After a long long pause due to a long list of good reasons I already detailed on the making-of article posted on the blog, here is (finally) episode 37! This episode introduces a giant Phoenix and also sets what it costs to use the super powerful Rea of Dragon. I hope you'll have a good time reading it during this (very) hot summer 2022.
Thank you very much again to all contributors and patrons around the project ❤️
Ha ha, clever. I love it. Beautiful artwork, as always. And thank you for championing free/libre software in such a visible way. I love being able to point to your work as an example of what can be done with non-commercial tools!
I don't speak english
I happy to see a new comic and whit so good art first i read the preview in french and whats like you use a diferent style,a question how you find your own style , i am trying to find muy own but i can't,i work in blender.
Thank you jaldmic for your comment and I hope you'll find a way for your style.
Here I finally decided to "let it go" and don't really think about this research as a problem, even, stop it as a quest. Now, I just push the details of each panel until "the work feels done" and then the style is not anymore something I "art-direct", or decide; but just a byproduct of all my natural mistakes, traces and textures of the tools I prefer to use and result of what I can do when I try my best.
Switching to this mind set really made me be able to finish and post this episode.
Thank you Darryl, I always worry one day readers will be able to predict all the "thinking out of the box" trick of Pepper. I hope I'll have the resources to keep writting original and unpredictable funny twists.
Oh... Now you are speaking about it, this would have been great to reinforce the ridicule of the last battle ending. Ah, a missed opportunity! Thanks for pointing it.
Clever ending. Though I was a bit confused how Pepper came down with an ailment, and had to go back to re-read the last chapter. Well, so the dragon did indeed warn her when giving her his "Rea" energy, but I didn't know it would cause her serious problems afterwards. Here's hoping she recover and is back to using her powers as before!
Hi! Thank you, yes, after 8 month not posting, the reference to the previous episode was a bit difficult to remember.
Rea of Dragon was really too powerful, and I knew when I wrote last episode I'll have to setup later a strong counterpart sideeffect to protect the Lore. Yes, Arra the dragon tells Pepper it is taboo, "forbidden", "at her own risk". I still haven't decided if it should also affect Arra. I'll see what I can do within the very restricted page count I have per episodes.
I suppose she came down with an ailment because she messed up too bad. It is like rocking up for a match or a test and being so bad that your opponent or teacher doesn't even care to bother with it.
Either way, I wasn't too worried actually. The Phoenix reminded me of Big Bird from Sesame Street. To my knowledge, he never killed anyone so the skeletons down there where just for bluff.
I too love the story. These must be enough tears to heal all those troops once (if ever) the love-spell wears off. That said, of course I hope the dragon rea is so strong, the spell is permanent :).
Thank you! 😍
But, painting all that panels full of fire for the Phoenix when the weather is so hot wasn't the best idea. 😅
Next summer, I'll have to anticipate and write an episode on ice floe 😆
Thanks Parnikkapore! Yes, I'll try to jungle between 'adventure' episodes (with fun but ending more like clifhangers), and funny lighthearted episodes like this one. I'll see how it works.
Gorgeous artwork, and worth the wait as usual. Pepper's really rocking those braids!
I think this is also the first that I've really noticed the non-human humanoids in the background. I'd love to know more about their history someday, since they seem to be a minority. Are they ensourcelled humans? Are there colonies of other races elsewhere on Hereva?
Thanks! 🤩
Yes, this is an aspect of the world building I would love to describe in the comic. It's not canon yet, but the big picture would be more on the side of ensourcelled humans; a fusion of animals and humans (but also of dragons and animals, eg. dragoncows) that happened at a certain moment of history −and at a world large scale− and also long time ago in their world so it became part of the races and diversity of Hereva. Not easy to explain within a stream of funny short episodes, but may be I'll be able one day.
Comme toujours un épisode superbe qui valait bien qu'on l'attende un peu !
J'aime particulièrement la tête désespérée du Phénix devant les premières tentatives de Pepper pour le faire pleurer.
Et sa solution pour y parvenir au final est excellente et tout à fait inattendue.
What I don't understand though, is what happened to all those burned skeletons?
Did they anger the phoenix with their art and paid with their lives?
But Pepper apparently angered the bird even more by coming unprepared, yet she was just shooed and sent home to get ready?
Or witches just happen to have special relationships with phoenixes and quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi?
They probably angered the phoenix (and possibly more than one) more than made them cry. Also if a phoenix dies they burst into flames and are reborn, so perhaps they might have bored it to death. Literally.
And boy, the way she was trying to hold by her tears, funny and classic. Love the world building with an equally fine balance of characterizations. What is more, I think most fantasy as well as steampunk is much too dark (not to mention too much save the world from the forces of darkness and all that cliché junk) At last, a fine, lighthearted, silly, slice of life genre with heavy themes.
Toujours un plaisir de lire une nouvelle histoire de Pepper et Carrot, le twist est génial !
J'adore ton style graphique mais je trouve cet épisode particulièrement impressionnant. La fumée dense qui sort du centre du volcan, et la fumée légère/vapeur qui s’échappe le long du chemin de la lave sur un des versants, Les reflets de l'eau sur la coque du bateau(1ier et 2ieme case), le style de la tenue de Pepper, la façon dont sa cicatrice rayonne, les expressions subtiles de son visage (puis moins subtile sur la dernière case ^^), la teinte des larmes du phoenix qui rebondissent sur la tête de Pepper... C'est magnifique.
Puis il y a un tas de choses que j'arrive pas à identifier mais qui rendent le tout immersif, la preuve : c'est qu'en voyant l'île, on a chaud, mais pas trop, on a un peu envie d'aller se baigner, envie de gouter les brochettes, de croquer dans un fruit (sous les avis de recherche), on comprend que grâce au volcan la terre est riche, la nourriture est abondante, etc... Tu poses une ambiance et une atmosphère hyper établie en très peu d'images.
Episode 37: The Tears of the Phoenix
31 comments
After a long long pause due to a long list of good reasons I already detailed on the making-of article posted on the blog, here is (finally) episode 37! This episode introduces a giant Phoenix and also sets what it costs to use the super powerful Rea of Dragon. I hope you'll have a good time reading it during this (very) hot summer 2022.
Thank you very much again to all contributors and patrons around the project ❤️
Ha ha, clever. I love it. Beautiful artwork, as always. And thank you for championing free/libre software in such a visible way. I love being able to point to your work as an example of what can be done with non-commercial tools!
Thank you very much Dave!
I don't speak english
I happy to see a new comic and whit so good art first i read the preview in french and whats like you use a diferent style,a question how you find your own style , i am trying to find muy own but i can't,i work in blender.
Thank you jaldmic for your comment and I hope you'll find a way for your style.
Here I finally decided to "let it go" and don't really think about this research as a problem, even, stop it as a quest. Now, I just push the details of each panel until "the work feels done" and then the style is not anymore something I "art-direct", or decide; but just a byproduct of all my natural mistakes, traces and textures of the tools I prefer to use and result of what I can do when I try my best.
Switching to this mind set really made me be able to finish and post this episode.
Géniale la chute ! Tellement inattendue et tellement logique à la fois.
Merci Stemy!
What a crafty and funny solution! A Perfect Pepper way of solving the problem.
Thank you Darryl, I always worry one day readers will be able to predict all the "thinking out of the box" trick of Pepper. I hope I'll have the resources to keep writting original and unpredictable funny twists.
This was great. I was originally thinking Pepper was going to make the phoenix laugh with something funny, but this is even better.
I was thinking that too, and that she might get it to laugh by telling it about the embarrassing battle in the last episode.
Oh... Now you are speaking about it, this would have been great to reinforce the ridicule of the last battle ending. Ah, a missed opportunity! Thanks for pointing it.
Clever ending. Though I was a bit confused how Pepper came down with an ailment, and had to go back to re-read the last chapter. Well, so the dragon did indeed warn her when giving her his "Rea" energy, but I didn't know it would cause her serious problems afterwards. Here's hoping she recover and is back to using her powers as before!
And nice artwork, as always!
Hi! Thank you, yes, after 8 month not posting, the reference to the previous episode was a bit difficult to remember.
Rea of Dragon was really too powerful, and I knew when I wrote last episode I'll have to setup later a strong counterpart sideeffect to protect the Lore. Yes, Arra the dragon tells Pepper it is taboo, "forbidden", "at her own risk". I still haven't decided if it should also affect Arra. I'll see what I can do within the very restricted page count I have per episodes.
I suppose she came down with an ailment because she messed up too bad. It is like rocking up for a match or a test and being so bad that your opponent or teacher doesn't even care to bother with it.
Either way, I wasn't too worried actually. The Phoenix reminded me of Big Bird from Sesame Street. To my knowledge, he never killed anyone so the skeletons down there where just for bluff.
I too love the story. These must be enough tears to heal all those troops once (if ever) the love-spell wears off. That said, of course I hope the dragon rea is so strong, the spell is permanent :).
That cleverness has Pepper written all over it. I love the art for the city and for the Phoenix too. Awesome work!
Thank you! 😍
But, painting all that panels full of fire for the Phoenix when the weather is so hot wasn't the best idea. 😅
Next summer, I'll have to anticipate and write an episode on ice floe 😆
So *that* is why dragons are not allowed to give Rea to witches!
I see that, after the Dark Pepper arc, P&C is back to being a lighthearted comic with a touch of existential dread :D
Thanks Parnikkapore! Yes, I'll try to jungle between 'adventure' episodes (with fun but ending more like clifhangers), and funny lighthearted episodes like this one. I'll see how it works.
Gorgeous artwork, and worth the wait as usual. Pepper's really rocking those braids!
I think this is also the first that I've really noticed the non-human humanoids in the background. I'd love to know more about their history someday, since they seem to be a minority. Are they ensourcelled humans? Are there colonies of other races elsewhere on Hereva?
Thanks! 🤩
Yes, this is an aspect of the world building I would love to describe in the comic. It's not canon yet, but the big picture would be more on the side of ensourcelled humans; a fusion of animals and humans (but also of dragons and animals, eg. dragoncows) that happened at a certain moment of history −and at a world large scale− and also long time ago in their world so it became part of the races and diversity of Hereva. Not easy to explain within a stream of funny short episodes, but may be I'll be able one day.
Comme toujours un épisode superbe qui valait bien qu'on l'attende un peu !
J'aime particulièrement la tête désespérée du Phénix devant les premières tentatives de Pepper pour le faire pleurer.
Et sa solution pour y parvenir au final est excellente et tout à fait inattendue.
Bravo et merci !
I realy like how do it look Pepper in this episode. it turn out right.
What a lovely episode, thank you!
What I don't understand though, is what happened to all those burned skeletons?
Did they anger the phoenix with their art and paid with their lives?
But Pepper apparently angered the bird even more by coming unprepared, yet she was just shooed and sent home to get ready?
Or witches just happen to have special relationships with phoenixes and quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi?
They probably angered the phoenix (and possibly more than one) more than made them cry. Also if a phoenix dies they burst into flames and are reborn, so perhaps they might have bored it to death. Literally.
> they might have bored it to death. Literally.
Brilliant!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Man, Pepper, that...was...clever.
And boy, the way she was trying to hold by her tears, funny and classic. Love the world building with an equally fine balance of characterizations. What is more, I think most fantasy as well as steampunk is much too dark (not to mention too much save the world from the forces of darkness and all that cliché junk) At last, a fine, lighthearted, silly, slice of life genre with heavy themes.
Hope to read more. Thanks David.
Toujours un plaisir de lire une nouvelle histoire de Pepper et Carrot, le twist est génial !
J'adore ton style graphique mais je trouve cet épisode particulièrement impressionnant. La fumée dense qui sort du centre du volcan, et la fumée légère/vapeur qui s’échappe le long du chemin de la lave sur un des versants, Les reflets de l'eau sur la coque du bateau(1ier et 2ieme case), le style de la tenue de Pepper, la façon dont sa cicatrice rayonne, les expressions subtiles de son visage (puis moins subtile sur la dernière case ^^), la teinte des larmes du phoenix qui rebondissent sur la tête de Pepper... C'est magnifique.
Puis il y a un tas de choses que j'arrive pas à identifier mais qui rendent le tout immersif, la preuve : c'est qu'en voyant l'île, on a chaud, mais pas trop, on a un peu envie d'aller se baigner, envie de gouter les brochettes, de croquer dans un fruit (sous les avis de recherche), on comprend que grâce au volcan la terre est riche, la nourriture est abondante, etc... Tu poses une ambiance et une atmosphère hyper établie en très peu d'images.
Merci pour ton taf.
So glad to see a new comic. Brought me great joy. I love the twist at the end, very clever.
La esperanta titolo sur la bildo ŝajnas esti skribita kiel «Pipro ⳤ Karoĉjo» kun «ⳤ» por «kaj» <3
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