CRACKINGSKULLS- PIP! <3 Haha, I love how I see more of Pip in your comics and art than from the actual creator. I love that he's just become a sidekick AND that Xia has a puppy posse! A dog lovin' lady after my own heart, she is.
As usual, your action scenes are pure poerty. I love how effortless you make it look (as I personally have a tough time with action). Your explosions and effects are enough to bring a tear to John Woo's I, I tells ya. If I had to nitpick anything, it'd be with your expressions. Xia especially has such a vivacious personality its a shame it doesnt seem to translate in her expressions. Perfect example being the last page where she finds her piece of coal. IT just seemed so underwhelming when that was meant to be big pay off.
GREGLY- The colors, dog! The colors! Definitely some eye catcing pages! I dig your interactions with the characters used, even if they seemed a wee bit off script (Miller a party bro? whaaaa), not to mention its great to finally see ol' Regi meeting Xia in comics as opposed to jams. Will we get to see some unrequited luvin' in your next battle? I sure hope so!
Gregly:
Agree, coloring is getting better. It's always a good idea to double check your pages are sized properly when uploading, page 3 was ginormous, haha. I kinda wish the lettering mistakes had been whited-out, like the crossed-out "S" before Santa on page 4, as little things like that can go a long way towards quality. However, I do like the letters themselves. Very easy to read, legible, consistent. Overall, I liked it. I also liked that the two comics tied together to tell one full story. I always love when people do that!
Skulls:
I really dig the overall style and line-work in your comic. The way it's toned looks good throughout, and I dig the blue. I liked the script, though there were a few places where you could have used different words, or where sentences didn't exactly flow well, such as, "Alright, you and I both know kidnapping Santa is twice as illegal than kidnapping a citizen." It probably should have been either "kidnapping Santa is MORE illegal than kidnapping a citizen," or, "kidnapping Santa is twice as illegal AS kidnapping a citizen." It's a rather small complaint though, and probably just a typo. Same as on page 10, "We're not finished this you know." Probably needs a "with." Your lines though.... I very much like them. So crisp and clean. Loved the zinger that Buff Santa left for Xia.
That was a great collab, guys! Kind of bummed that we didn't get to see what Regi got Xia, but I guess that wasn't important to the story. Not going super in-depth here, but I just wanted to mention that I think Gregly's coloring is definitely improving and that Skulls's action was fun and Xia's expressions were well drawn. Sweet deal, dudes!
This two parter was a cool idea and you guys did great! Buff Santa = Best Santa.
Skulls- Love the blue tones you used; it feels like it adds a lot for how simply it's colored (sorry you couldn't do all of it). On page 5 watch out for Gwen's top right speech bubble- it looked like Regi was saying it since the bubble's tail is on his scar and not really near Gwen at all. I really dig your art style a lot. The ending was really cute!!
Gregly- Yaaaay Gwen and Regi!! Your comics are always funny and cute. Not sure if this sounds stupid but you draw conversation really well. Don't know how you've been physically doing speech bubbles- but try something else. It looks like you cranked the levels up waaaay to far to clean it. Also, on that same page- I had written this huge thing about how I was so confused on what was going on top left panel with Xia. I now get that it's seen through Regi's eyes- this isn't apparent. You really needed to have colored the side bar or something because I was trying to figure out what room she was in. The color palette is too close to the bottom left of page one, so it doesn't look like it's special and coming from Regi. It also doesn't help that you use the same technology on page 8 and the shots are through Regi's eyes, but you didn't draw the scanner and stuff; it should be consistent.
There is one thing I'm a little confused about that you both kinda did-
Isn't Gwen blind or something?
You both gave Regi his scar but Gwen seems fine. This doesn't come across really in either comic. I know blind people still face directionally (what a weird thing to type) but in a comic setting you need to be more obvious about to it make sure it's apparent.
Skulls in your art style no one has pupils or a color fill but those are two good ways you can show blindness; it looks like Gwen had the same eyes as everyone else making it seem like nothing is wrong with them. Also in your comic she reacts to magic being cast at her which I guess she can sense but it doesn't help the problem.
Gregly you could have done more of the wall-eyed/Simpsons style for her eyes which you've done in the past and is a funny/cute way to show she's not really looking. I know you didn't color them in and gave everyone's eyes a color, but it's not totally noticeable when you're looking at the whole page.
UG SORRY THIS IS LONG AND WORDSWORDSWORDS (i wanted to write something useful) but I really did like these comics and I'm so glad to see all these guys again! This was def cute to read today and def will be looking out for more! I love that Void comics can have a history with all these characters interacting over time. Hope you guys had a Merry Chr- oh never mind it's past midnight (jk ilu)
edit: holy shit this IS long ;-; sorry
Guys this was fantastic. Muscle Santa is now a thing. May he always make sure suckers know what the meaning of Christmas is haha!
SKULLS: Love these blue tones you were going with- they looked super sweet! Sucks you couldn't keep it up through out. I do agree with Pocky that you might benefit from thicker lines- I was kind of taken out of the story because of the drastic change - maybe if the lines weren't so thin to begin it wouldn't have been such a shock? I ono something to mess around with. I did very much enjoy the action and I know I don't comment much but I do see amazing improvement in your work every time you post new work! Keep gettin awesomer!
GREGLY: Loved everyone's personality and facial expressions! You definitely work with facial expressions well! I do think you need to watch the placement of your speech bubbles - sometimes they overlap frames which lead the eye to that frame and it's not actually the frame we need to go to. I had to double back a couple of times because I ended up reading out of order because of that. You do a great job separating your flats though and making contrast without the use of shading!
This was a super cute story! Great job peeps!
oh my god there is so much here to love XD Muscle Santa! Drunken Miller! Evil Xia! this is the best and most Void-iest Christmas ever, lol! Proper critique to follow, just wanted to let you know how much I love this, haha!
MyHatsEatPeople:
I don't know if Pocky realised you did both parts.
Also WIZZIE WILL BARF WHEREEVER SHE LIKES.
This was a great little story! I loved to see Xia's little evil streak
I don't know if Pocky realised you did both parts.
Also WIZZIE WILL BARF WHEREEVER SHE LIKES.
This was a great little story! I loved to see Xia's little evil streak
Did you both agree on Muscle-Santa or just pure coincidence?
CrackingSkulls: The line work gets very thin, especially after page nine when you stopped putting in tones on the comic. I can see you have line variation, but the lines itself are all very thin. Might want to use an even thicker line width for the foreground. Especially when Pip is in the comic, because the super bold shapes just overpower everything else in the page, making the lines seem even thinner than they already are.
Gregly: I hope there's a conclusion. I want to nitpick at page 3--I think you should have used a more conputerized font for the first panel, since Regi is a robot and all, and to distinguish it's in his head and not something else.
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