And one last thanks for Kent and Puzzle~ Every comment, every vote here is appreciated.

Kent: I'd think Caelum's secret weapon would be a super mega death laser, but I like the idea. ^_^  

Puzzle: I can't seem to find another anti-aliasing thing in my manga studio 4 ex, just the one checkbox for it under the pen tools shape tab. Which, I admit I didn't know it was there till halfway through page 1. I'ma try and look up online what you mean.  As for faces, I do have particular trouble with them, since I'm so used to the"anime" face, which is rather flat, and my recent attempts at learning head construction. I seem to slip between both randomly and it does mess up peoples faces a lot... hard to unlearn something to learn it again, heh. I'll put your link to good use!

I'm really hoping to shed a little light on who Sasami is and why Tsumi cares so much for her sister in the next comic or two, though that really depends on my opponent if I can find a way to tell that without putting them backseat to exposition. I'm really happy so many people are looking forward to her story, and even I'm excited to see what comes next. Thanks again everyone!

   Oh man, I hope you get comfortable with MS, because I'm totally in love with it. Just a tip, make sure you always keep your pen on like the second anti-alias setting (the little circles in the brush/pen properties). If you have it off completely, like you do here, it can make the edges of your line-work kinda rough.

       Your faces occupy this weird middle ground between flat and not flat. Like, your characters have pretty cartoony features, but you suggest stuff like curvature of the eye and the mass of the nose. But when you do that, their form doesn't feel as strong or as expertly rendered as your characters bodies. Do you break down your characters heads/faces into planes and shapes? You should check out this super cool thing http://studio2ndstreet.com/tutorials/s2s_HeadDrwgChrctrDesign.pdf to get a better idea of what I'm talking about, and from a much better artist. I think you can strengthen the form of your heads/faces and still maintain the cute anime/cartoon look you've got.

         I wish you'd put the same love into your backgrounds that you put into your muscles ;_;. They're often quite bare and without personality. Your use of 1 point is wrong on the first page, like you should either be able to see the counter tops, or more of the underside of the cabinets (depending on where the horizon line is supposed to be). Since you're using MS, don't feel shy about using the rulers, or even the perspective rulers, to give you an idea of how you should be moving forward with your setting. It actually looks like you tried out the perspective rulers on the top of page 4, since the background there is so accurate and clean.

       You've always surprised me with how well written and well considered Tsumi is as a character. It'd be super easy for her design to just be something incidental, for her bigness to have very little to do with her concept. But you took those physical properties and tied them deeply into who she is as a person, someone obsessed with physical strength and how she can use that to help others. It's the most perfect, heartbreaking move to make that strength/body fail her, and have her realize that she can't use brute force to truly help the people around her. It's awesome work dude, and I can't wait to see where you head next.

OH I love Tsumi so much I just enjoy hearing her thoughts on everything and her dedication to her workout and those people she cares for. Also, them muscles--wow! You've really paid great attention to the anatomy in general, and Tsumi's physique is the clear centerpiece. Very nice work. I absolutely love day-in-the-life stories, especially giving insight into Caelum and its inhabitants. I think Tsumi is Caelum's secret weapon, and probably its heart. This was a really fun read. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for even more comments you guys~ ^_^

G.lo: Hopefully I can find out how, but Manga studio doesn't seem to really like when I import stuff. I probably need more time with it. I'm really glad you liked it, and that the love birds got to spend some time together.

Psycho: Dawww, optimism in the face of adversity I guess. thanks for reading~

Julz: I appreciate the comment on Tsumi's muscles, even if i'll always disagree. hehe. But I suppose that's because I know how badly I got the references I used. Sorry for making you sad!

Kozi: Thanks for the comments on this and my last battle too~ I'm really happy that Tsumi's managed to be so compelling for you. And yeah, Mimi playing with a type writer and an actual mouse was a last second joke that I couldn't pass up. hehe.

I never though I'd get to this point in Tsumi's story on void, much less any further. But it's nice to know so many people are looking forward to reading it. I hope I can get more comics done despite the holiday season coming up.

Its funny how you just expect certain fighters to be certain things, but their artists totally throw you for a loop. I think Tsumi totally fits that bill. I expected a big dumb brawler who would always be picking fights and crushing mens skulls between her thighs, but you not only created a very compelling character but as a reader I've found myself so fully invested in her comics that this earth shattering news really hits me in a way I don't think would've been successful with a one dimensional fighter.

I love seeing a B.B where a fighters influence and interaction all comes together in a montage of sorts. We get to see the connections Tsumi's made, the life she leads, the discipline she requires. I found myself roving over he pages (despite being a bit on the rough side, but kudos for challenging yourself to try a new program!) fully enjoying this 'getting to know you' slice of life deal. I also dig you kept your fellow voider battles canon by including the videogame group which cracks me up. Mimi a dated character playing videogames on a typewriter- genius!

Definitely keep doing comics for yourself, and I hope this isn't your last B.B. Powerful stuff!

 

Im simply blown away by the musculature that you put into tsumi. Its all so organic I love it! And thanks for the return cameo lol. Still upset about this story line. It is makin me sad!!! But really though its goodnwork and a great stor5. Im excited to see how tsumi works through this.

wow, just WOW!!!

I love this character even more than ever. I love how involved Tsumi is with her life and the people involved in her life as well but also the fact that she worries about her affect on their lives really hits hard.
Like your art Tsumi as a character is well executed and well made as your comics progress and even though this was a sad comic i wasn't too bummed out. More or less because reading the story gave me such a good optimistic feeling about the situation like how Tsumi kept her focus and optimism up.
I also thought the days of the week for each page was a clever touch and it was cool to see tsumi's daily routine, and i also chuckled at the Dr.Pye cameo too.

Great story, i'm glad i read it and i can't wait to see more

As sad as this was, I really liked it. I got the "journal" vibe which I think was neat to have, especially in the news that was uncovered in your last one.

Interesting little tidbit that this is your first bb! You come up with amazing stories with your regular battles, and this one was a great peek into Tsumi's life. You've really given developed her, and I think you could come up with even more great solo stories. I am definitely looking forward to more, so I hope you plan to do more!!

All the cameos were awesome and what a way to say thanks! Gosh Drumstick and Remmy are adorkable! Hehe!

I don't know much about MS, but maybe you can go back and forth between it and Sai? I mean, definitely experiment and see which you like for certain tasks, but I do that with Sai and PS - Sai takes care of anymore linework I need to do and PS is in charge of the colors. Seeing all those characters and their affects on Tsumi's life and vise versa made for interesting snippets of interaction.A note about the backgrounds- where you do have them, they look pretty thought out and like actual space where the characters would interact. The panels you do have against no background in it would look awesome with those thought out backgrounds! And the backgrounds you have don't look crowded at all. Just something to experiment with as well!

 

Glad you guys liked it! sorry to bum people out with another sad comic. heh. I tried to do a lot with this comic besides just explaining where Tsumi's at in her life in void. Forcing myself to use and learn manga studio was one of them, which obviously meant it didn't look as nice as usual. Sai's what I'm used too, but MS has so many useful tools I was determined to get some use out of it.

The second was... well.. a thank you. Void has done so much for me, and not just artistically, that I wanted to cameo as many of my previous opponents or people who've drawn Tsumi, as I possibly could in this comic. I know I didn't get everyone and I'm sorry for that. I couldn't find a way to fit EVERYONE I have to thank on void into Tsumi's average week. I just hope everyone I tagged in this thing manages to stop by and read it, just so they don't miss out on the cameo.

Lastly, this is the first comic I've done without an opponent in... well since I started void. I felt that by now I might be able to manage to decide to do something myself, then complete it. I know it's not my best work here, but it's done. A year and a half ago, I couldn't do this. Now I can. So thanks again voiders.

pyras: I was intending to make it seem more like a journal, and yeah, there's WAY too much empty space. I'm not too good yet at making things seem full without seeing just messy, but I'm going to work on that. Hopefully going to more of a full greyscale instead of pure black/white for inks might let add those specs for realism.

Sean: Dawww, Thanks~

Shen: Sorry for more tears, big girl had some stuff to work out. (bad pun) ^_^

CRYING CRYING ALL OF THE CRYING
I was sa little curious where you were going with this daily routine comic, like "okay what is this leading up to" and there was nothing especially climactic about it I still think this bit of slice-of-life was important for Tsumi because this is a woman who KNOWS she is DYING and so every second of the day COUNTS so she would be taking care to make sure shes doing something useful with all of it. Her self doubt at the end about if what shes doing will really be of much use to her friends when shes gone and what she can do now to help them later was very touching. Also I'm always impressed that you can make Tsumi so muscular yet so feminine. I think you draw large muscles better than, like, everyone. Inking was not as tight here as it has been in the past but thats only a minor complaint. Also, Lilyfeather apologizes about the zombie outbreak. =D

Teared up a little on that last page. But overall you really have grown over the years and your storytelling/art has come a long way. I am impressed to say the least!

Very interesting comic

There's a bit too much empty space I feel, but what's in the panels are good stuff. I would take the time to texturize those walls (with your pencil/tablet pen, not a texture copy/paste) so they're not so flat. Even adding a bit of specks and tiny strokes, etc., makes a big difference, trust me, try experimenting with that next time.

Phew... barely an hour and a half left till it's due, and all done!

Soooo excite for this! :DDD