The Enchanted Dagger

And so, the last page of The Enchanted Dagger Issue #4 ~ the most middling of issues is complete.  All in all I’m pretty happy with how Issue #4 turned out.  The first half is the stronger of the two and there is a bit of a lag in the quality of the art work for a few pages in the middle of the issue but I think it rallies at that point all overall holds together okay.  We got to spend some more time with the denizens of Great City and there were a few plot developments as well, specific to the wicked Druid’s unfolding diabolical plot. It seems to me that a comic book, even one that presents a continuing story line like the EDag, should be able to be enjoyable on its own and stands on its own merits.  As such, I try to make sure each issue has it’s own element of adventure so that someday, 20 years from now, some dystopian dorkus will be able to buy it for a dollar in some bin and treasure it forever more.  There are a few places where I’ll go in and sharpen things up before i go to print.

I realized as I was putting on the finishing touches on today’s page that the floor tiles on the middle panel were not arrayed at the angle I’d intended, creating the effect that Roger and Charlotte were on the same plane as Grandpa, thereby suggesting that Grandpa was an enormous, giant Grandpa.  He isn’t…its a mistake..must fix it.  I’ve gotten a little bit more efficient at tiles and wall papers, but its still a pain in the neck.  I like how this page puts a discordant exclamation mark on all that precedes with Great Grandpa’s desperate admission.  Not exactly a cliff hanger, I confess.  More so the acceptance that we are now about halfway through our story and there is still a ways to go.  On the bright side, work on issue #5 is going very well.  Issue 4 took a really long time to finish but it seems that getting over the halfway hump has made a good psychological difference.  I’m going to try to get it to a state of near completion this spring and plow through Issue #6 as well.