itself is wonderful as well and really gives a deeper look at both characters and their philosophies.

@Rainbow Ichi; You got so much completed this week its really impressive I really appreciate that you tried to include backgrounds in this! I think your characters feel a bit stiff at times and I think rather than a focus in looking at anatomy you might find it more beneficial to work on gestural studies. (Though I'm of the mind that there's nobody who doesn't benefit from anatomy studies as well haha)

Ishtar Holy crap your writing is so smooth. Even though some of your panels werent colored completely, it didnt really break the flow either. I really feel for the dilemma of sammuel, and the way you wrote your opponent is very intriguing. Im in love with your writing and i cant wait to read more!! Also i really wanna challenge you some time haha.
Rainbowwww your work has a very manga style to it. I feel like a lot of work went into the faces and the anatomy and poses were kinda neglected. Page 7 panels 2 and 3 seemed redundant but i do really love your first panel there. Your linework is really neat too and the way you make samuels ears raise up when he's emoting really made me laugh hahaha. Nice work!! Try to focus on keeping the pacing steady and not too rushed  (everything is happening here so fast!!) Great story! Cant wait to see what else you got for us! Youre going to stick around i hope!!

Oh no I love both these comics I friend!ship this so hard already please help

@Ishtar Dragon:
Man, I love how dynamic your work is and how unique your style of panelling for this comic was; it totally works, and I think it really fits Samuel's character-- not even sure HOW, but it does. I also love that you really took the time to draw environments; the balance between detail on your characters and your backgrounds is solid, and the time you put into this really shows. Samuel himself is really expressive; you're using his body language so well, and it puts a lot more emotion into this than might otherwise exist.
Re. Samuel himself, he's too pure for this world. What a sweetheart! I'm so worried for him here in Void City because he's going to come face to face with a lot of, uh, not nearly as nice characters, but looking at how you handled this battle I think you'll have no problems with that! I love the interaction between him and Havoc, I think you really portrayed Havoc in a way that makes them seem powerful and solid as a character and I'm sure your opponent will enjoy that. Really nice work, I can't wait to see more of this precious cheetah boy (also I want you to fight Fox because oh no cheetah vs cheetah, and also PLEASE FIGHT SHEN because you guys are like made for each other stylistically)!

@Rainbow Ichi:
Aw man, what a cute comic! I think your anime style is really endearing too, especially combined with the slice of life feel of this story. It's a great case of style matching storytelling, and I think that works in your favor. Like Ishtar, you also seem to have a very good balance between your figures and your background, which I commend you on-- one of the drawbacks to a more anime style can often be that the backgrounds are understated, but you've got a really lovely attention to putting in the detail and also varying the angle of your shots. So very well done on that!
I also love the story being told here, and like the idea that Havoc just sort of *yoinks* random strangers off the street to run his errands. Sending Samuel a box of comics at the end (tsuntsun note and all, haha) was a really sweet touch too; I would not have expected that at all, and it's a really nice touch to show that he's got a soft side too! I love this. I want them to be 'oh my god you drive me crazy why are we even friends' friends so badly.

Great job to both of you, these are both very solid and I love them! I look forward to more!

@Ishtar: I actually like your choice of color blocks, even though neon colors can be kinda annoying sometimes they somehow work with how you used them. My only complaint would be that in some of the darker blue/purple panels, I feel the low contrast between the black lines and the darker color didn't work as well. I really love the city panel on the last page though, maybe to up the contrast on the panels of color you can look to do monochromatic shading like that in your major panels as well! :O

@Rainbow Ichi: 9 pages is super ambitious for a week challenge! You got it done though which is impressive! I think the biggest thing for you to push for are consistant proportions, sometimes they looked a little chibi-like and I'm not so sure how intentional it was. Loved the little jab at the end though.

Oh my god it is great! I love Havoc so much, poor Sam's too curious for his own good! And the ending is perfect, Sam looks so hurt by Havoc's comment! Great work! This was a great battle!

I LOVE IT, *glomps Ishtar* this is so cool! and in 5 PAGES! <3 <3

Aaand it is up! It is short but I tried XD I hope you like it and sorry for probably writing poor Havoc wrong X'D

I gave it my best shot

I wish you two luuuuck!!!

GASP! Such a honor! To fight such a hottie as Havoc!