The Ninth Circle is a Cold and Lonely Place

Mary wrote the script for this one, so I can't really take any credit for the words. Unless I murder her, dismember the body, and hide it in large sacks so that there's no-one to dispute my claims.

More arsing about with panel layout, since that seems to be a much-neglected area in webcomics. It's all very well having pretty pictures (even ones that are, um, homages to Sandman panels) but just slapping them into any grid that will accomodate them doesn't really do the artwork any favours. Or the story, for that matter: the framework is what really ties the two together, since that's what defines the timing of the finished page. You can be Orson fucking Welles when you shoot scenes, but if the editing is done by some retarded hack then you end up with crap made up of bits of genius. (This is known as 'The Magnificent Ambersons effect'.)
I start out with a 9x9 grid I've got set up for each comic page, then modify that to fit the individual strip. This is why, more often than not, the comic ends up on a three-tiered variation, and also why, although I calculate measurements accurately when working out panel placement now, the three tiers themselves are slightly different sizes because I didn't work them out as well at the start of the year when I made the master template.
I'm not saying that all my panel layouts are going to work particularly brilliantly. I'm still learning, like every single other person in webcomics (with the possible exception of Gabe of Penny Arcade fame, who has by now learnt how to make comics properly and would probably hurt anyone who tried to take up his valuable game-playing brainspace with art ideas.) So you might have to put up with some weird panel layouts in future when I try out some things. But at least it won't be four panels in the same placement every single strip as if that's some kind of pinnacle of the art or something.

Besides, as Randy Milholland might say, "Fuck you! Where's your webcom--"
Hey! Keep away from those sacks!

I wrote this script back in April, when I plotted out the rest of the year. I've kind of been looking forward to this strip going up ever since, and as every plot point was ticked off the list, I just kept anticipating this one strip more and more.

And now it's here. Isn't the climax just great? Of course, there's still more left to Year One -- trust me when I say it's not over yet.

Wow, I wish I had more to say right now; David does the insanely complicated part known as the artwork and has a lot more "meta" type things to write about. Me, well, what else can I say? Yeh, I wrote it. Words on a page. Woot. Instead of something insightful, however, all you're left with is me, ranting on about nothing in particular when I can't think of anything to say.

Well, commercial's over, and South Park's back on. Later.