Sorry for this belated reply, I got swamped with real life stuff but LET ME GET TO THIS because I don't want to take away attention from the R2 LSDT comments and comics-

@ablob: Yeah, I am 100% aware of the BGs vanishing there, the last page was literally done in the hour before the deadline so I had to limit it to the necessary stuff. I really wanted to give more love to the explosion too, but alas.. Thank you for the art compliment!

@Underwood: I am flattered, thank you !

@Julz: yo, I was nice to Sally in my comic :,(

@Pyras: me teaching folks? That's quite the accolade, thank you!
But yeah I was really unhappy with the way I handled the comic towards the end mostly because I neglected to introduce the angry dude in the beginning of the comic, I don't even want to look at it again for that reason haha.

@Puzzle: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH PUZZLE Your comment warmed my heart and made me feel a lot better about my comic (I did not like it after I submitted it, but the worse alternative is defaulting, so better that I did) haha. Your suggestions are helpful so I will def keep them in mind! I'm stoked you enjoyed the visual pacing, panelling and artwork, too! THANK YOU..

@Roflqu: I'm blushing so much, I'm humbled from all your generous praise, dude. Thank you! And thank you for this battle too. I'm glad you enjoyed what I was able to put out in the limited amount of time I had to the point where you'd like a rematch later. I'll take you up on that for the future!

Speaking of which, in the time I've been gone, I noticed you've improved quite a lot too. Not only has your style has developed and grown into something quite distinct and charming,  you're producing a lot of finished work more consistently and you won SRT with Dr. Fabulous, wow! That's definitely something to be proud of progress-wise.

I was actually nervous coming into this fight with you too, not only because I was pretty rusty with comics, and not very good at short comics, but because I knew you would likely come up with something unexpected or interesting, and I was correct on that hunch. You came up with a solid 3-pager and the page limit definitely benefited you more than I. Your characterization and dialogue was strong on this comic and you were spot-on with setting the darker mood and atmosphere, I definitely got chills with the unexpected way you portrayed my character especially the type of tone you set up initially through the intro comic with Sally. My favorite parts have got to be how raw and visceral the way you conveyed the one impact panel where he's in pain (specifically the AHHH and the fire jet blasting out of his pupil hole, fuck yea! awesome visual idea) - the speed ink lines were really fluidly and artistically done, and the face melting parts gave me flashbacks to the one segment in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The build up and everything was managed excellently for the time and page limit. I am not a fan of the SDT tournament story setup, because it kind of makes things a bit too straightforward in terms of giving characters a motivation to meet up/kill each other, but it worked in your favor.

 Critique wise,  I found myself wishing that there was a bit more "linger" time or some type of visual emphasis on the parts where he started to melt away. I wasn't sure if I agreed with his figure being blackened being a visual choice after he started realizing he was burning, since blackness in relation to fire is usually indicative of ash, and the fire already finished in burning the object in question, it would have made a lot more sense to have the black by the time Mr. Shui had progressed into a skeleton I think  In general I think what might benefit you for future comics, paying a bit more careful attention to the volume of shapes and having shadows and light sources fall properly on the shape of objects (small example, when Sally is hiding out in the dumpster, having the rectangle of light wrap around the form of his legs, and the trash that the light hits. ), that will give your illustrations a lot more dimension! It will go a long way with conveying the tangible quality of the world around your characters.

Anyways, despite my visual nitpicks it didn't really detract from the experience overall for me, great job with this man, this was a close round, and good luck with future rounds in LSDT!

Thank you for the kind words everyone, it's greatly appreciated.

Puzzlething: The pink light was decided when I realized what I was originally coloring with sort of lacked a little pop. I had no real plan going into it that a pink light was going to show up at all, so if it seems a little slap-dash, there's a reason for that. I wanted to have the bubbles pop up so that they were more readable, but I will totally try to play with my noise some more (I got a brush for it from the Kyle Megapack, so trying to utilize it more).

Pyras: You're completely right on the fire and that became more an issue of time than anything else.

Julz: Bring tissues, this kid's getting worse before he gets better.

Underwood: Salut.

ablob: Thank Bobo for the nothing to see joke, I requested solid black thumbnails so the story wouldn't be ruined and he was a clever duck about things.

Charlie: Thank you, and you're absolutely right. Generally speaking, before SRT, I always handwrote and hand drew my bubbles, so I'm trying to get a better grasp on working with them.

Kozi: Thanks!

Taylor: That's entirely possible about the text size.

Layeyez:  Sally is certainly innocent, but he did fight prior this and he will display some fighting prowess in the later rounds.

Minteh: Thanks so much, glad you approved.

Fern: Hopefully you like the change of font next round.

=====================================================

Airlight, judging by the amount of votes, the amount of points, and the fact that this entire battle looks like it belong somewhere in 2007 - 2008 due to the amount of activity surrounding, it's clear that we should haven't had had this fight until the semi-finals at least. You're the first opponent in a while who really scared the hell out of me and had me wracking my brain to make this fight and this character work. Time has only been kinder to your abilities that were already impressive when you left but are now absolutely incredible. You do great and colorful worlds and I can only wish that you had an on-going webcomic so you would get heaps more praise and notoriety.

I'm humbled by the fact you've got such a mastery and control in what is only 2 days for you and I am really awed by how you can do such great lighting and glowing effects on your pages. It couldn't have been easy to work with two nice characters to try and have them kill one another, so I can absolutely understand the route you did with your story. In all honesty, I ran into that exact issue, which is why I had to make Mr. Shui become unhinged as I did.

Anything I could say at this point would just continue to be praise for what is truly an exceptional craft that you've really grown into the last few years. Simply speaking, I want a rematch down the line without the restrictions of this tournament. You deserve all the accolades and I wish we hadn't had to produce the final round of the tournament in the first week. Astounding work.

ROFLQU     -

                I think it's especially hard to do sad stories during SDT, just because you have so little time to make people really care about your main character, and you've totally done it dude. I hope we get more of Sally next round, but your treatment of Mr. Shui was really interesting! The subtlety and care you put into his monologue is really apparent, and we get a really clear sense of soooo much stuff just by hearing him talk. His desires, his delusions, he's a great character.

               I also really appreciate you're pacing and use of panels. I totally think you straddle that great line between "Too much and draws attention to itself" and "unique and enhancing to the story itself". The eye eating panels were especially horrific.

           I only really have tiny, dumb crits. Most majorly, I like the addition of the burning pink, but I think it could've been integrated more. I wanted some of it in the environment itself, and I also think you needed to do a little more with it than just put it at the very edge of objects. Make it a little more internally interesting and respect the form of objects in the room. I think maybe if you had just decided what the pink light actually was (and just played really fast and loose with it) it might've made it a little easier for you to use it as more than like an almost outline.

          Also, I loooooooooooooooove noise, but I'm not super sure I'm into the way you're using it here? Most people I know who use it will set it to a blending mode to make it feel a little more integrated. This is just kinda lying on top. I normally use overlay, but that's just me. At the very least, you need to make sure it's on the very first layer, because right now your speech bubbles are completely clean and it's incredibly jarring.


AIRLIGHT      -

                  YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS .


                  Ugh ugh gughhghghghghghg I love your art so much dude. I feel like Mr. Shui, just swallowed by this rare, careful, and effortless beauty in front of me. The colours, the texture and use of space. You've also gotten so much better at clarity and composition, I don't feel overwhelmed by your art as much as I feel swallowed by it. I've always thought your name was so totally perfect, because that's what your art is like. Like the air itself turned into liquid light and just happened to be a comic.

                 Concerning the story, I think there were a few missteps, but you got alot more right then you did wrong. Like, all you needed was that third character somewhere in the establishing shot, maybe amidst other peeps yelling stuff to attract customers. I also think I would've liked the stab on Sally to have a much stronger focus in the panel were happened. Like zoom in on it instead of zooming out. So yeah, that stuff could've been be changed, but outside that I LOVED the pacing, and the way to story flows so effortlessly through your amazing panel layout. Like, your visual storytelling is absurdly nice. One of my favorite moments are those two super thin panels on page 2. In such a miniscule space you created such a  tone perfect moment, and so much pretty story. I'm so so happy I got to see more of your comics dude! I'm such a huge fan haha.

Roflqu: Bringing the pain on round one! You've handled the crafting and branding of your character probably better than anyone else has in the tournament so far, going the distance with a great intro comic so we are instantly attached to this lil guy and his harrowing journey! I don't expect anything short of greatness from future comics should you proceed to the next round. What I would have wanted to make this comic perfect is more color variations with the third page with the fires. The single dim orangey shade flattens the art and doesn't do justice to the raw emotional impact happening on the pages.

Airlight: I can't think of anything to say artwise honestly you should be teaching the rest of US. I legit gave you a solid 10 on that mark, congratulations! What this comic lacks is in story; even with the little exposition slapped in the firebrand dude jumping in kind of gave a rushed feel and one can tell given how you crammed in more in the last page that this was a story your mind subconsciously was trying to make into more than 3 pages, as you take your time with the development but are suddenly forced to cut the encounter short.

Keep up the great work

SALLY NO!!! I'm going to cry this is so mean!!! DX

You both set the standard for which this tournament is heading. I have no qualms. You both get top drawer marks from me. Bloody excellent chaps.

ROFLQU - Haha "nothing to see there" I get it haha haha ow. Damn. Is your strategy making all your opponents feel too sorry for Sally to kill him, because I think it might be working.

Airlight - Your art is so sharp! Wow! And the colors -- it's making me want to fill my house with pretty glass sculptures. Your backgrounds started disappearing on the last page though -- I felt like it would've had more impact if the pillar of flame had a bit of a background to ground it in reality, instead of floating in a void.

Hey guys, just wanted to drop by real quick and thank everyone as a whole for taking the time to leave comments & critiques!

I already realize my story played out a bit strangely with the suddenness -  I have changed it once even, but by the time I realized it still didn't work as well as it could due to poor planning, it was a bit too late to change anything.

I could've included an establishing shot showing that Sally is exhibiting his work in a highly competitive art festival in the city, and the third character a bit more in the beginning - that would've probably solved my issue easily, but I had no time and I was already pushing my page limit. I only had the last 2 days to work on this comic since something else occupied my time for the first 2 days.  

Anyways, regardless of the outcome I will definitely take a more thought-out, solid approach to the narrative in future comics, for sure.

@Minteh: I would internally combust out of shame if it was as shiny as my old stuff, lol. I've learned a lot in my time away and developed a different type of approach to using palettes and color! You're correct that my character is named after water, his name literally means "River Water", so I thought it appropriate to use watercolor as a medium. I did have a bit of an issue trying to figure out a good death for Sally but I wanted him to die feeling confident, in a blaze of glory at least.

@Kozi: Thank you, for your compliments on my visuals. I'm glad you enjoyed the build up, that was the one part I felt okay about in regards to my own comic.

@Charlie: THANK YOU FOR THE WELCOME BACK MY BRUTHA, I hope I'm able to fight more here in general!

Both of you have really good comics, I won't really get into too heavy a crit but here is a few small words anyway.

AIRLIGHT-  your colours are damn phenomenal and I wish I had the eye for them like you do, the way you've honed them down now is that they are so razor sharp that they cut straight through my eyes and EXPLODE INTO MY BRAIN. Sure that's hyperbolic but dude, welcome back . I know there are things you and I have already talked about regarding your comic so I won't get into them here I am just glad you are back !!

ROFL - It's cool to see you making more improvements with your style man, the ink work is getting really tight and your colours are getting better. I don't really have much more to say than that I guess - but you are moving into your own now. If I had one thing to say its maybe work on those text bubbles man, get them as tight as your drawings .

ROFLQU- This comic is so great in how unexpected it was. I'm sure others besides myself saw Salli and assumed we'd get a charming feel good actiony first round, so to see you come outta nowhere and submit this chilling tale really got my attention. I don't know if its because you knew you were up against Airlight, but your art has really tightened up in this comic. You've got some effects and levels of detail in your inkwork that is really enviable. I certainly hope you keep this momentum if you move forward.

AIRLIGHT- Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. You've definitely come along since we last saw you on void and what you've returned with is such a stunning and aesthetically pleasing style. Your colors are rich and dreamlike and incorporate well with the watercolor effects. That said, your story left much to be desired. I enjoyed the build up of friendship between Salli and Shui and was really wondering how you'd turn this around into a death, but the incorporation of a third nobody that we don't care about felt kind of throwaway.

Light Speed Critique: Rofl, OUCHIES! heh. text might be a little unnecesarily big for the size of the page. Air, The ending seemed to come out of nowhere considering an otherwise adorable comic plot. But so beautiful~

Dude Airlight Iove the atmosphere in your comics also im a big fan of dynamics you have an awesome way of throwing sweets very calming colours, felt good laying eyes on them, love the action cant wait to see more

Rolfqu I like that perhaps having a pasifist character you might end up playing the victim in a battle,, I do like overall tone you placed in your comic, a bit trama is always interesting.  

So, so blown away

Rofl: I'm very partial to dark themes and this felt so nice to read through, your writing prowess really shines through here and it's punctuated by gorgeous dark and textural art, I could re-read this one again and again, literally a perfect comic for me.

Airlight: I'm actually a little relieved it's not as shiny as your past stuff on the site, I was super excited to see what you were going to bring to the table and I love that you went with soft flowing watercolours to complement the nature of your character (who's literally named after water, I think?).  While I think the art overall was definitely your strongest point, the weakest point was probably your story - it feels a bit like you scrambled to fit a death in there.  Really cool to see you back in the saddle here!

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh!

Rolfy SO SO SO DARK i wanna see what happens next! Kinda digging this dark theme at the mo, eating bits of things that are still alive etc Don't ask... Art is p. great too! I hate the font tho but you know it I said it many time haha

Airlight OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH SUCH BEAUTIFUL!! It felt really soft and delicate when you read it just after Rolfsters though.

Holy shit, I love how our stories turned out to be polar opposites depicting Shui, in terms of how he viewed Sally, I enjoyed yours quite a lot ! The method of death and build up was really unique, you definitely took a darker route with your comic. I'm out of it at the moment, but I'll make more thorough commentary later as well. Great job man!

who thought that eatin raw salamander was a goos idea? This guy...and he's dead.

This turned out awesome. Amazing job. I'll critique for real later, but just terrific.

CHAOS!!!

I GET TO READ ANOTHER AIRLIGHT COMIC BEFORE I DIE. TODAY IS A GOOD DAY!

I was thinking more of this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMhwC-ciEaI

In other words, YOU CAN DO IT WAFFLE Q!

haha, good luck and have fun, both of you

oh my gosh!! Good luck, cant wait to read these! what a match!!

Things fucking blow.

EDIT: This is me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8t2VxWLGbI