1062 Skull And Bones.

There’s really no doubt that as far as her relationship to Thomas is concerned Carol is all in. Once she decided they were going to be a thing she committed pretty forcefully. He is hers and that is that. After years of cat and mouse I think we can forgive her being so attached after a relatively short time as a couple.

I changed the color of her shirt a couple of times and I’m still not sure I like it. It looks different on every screen I view it on. Even more so than things usually look different between screens. It doesn’t really matter later on, but for just this page is kind of bothers me. Earlier today it seemed perfect, but now I think my eyes were affected by the sunset. I really don’t feel like fucking with it, and, like I said, it’s not even important later. >:| I’m just gonna leave it. I have other things that need doing.

Honestly, I don’t think this page needs to be here at all. In retrospect I think I should probably have cut this scene. I wasn’t sure when I started it, but I wasn’t so unsure that it kept me from spending the time to make it. Now I can’t bear for the work to be wasted and I need it to exist. No matter how far in advance you write you can keep second guessing right down to the absolute last microsecond. Doing the comic for so long has made me capable of accepting imperfection. It’s probably the most important thing I’ve learned. I mean, there’s a reason Jo makes her speech to John on page 584. It’s probably the best advice in the entire comic so far. Which is saying something since it’s full of little life hints. X3

Actually doing something is important. In lots of places in life. I mean, you can change your facebook profile pic to whatever the image is for the cause of the moment, but it does fuck all. Unless you get off your ass and do something the best you can hope to do is inform someone of the problem who is more likely to actually act. Pretty fucking sad. That said, you’ll rarely see me even changing my profile pic. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna do anything. I just don’t feel the need to fuck up my brand for asspats. Of course, there’s also a good chance I won’t actually do anything, but I won’t be getting any ill deserved ass attentions either.

I like to pick my battles carefully. I try to do things in ways that suit my skillset and resources. This comic is easily the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s the best way I have to try and educate, for lack of a better word, people lost out there, like I was. I didn’t have anyone, or anything, to look to for what I needed. I had to hash it out in the shit with the other dopes. Some things came close. Empire Records at least has a sort of hopeful message, more or less, but Clerks doesn’t really. In that respect I think Clerks 2 actually has a better overall message than the first one.

Royal Space Force: Wings Of Honneamise actually had a lot to do with helping me come to the message for Between Failures. I rarely talk about it as an inspiration because it’s way harder to explain than Empire Records, or Kevin Smith movies. It’s not as well known by a long shot. If you ever get a chance to watch it I think you’ll be able to feel how it affected my work. Especially the very first scene. It’s basically where Thomas’s internal dialog came from. Should you happen upon the film, try to watch it with subtitles. The dub doesn’t quite capture the apathy. They Americaned it too much. It won’t resonate the way it should. The subtitles are a little more vague and literal, and the voice acting better conveys the tone, even if you can’t understand the words. It’s a Gainax movie. That could entice you, or turn you away, depending on what bits of their catalog you’ve had inflicted upon you… For better or worse some people blame the failure of Wings Of Honneamise, and it was a failure financially, for the creation of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Alternately some people praise it for that. For my part I’m not sure which it should be. I think that Evangelion is kind of a hot mess, but the fact that everyone and their sister has seen it makes it useful for connecting to others.

For the record, if you just want to see Wings at all, the dub is free to view online legally. Two seconds on google will bring you two it. As I said, it won’t resonate properly, but it’s still pretty to look at, and you’ll get the gist of how it influenced Between Failures at least. If the sub is online I didn’t find it. If any of you want to take the time to become my friend you can come over and watch it sometime. I have the old, out of print, DVD.