Previously on Marooned…
While attempting to send a message to Earth, John fell ill. He returned to the Martian sanctuary Vita to administer antibiotics, which made him worse. Ugo has now brought him to the Volotrum (also called The Dark Ones), his only remaining chance to be healed, where he has been speaking to “She-Who-Hears” about his predicament.
Meanwhile, Asimov and Ril got trapped in a sandstorm and had taken sanctuary inside Captain John’s ship. They have returned safely and are now awaiting the return of John.
New Readers
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I think she may have jammed his circuits
*crickets*
I’m here all night ladies & gentlemen!
he’s filling with water or doubt?
I wondered if the dripping would be confusing. They have just entered the cave, and it’s silent except for the dripping of the cave in the background.
See if you have to explain it… bah.
I like that in the fifth frame Asimov’s antenna turns into a bit of a question mark as he contemplates the question.
I love that subtlety and attention to detail.
I was hoping someone would notice! You’re the man Chris
He better watch out…it was exactly this sort of thing that Captain Kirk did to several robots to make them blow up. (As for the dripping, my first reaction was that Asimov had some tears…maybe if you showed some stalactites in the cave with water in the first couple of frames? Hard to get the “cricket chirp” effect across statically!)
Yeah, stalactites would have been the key there. As usual I was in a rush. Ah well, maybe I’ll alter it for the book.
“cannot compute! Cannot compute!” true feelings will always come out when faced with the hard questions. Former trash can or not.
Don’t worry, Tom. I got what the dripping was about!
Also: I love the way you’re conveying emotion on Asimov, but I had to read the comments to see them consciously. The dark antenna on a dark background (on a slightly-darker-than properly-adjusted-for-gamma CRT monitor) is kinda hard to see. Maybe making a small story arc sometime to give Asimov some other way to convey emotion would be good?
I’ve thought a lot about how to convey emotion with Asimov, it’s a challenge for sure. I’ve wanted to do a lot more with his viewscreen, but haven’t hit upon the right ideas. Definitely a work in progress.
I would consider the screen nearly flatlining like it did in the awkward silence to be a good emotive device – even if at that point it meant only that he wasn’t talking. Very good job on the next to last panel.
I didn’t read too many comments here but you could really cash in on the antennae as a use of emotion…I think today’s strip worked well
I agree. I’ve done some of it in the past, it seems it’s his really only expressive feature that can be significantly changed. Definitely something I’ll be looking to optimize.
You also used the graphical wave interface go all the way down and quiet. When he gets excited, the antenna springs up and his wave becomes sharper.
I think it is coming out. People will get used to his visual representations of emotion if you keep them consistent.
Good point Nef. Thanks!