47: Accusations
This is the page I’ve been working toward from day one. The “alleyway scene” has been in the script from the start, and every thing else has been building context around this scene. And finally it’s actually here. It’s such a relief to have it exist. Frankly I wanted to get here as fast as possible since this is where the “plot kicks off” but I think I’ve covered better ground than I did last time around by this point, at the very least.
*Head desk* I hate how I’m the exact sort of person who went ahead and trawled back through the old comics to try and match those silhouettes. I quite nearly have what scenes are on what pages of the archives memorized by this point.
If I had to guess: Red is Azgrut, Green is Trevor, yellow is Charlie, and maaaybe blue scarf is Vito? Colorscheme-wise it works, along with the wild hair and his dabbling in various uhhh experimental projects. That’s all I got in terms of support for that theory though lol. As for purple scarf, I have no clue. I see an elf ear, and the color purple…I have an idea, but 0 support for it at all.
Also oh man Sally, you should get an olympic hurdling award for all these conclusions you’re jumping to. And poor Arrie, for getting all this crap dredged up in one day. ;n;
I’m glad that this page finally arrived though! I like how we’re finally getting facts built upon the juicy little details that have been dropped before this. We have names and silhouettes now!
https://greetingsfromeboncreek.tumblr.com/post/189636625073/a-two-for-one-this-time-normally-i-wouldnt-do
Did a bit more fanart! Two in one post this time. These two are at the top of my ‘favorite characters’ list, and definitely have my favorite character dynamic.
I’m kinda surprised that Arthur’s not just a literal sloth, but panda certainly works just as well. He looks so fantastically shlubby… like I can just picture this version as the villain of a Don Bluth movie.
Maxwell continues to be a monster regardless of the form he’s put into. It’s surprising how much better suited he is to a bear than anything more traditionally vampire related despite being a Dracula knock off. Like I think I’ve just realized in this exact moment that bats are nearly completely divorced from vampires in terms of abilities and demeanor. Like it’s JUST the blood thing that overlaps.
So I usually get some extra insight into characters to follow up your fan art, but frankly Arthur and Maxwell are pretty well trodden subjects for me at this point. I feel like I’ve been open about their inspiration a billion times by now.
Arthur was inspired by Shou Tucker from Full Metal Alchemist. There’s also a bit of Warcraft’s Kel’Thuzad thrown in as a second in command necromancer who’s the backbone of his side’s operation (something THAT character lost by the time WoW came around but was interesting back in Warcraft 3). But I did rediscover recently that Arthur was a substitution for another Wight I had designed named Darius. I don’t think I developed much out for that character but he had a model, just like the alternate character for “Alaster’s sister” (named Lucia) who Merry got subbed in for.
Arthur has always been interesting in that he’s morally bankrupt and probably the most awful person in existence… but if he had been left to his own devices probably wouldn’t have done much of anything.
As for Max… he’s a pretty simple one. His starting point was as I said “Dracula knock-off”. The pure stereotypical vampire with the stereotypical powers. But Max was never really a vampire so the whole blood thing was never there. But ultimately what Max was really all about beyond the power set was an old man refusing to respect the next generation and refusing to pass the torch. It’s amazing how much shit happened purely because of one man’s stubbornness. Because of that I think Arthur drinking Max’s phylactery is still one of my favorite scenes of the entire original run. The man who refused to let others have their turn, was betrayed by, and lost everything to the man who never wanted a turn in the first place.
I’ll admit, the panda thing is mostly because I wanted another bear…and because I find sloths too cute to make villainous. I can’t look into their eyes and think “Yes, this creature has committed sins.”
And yeah, while I knew that Max was more “vampiric” than batlike… well, Meredith already got the vampire slot, so I had to pick something else. XD Though vampires can traditionally turn into a lot of different animals, so I don’t think a bear is TOO off the mark.
Amazingly though, I never figured out the Shou Tucker inspiration! …which is amazing because now I can’t unsee it. Like yeah, duh.
I did find a lot of those ancient Wight designs a couple months ago though, including Lucia as you mentioned. It’s cool to see how much everyone has changed!
Max and Arthur have always been at the top of my favorite character list though, for many of the reasons you’ve described. I found their personalities and motivations incredibly intriguing, which made them great villains- but the fact that those personalities were near opposite made any scenes with them together so so fun to read. I definitely agree with you on the phylactery drinking scene too- I never saw it coming, but when it finally happened it made such perfect sense that I was kicking myself for not noticing sooner. Funny how good writing can sneak up on you like that.
On a side note though- I’m pretty sure this is going to be my last fan art piece for the year! I can’t believe how fast time has flown- I can’t believe that those first few portraits I drew were done over a year ago!