We only told you you were an Archmage to be nice (4/17/12)

[The Traveler]

http://dominic-deegan.com/comics/20120417.gif

I... actually kind of like this twist? I mean, I'd started to suspect that the other Archmagi were in cahoots with the king, but finding out that they still consider him to hold the position that Miranda has... that's downright interesting. I wonder what motive they'd have to lead her on for all this time. I mean, is there any advantage to people thinking the king isn't one of the Archmagi anymore?

[Ashitaka1110]

Last two panels, first the midget's head is about 45% the size of Nimmel's, and in the last panel it's about 75% the size of Nimmel's.

Also, as bad as Mookie is with the face-mouth-beak-razor stuff he does with profiles, it's outdone in horribleness with the straight-on view noses; seriously, in what universe does a nose look anything close to that.

[Darth Cariss]

Last two panels, first the midget's head is about 45% the size of Nimmel's, and in the last panel it's about 75% the size of Nimmel's.

Also, as bad as Mookie is with the face-mouth-beak-razor stuff he does with profiles, it's outdone in horribleness with the straight-on view noses; seriously, in what universe does a nose look anything close to that.

I don't normally bother with these kinds of posts, but what the hell, I've got some free time. First, the head size thing can easily be explained by distance. Midget man could've just been farther away in the backround while Nimmel was in the foreground. This is a very common optical illusion in photos and often used in drawn art.

As for Mookie's faces, people hate on them every now and then, which I just don't understand. They haven't gotten worse. They are the exact same faces Mookie has drawn for 10 years. It's the comic's art style and always has been. That's like reading a strip of Garfield and saying you hate that Jon's eyes are so big, or pretty much any anime where characters often have unrealistic faces with giant eyes and other issues. It's extremely common in any many mediums that characters be drawn with exaggerated proportions, and it has been this way pretty much forever.

I can understand not liking an art style when you see it for the first time, but to be reading a comic for so long (unless you are new to the comic, but this doesn't seem like a first post kind of deal) and now point out that you don't like the artstyle which has existed the entire time is baffling. To answer your question, the universe that noses look like that is the one this comic takes place in, just as any other comic has weird things that exist in its respective universe.

[bahamutkod]

I think with eye-size--though I know you just brought it up as a single example that represents many--it's about expressiveness and distinction. Through that it's a great deal easier to gauge emotions and expressions that would otherwise be too subtle in a simplified and static medium like comic strips. Moreover, other potentially uncomfortable exaggerations are usually in place to provide distinction. I don't recall offhand who said it, but the idea was that the more distinct your characters' silhouettes are the more well-defined your characters are visually. So a ridiculously huge nose is a distinction or a particularly short character, etc etc.

With Mookie's razor-snouts, it's neither distinctive nor expressive. It makes all his characters look exactly the same and provides no dynamic medium to provide insight into the character's thoughts or emotions. If I had to guess, it's pure laziness. Yeah, it could've been pointed out earlier and yeah, it's kinda been pointed out to death but it's still just so awful.

That said, I'd like to see more of this... not just more of the situation in the comic but expanded. To have powers "larger than life" I want to see more than little wounds. I want to see them hurled all over the place or be engulfed by mystic energy or their bodies contorted agonizingly or possibly even *gasp* ALTERED to help Mookie throw back to the whole "alterists are creepy" thing. I like that there at least appears to be real risk and threat. I know it's unlikely given his track record but we can only hope that the fact that he intends to end the comic soon will facilitate that.

Of course I predict that there'll be some kind of deegus ex machina and everyone will be fine and will face down the threat TOGETHER as a TEAM by watching Dominic save the day by making the circle of archmages SEE THE TRUTH! Then what remains is them clapping him on the back and kissing his feet and the dramatic reveal is that Dominic was Mookie aaaaaall along.

Please prove me wrong, Mookie. Once again, I foolishly place a flicker of faith upon you. Try not to shake it off as easily as you have in the past.

[LordGolbez]

No, no, no!!!! I knew this would be the case, but I was hoping otherwise. I hoped that when he said they were already dead, he really meant already dead and not just that he considered their fate to be determined. Too much to hope for and I know they won't die now....

[daveshan]

I fallen for 'Mookie finally did something right!' before. I'll believe they're dead when they don't get wished back with the dragon balls or something.

[The Traveler]

No, no, no!!!! I knew this would be the case, but I was hoping otherwise. I hoped that when he said they were already dead, he really meant already dead and not just that he considered their fate to be determined. Too much to hope for and I know they won't die now....

Well, you're the weird one who wants everyone but the Deegans to die.

[PantherScott]

Yeah, they'll be better in about five panels, but let's enjoy Milov and Katya suffering horrifying explosions. At least we get a little good out of this, no matter how short it lasts.

[Karri]

That's like reading a strip of Garfield and saying you hate that Jon's eyes are so big, or pretty much any anime where characters often have unrealistic faces with giant eyes and other issues.

[Darlid01]

Okay, first miniwizard virus checks on Jayden-Milov and Nimmel-Katya and sees that they like each other. Then he goes and blows them up. It's all an illusion as some sort of test to see if Nimmel is worthy or how he will react or... something? I just can't imagine that he would spring death on Milov out of the blue like that.

[LordGolbez]

No, no, no!!!! I knew this would be the case, but I was hoping otherwise. I hoped that when he said they were already dead, he really meant already dead and not just that he considered their fate to be determined. Too much to hope for and I know they won't die now....

Well, you're the weird one who wants everyone but the Deegans to die.

No. I want Greg to die. There are also several non Deegans who I don't want to die. They just don't happen to belong to the Luanian Church or Werewolf country.

[Darth Cariss]

That's like reading a strip of Garfield and saying you hate that Jon's eyes are so big, or pretty much any anime where characters often have unrealistic faces with giant eyes and other issues.

Garfield suffered from depression in 1992.

Yeah, that's all I really got out of that.

[Juhn]

The point there was that even the artstyle of Garfield has been changing (ostensibly improving) across the strip's run. Mookie's... got mildly better, then stagnated, then has been getting worse.

I don't think Jim Davis even draws his own strip anymore (and I'm pretty sure he's grown to loathe the thing), though, so using him as an example of dedication is perhaps misguided.

[The Traveler]

He doesn't do each individual strip, but he does the character reference models for everything. He's done Garfield absolutely perfectly, when asked to sketch him.

[PantherScott]

Actually Jim Davis probably still loves Garfield. A common and true complaint about him is that he made Garfield only to make money. He wasn't doing it for the art or because he wanted to explore these characters. He did it to make a merchandising machine. And Garfield has succeeded beyond his wildest imaginations.