Lovechild Tournament 2021, Round 2 / Todd vs. Abbadon ("Abby")

Lovechild Tournament 2021, Round 2 — Todd vs. Abbadon ("Abby")

by TheCydork and Badger

This comic has been rated suitable for teens and up by its creator(s)

Icon for Todd50.7%
788 points
Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15

Crit level: Open to any comments or critiques
tags: Abby Abbadon, Lovechild2021, Todd


by Rose and neens

This comic has been rated adults only by its creator(s)

Icon for Abbadon (49.3%
766 points
Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11

Crit level: Open to any comments or critiques




Critiques & Comments
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Rivana
Artist
367 comments
# 16   Posted: Apr 13 2021, 08:15 AM
Another close match! I am pretty sure I voted evenly for both. Both stories are captivating and very solid art on all sides! You're both winners in my book!

Congrats Team Todd! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the Finals!

TheCydork
Artist
606 comments
# 15   Posted: Apr 9 2021, 09:23 PM
Thanks everyone for the comments!! Glad we seem to have improved this round >:3

I was gonna toss this sentiment in Llaana's side, so apologies for the echo, but man this would've made for a great round 1 entry. We see what Todd's conflict is, he has a motivation and we see his personality as he follows through with trying to resolve it. This all is just a nice solid plot hook that I'm bummed this was a round 2 comic because if you move on we only have the final round to explore it further. :< I wanna know more about those voices! Who the demon made people are, does he work at that cemetery or is he legit graverobbing?
Quote from: Kozispoon

Kozi, your questions were actually answered within the comics XD But I'll explain below the cut in case we weren't clear.

Deep dive time: ShowHide

I'll get to that first point later, but as for the rest... The voices are demons that Todd has willingly let possess him! The demons reveal why on page 4, Abby makes note of this on page 6, and Todd mentions it as well on page 14.

Pg4 - "Didn't you summon us to help you? So listen for once."
Pg6 - "Woah, there's a lot going on in there. How many freeloaders did you let possess you, huh?"
Pg14 - "...She's just a demon anyway. I exorcised her, I can exorcise you too."

The "demon made people" are various victims of his curse. They're not anybody in particular, just unlucky ones :( we figure a collection of friends and people who got too close by accident. That's why we put labels like "Neighbour: Mrs Roberts" on the cages. Todd asks if Abby can help him "turn these poor souls back" on page 6, admittedly though that doesn't make it super clear that they were accidents. As for the graverobbing vs cemetery worker, yeah it's just straight up graverobbing lmao. Even if he did work for the cemetery, no matter how you cut it it's graverobbing. Cemetery workers aren't allowed to dig up corpses and take them home to feed to monsters XD Also, in Round 1, on the first page "graverobbing" was one of the crimes on his record.

Now for that first part! Why wasn't this in Round 1? We used Strigoi and the handler's death as a catalyst for Todd in this round (though for Todd, the handler made more of an impact being a human). It's the jumpstart he needs to go to more extreme lengths to cure himself. We tried to reveal that in the conversations on pages 2 and 4.

Pg 2 - "You can't still be thinking about that day in the cabin."
"Somebody- two somebodies died back there, how can I not think about it?"

Pg 4 (honestly the whole page but especially this line) - "I don't want to wait for somebody else to die."

The implication is that these deaths were the first to result directly from his curse - all the other victims have been contained, as seen by his basement. We touched on that back in Round 1 itself as well, on page 12 - "I couldn't stop her this time." So the seriousness of the curse has increased in his mind.

It would also have overly complicated the story in Round 1 to toss the demons in. Todd went to the house for an exorcism job, imagine the questioning he'd get if disembodied voices started coming from his head. We knew the voices would be there since Todd's inception, as would the basement monsters, and maybe if this wasn't a tournament and we could pick our opponents we would have introduced them earlier. But we couldn't, and we'd rather not force them into a story where they don't jive, so here we are. There was a lot of thought and agonising over the decision u-u Some round 1 drafts did actually include the head demons, but were ultimately scrapped.

Kozispoon
Artist
1211 comments
# 14   Posted: Apr 8 2021, 08:03 AM
Man, round 2 went HARD. These are both fantastic comics! I can see why the votes were so neck in neck because really, this is a tough vote either way. The pair of you seemed to hit your stride and gave us more about your lovekid, their character and situation in unique ways that left me excitedly turning the pages.

BOBINA- I love love the design of demon Vanya. We had that idea brewing in the event we faced Todd, so I'm snapping my fingers you guys got to it first and executed it in such chilling style. It's also a clever way to dispatch your round 2 opponent and still manage to make your character look sympathetic. By way of comparison, I think y'all have hit your stride because this encounter and death seems stronger than your round 1. Your rich inks really made for robust look and creepy execution, but I'll second the notion that these scenes and just all these pages in general wanted for some spot blacks to really enhance the scene. Without they felt a bit naked. I also wanted to touch on the feedback you got via the discord because I think it's a good note. That Castle establishing shot is stunning and a feat of work and detail, especially on such a tight deadline. But the building is admittedly flat with zero perspective. I know it was mentioned by others  it doesn't serve the story, but I'm admittedly conflicted on that. I personally think its eye-catching by way of backdrop, but I can see how a reader would wonder as to where, why and how as that isn't explained. Now I'm wondering if they WERE in hell as the dance studio kind of had a similar vibe, but wasn't explicitly explained either.


CYDGER- I was gonna toss this sentiment in Llaana's side, so apologies for the echo, but man this would've made for a great round 1 entry. We see what Todd's conflict is, he has a motivation and we see his personality as he follows through with trying to resolve it. This all is just a nice solid plot hook that I'm bummed this was a round 2 comic because if you move on we only have the final round to explore it further. :< I wanna know more about those voices! Who the demon made people are, does he work at that cemetery or is he legit graverobbing?
Your COLORS. A doffed hat to your utterly dazzling colors. You can tell y'all had fun rendering that fire. The choice of unconventional shades to better suit your opponent was really great. also the little details like the rim lighting or the buffed shine off Abby's skull were things I really appreciated. Just that extra TLC that shows you guys seemed to manage your time well enough which isn't easy in a tourney like this. If there was one nitpick (and it really is a nitpick considering how solid this comic is) I would've loved to have seen actual text on the pages tacked onto wall in that final splash page. I would've loved to pore over the nuts and bolts of the spells and incantations Todd has tried. Or even seen the ties to the previous rounds and/or tournament that could've ben hinted at here.

Spirogs
Artist
26 comments
# 13   Posted: Apr 5 2021, 08:19 AM
Wow. Both of these seriously stepped it up a notch since last round. Way to up the ante!

Todd: nice setup, good use of space. Really felt like I was in the room watching, which is cool. Good action, clear motivations, nice pacing. Much more interesting environment than last time.

Abby: wow that’s a lot of background detail. Very nice there.
The art and fight and subsequent deaths (/re-deaths lol) were really well executed.
The whole time I felt like I needed more motivation from Abby herself though. She gives the impression of a leaf on the wind, and it kind of makes your opponents seem more interesting than her in the end.

Like I said though, both of these are a big step up from round 1. props!

Fluffsamasprime
Artist
568 comments
# 12   Posted: Apr 3 2021, 12:40 PM
These round 2's have been so amazing!
Seeing Todd keep his mistakes alive and care for them was nice. I feel bad for the guy
I loved the page where todd is making the circle and Abby is just messing around, it was super cute.
These both were so damn fantastic I can't pick a favorite

Animeshen
Artist
1490 comments
# 11   Posted: Apr 3 2021, 11:01 AM
HOW THE HELL AM I MEANT TO CHOOSE THIS IS SO HARD I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO CRIT I JUST WANT TO LEAVE GUSHING PRAISE

BadCy: GORGEOUS colours. This is so beautifully tragic. I love how you were able to make Abby both adorable AND threatening. Seeing Todd keeping all his mistakes alive is so fantastically dark, it leaves me with this bittersweet feeling of despair and hope, wanting him to be able to reverse the curse but knowing he probably wont. you guys are an amazing team-up.

NiBo: That cathedral at the start is GORGEOUS. Y'all have AMAZING panel composition, it made it fun to follow the action. This setup started so sweet and ended so sad! No one is the winner here. that demon Vanya was fucking SICK. Bonus, im giving you an extra entertainment point for the Latin, you jerks XD

InvaderDiz
Artist
87 comments
# 10   Posted: Apr 3 2021, 08:51 AM
Both teams this was incredibly well done.

Cy and Badger, your colors, posing, and paneling were top notch. I especially noticed how good you guys are at doing hand gestures. It’s the little things that set it apart!

Bobo and Neens this was a simple read but good lord does this revel in simplicity, and I mean that in the best possible way. Even in just black and white your panels were so vibrant and had so much life in them! Well done!

Fearn
Artist
366 comments
# 9   Posted: Apr 1 2021, 10:52 PM
Wow Jade that is so Shakespearean!

Rose
Web Dev
1180 comments
# 8   Posted: Apr 1 2021, 02:16 PM
Because I'm so proud of this story, I wanted to point out a few things I really liked about the story we wrote:

Read after reading our comic!: ShowHide
A central theme to this comic is the idea that our actions come back to haunt us. All three of these characters suffered as an indirect result of their actions: Abby killed Vanya, which resulted in Vanya killing Abby's crush in an attempt at revenge; Todd spared Abby, which (though this may not be clear from the comic) happened before the events of round 1, meaning Todd was indirectly responsible for Vanya being sent to Super Hell; Vanya sought revenge against Abby, and as a result of her monster form's lack of control, she instead lost someone very close to her. That last one may be more direct than the other two, but I still thought it was fun how all three characters brought misfortune on themselves in ways they didn't foresee at all.

I also wanted to point out the difference in how Todd reacts to Abby touching him vs how he reacts to Vanya's touch. In my head, Vanya has spent enough time around Todd that she knows how to be near him without accidentally touching him, so Todd doesn't feel the same anxiety he feels around strangers. He knows if he grabs Vanya's hands in his gloved hands, it's going to be safe. It might not be the same as skin-to-skin contact, but I imagine Vanya is one of very few people who could even get close.

The idea for the ending came after reading about how Todd really wants a hug from his dads. It really stuck and made me think that he must be so touch-starved that even if in the moment of his death Abby was the person he despised the most, being able to make physical contact with another living being filled a hole in his heart. He was able to have one last fleeting bit of happiness at the end.

I also hope people enjoy the easter eggs and references. there are a lot of them on page 1 and a few on page 6. The environment for this comic was really fun to draw, even if we didn't have enough time to give it a high level of detail on every page.

More important than any of that, it was a pleasure once again to work with Nina. I adore their inks, and am in awe every time they send me a page and I compare it side by side with my pencils. Bouncing ideas off of each other was also super fun, and really gave me energy to get started right away. Would recommend Neens 10/10

PyrasTerran
Artist
1512 comments
# 7   Posted: Apr 1 2021, 12:19 PM
Disclaimer: Both of y'all teams did so well I voted you equal marks, I couldn't pick one over the other


Team Todd: Enjoyed the setup of Todd going so far as to keep his victims alive to try and undo the curse. The slow burn reveal of Todd's multiple demon possessions he's undergone was pro-level writing, great work on that too. I was there with Todd emotionally, but practically Abby is a character that is sort of so outside of Todd's stories' atmosphere that she felt a little jarring. Her comedic attributes made for some hard tonal shifts given how grim everything else is. I don't know what the solution could have been since it was true to Abby's character, you may have done as best you could on that.

Team Abby: Lovely drawings and inks and I think you guys did a good job of translating Todd in Abby's world. The plot had good twists and the battle was engaging. There's some creative paneling and the inking black-and-white style starts to look better around the end, though around the beginning some of the pages/panels felt like they needed more spot-blacks or needed to be colored.

Great job everyone

Fearn
Artist
366 comments
# 6   Posted: Apr 1 2021, 07:19 AM
TODD: higher demon? more like CUTER demon! This was a fun little comic! :)

ABBY: I guess even demon girls have crushes n_n

TheCydork
Artist
606 comments
# 5   Posted: Apr 1 2021, 01:04 AM
Jade/Nina - LOVED YOUR SIDE! It hurt me physically :( Todd... Really liked the interpretation of his curse being in his arm and freeing him when it was ripped off! The ghosts coming out of it was cool imagery. Also neat way to tie both our previous round and your previous round in! Everything else I’ve already gushed about haha I enjoy rereading this and finding more things to like about it <3

TheCydork
Artist
606 comments
# 4   Posted: Mar 31 2021, 11:15 PM
Credits!!

Colours - Both
Thumbs, pencils, lettering - Badger
Script, inks - Cy

neens
Approval Committee
266 comments
# 3   Posted: Mar 17 2021, 09:43 AM
yea! yea!!!

TheCydork
Artist
606 comments
# 2   Posted: Mar 17 2021, 12:46 AM
:gun:

Rose
Web Dev
1180 comments
# 1   Posted: Mar 17 2021, 12:30 AM
When the demon hunter becomes the demon hunted...

Comic Details -

 
Death Match
Drawing Time: 2 weeks
Ended: Apr 8th, 2021
Votes Cast: 32
Page Views: 1945
Winners: TheCydork and Badger
 

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