So… Asimov. Changes.
This one was tough, especially since I haven’t done a day scene on the surface in awhile either. So I talked to Steve a lot about Asimov, and I think I mentioned he showed me his ideas for Asimov while working on his Marooned short story (which is turning out fantastic!) I liked what he did with Asimov quite a bit.
Still, change is hard. I didn’t want to copy exactly what Steve did, although I did take a fair amount. Really, there’s just a few extra lines to help with fleshing him out a bit, a bit more definition to the buttons and the red “pressable” area to the them. But clearly the biggest change (other than the body colors) is the screen color. It’s a real big move it seems.
The thing is, it doesn’t work with the lighter blue anymore, not with the lighter body color. And the move to a darker color scheme for Asimov was a mistake because he’s always getting lost in the background – the very thing I was trying to avoid! (Sometimes I don’t know what is wrong with my brain.)
And it was tricky to avoid having him look like R2D2. I really think this color scheme works the best. I’ll be interested to hear what you all think. Like I said, I know change can be difficult with an established character. But I really feel like this is pretty necessary. Hopefully Steve doesn’t mind too much that I stole some of his ideas!
The surface is a little more orange here too. Not only is it daytime, but I had strayed a bit too much into brown. I mean this is MARS for cryin’ out loud!
If you are a newer reader, you may not get what Ril is wearing. She’s wearing an invention by the Geboraga called simply a “bioshield.” It allows her to go onto the surface without dying (always a good thing). The nice thing is the shield is completely flexible. She can grab things, walk, etc without any problem at all.
Of course Ugo doesn’t need one, being a supersonic cybernetic creation and all.
This strip was a ton of work, both physically and mentally. Not only with Asimov, but drawing all the panels properly with Ril’s expressions and John flipping (my favorite John drawing so far) – and *8* panels to boot! Phew! But I like how it came out. Definitely one of my favorites.
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Wait… if the biofield is comptely flexible, why doesn’t John wear one over his space Suit? It may be the only set of clothes he has, but there’s no reason not to go for the extra hole-burning-prevention. Then again… it’s John. So yeah.
Ah, Asimov. I knew him well. But he looks cool now. What are the buttons FOR, is my question.
well one is coffee, maybe one is auto destruct
Re: the Red Planet…if you look at Mars Rover images, the Martian surface varies quite a bit in color. So a bit of brown is not out of place…(I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it)
So, I’ve contriubted to a change in the way the comic is actually drawn. Is that good or bad?
BTW, nice trick using the change of lighting to hide it.
Well it’s neither – at that point I had pretty much decided on the color. But I of course welcome the input
I didn’t change the background to hide it though, I wanted to do a day scene (to show some time had passed for one) – I tend to do a lot of dark comics. It’s nice to lighten it up.
Mars? I thought I had stumbled onto a western strip, or maybe there’s a fire somewhere in the background (I know, no oxygen, no flame!). I do think Asimov looks a little better–the lighter color makes him seem more “metallic” than the previous dull shade did. The dark screen looks fine, but hey, it’s a screen! It *should* be able to change colors any time. Yes, I usually like to play with the color settings and themes of my computer applications. But why does his wheel seem to get larger as time goes by??
Yeah, the screen should be able to be whatever color, true. I’ve always had grand designs for doing things with Asimov’s screen, but I’ve only actually done it a couple times.
Agreed he looks more metallic, which is part of the reason for the switch.
Regarding his wheel, it’s not really gotten any bigger – especially in the last year or so. Proportionally things have gotten tweaked, but that’s about it. The shape of the wheel is slightly different and more refined. That might be what you see.
I was going to reference Nanoganics Robotics but I couldn’t think of something funny enough. I think Asimov has never looked better; he is definitely one of my favorite robot characters.
Thanks Splox!
Agreed – Asimov looks much better. Yet, I think if somebody was just reading the comic, and no one had pointed any changes out, I don’t think they would have noticed. (I noticed because I’m actually working on the comic where we tried out some of these changes, heh heh).
Love that shot of John stumbling. New high water mark on this strip, boy-o. You keep raising it! Way to go!
Thanks Og! And you may be right about noticing the difference. I’m surprised at the lack of commentary on it, so apparently nobody thinks it’s a big deal. That’s a good thing. And many thanks to you for the help as usual. I don’t have it quite right with the colors and all, but the details will get sorted.
I love the new look. Much better colour scheme. The buttons look a lot more like buttons now.
So what else can Asimov make except for coffee?
Hot chocolate? Tea? Java Chip Frappuccinos?
Thanks Sardtok. Who knows what Asimov can do? It’s a mystery…
I’m sure that your love of PEANUTS so much and John’s pose in panel 6 are entirely coincidental…
Love that panel!
Hehe, yeah, well you can’t hide from your influences, right? When I knew I was going to draw him getting scared, Charlie Brown trying to kick the ball was the first thing I thought of as an example.