Oh, that gypsy’s good. But she’d better be careful… there’s a reason no one speaks of the Dark Underlord in these lands of Terragard, so close to the Frozen Wastes…
Color version coming up later by LoB color wizard Don Kuehn!
Next Episode: Monday, May 24th - more revelations abound! Sketchblog updates daily!
Haha, I love the gnome behind the crystal ball.
Haha, I love the gnome behind the crystal ball.
If we weren’t so spoiled by Don’s color renditions, I’d say leave this one as “film noir”. It’s appropriate. (evil laugh in the background)
If we weren’t so spoiled by Don’s color renditions, I’d say leave this one as “film noir”. It’s appropriate. (evil laugh in the background)
Funniest gnome appearance … ever!
I have to agree with Johanan. I think the heavy inks and warm serpia are appropriate. I think Don should only color the last panel.
Funniest gnome appearance … ever!
I have to agree with Johanan. I think the heavy inks and warm serpia are appropriate. I think Don should only color the last panel.
LOL at gnome!!
I also like the non-colouring of today! Sets the mood nicely.
With the gnome in the crystal ball, would you call this gnome vision?
Impressive! Happy 2nd Anniversary, man!
The Dark One? Meh. I killed him the other day in NetHack while playing as an elf wizard. He wasn’t so tough. But then I was killed later by some creature that Medusa spawned right next to me. Ah, well. . . time for another try at ascension!
Actually, I kinda like the strip the way it is without color. Just enough tone to make it stand out and give it mood. nice!
Great stuff! The Gnome Rocks! I am so buying your next L.O.B. collection when it comes out
Gnome is AWESOME in this strip.
Colors are simply…Wow. Just speechless. Someone write down the date!
Poor Bill looke like he just got a twitch (hence the lil star) or he ummm had a lil *ahem* accident?
The speech pattern really enhances the creepiness factor here. And I love the lump in Bill’s throat.
I like the dark silhouette characters…it makes the reader want to know more! And I think panel 3 is a great panel as it takes you from the seriousness of the story right back to the funny…what Bill is all about. Great work, man!
Wonderful as always
She’s so Raven !
Or maybe Pink !
Agreed w/ Old_Crow – only 3rd panel needs coloring. First two are done. Fantastic mood set in those; LoTR level of setup. Looming background silhouette in panel 2 makes me imagine Conan.
Love the look on Gypsy’s face. She looks really rattled by what seems to be coming down the pike. Took a moment to parse out the gnome!
Epic placement! I wonder what _he_ is seeing in the depths of the crystal, especially after consuming whatever funky fluids he consumed a few strips back.
Seriously … I DO wonder what he sees. A gnomish perspective (Gnome-O-Vision?) on upcoming events could radically affect the roles the Smurfs & gnomes will play in the coming apopkalypso. Oh to be a gnome on the wall in Gypsy’s house …
While “Gnome-O-Vision” is a neat idea, I’m thinking more along the lines of “Scream-O-Vision”…
Wooh, just finished reading all the comics…
+1 on coloring only the last panel
Thanks for the great comments!
I loved y our comments regarding leaving the sepia tone on panels 1 and 2… but I confess when Don sent me a sample of panel 1 (I put it up in the sketchblog) in color, MAN… I had to go with it. Now that the full-color version is posted, I love the color, but I did like the sepia tone as well for this… what are your thoughts, team? But you gotta admit, Don KILLS with those colors…
And Zecc – WELCOME! Great to have you with us!
Yep .. good call on the color. Don – Thank You! Great job! I really didn’t have faith that it would be better. Hope you don’t find my lack of faith disturbing
… I’ll try to be less agnostic in the future.
I mean … in my defense, the sepia just did REALLY look great. For future reference, this is a good example of how sepia _could_ be planned for & used very effectively. The gang is about to enter the dark lands, so there should be an opportunity or three to play with it.
I request that a link or a post in artwork or sketchbook (or somesuch) make the sepia version available when visiting this strip via the archives. Be kinda cool (also) to see a version with panels 1 & 2 in sepia & panel 3 in color. Had I saved the sepia version (D’OH!) I’d have done it myself ,,, just to see it.
Really great strip, both of you guys! Thank you!
Ten bucks says Bill is STILL just thinking about burgers.
Hi folks! Well, after Don and I discussed it some, we both agreed we like the sepia tone for flashbacks. Don actually suggested this some time back on another strip, which I had forgotten about, so he was already game for it, as was I. So flashback sequences will be in this awesome sepia tone (check out the “improved +100 AWESOME” Sepia… tell me this isn;t LOTR-worthy!
Thanks for all your comments… it was YOUR comments that got us thinking, discussing, and DOING! LoB… a GROUP effort! Have a great weekend everyone.
D
@Everyone – thanks for the compliments. While the colors in the colored version of the strip (this is version 3 if you’re counting) looked great, the sepia definitely sets a tone and lets you know that visually something else is going on. For those of you who missed the full color version, perhaps we’ll add it in a “deleted scenes” section of the next LoB comic book.
Don’s coloring here is indeed smashing, but I love the idea of sepia for flashbacks too. Not only is it “LOTR”, it’s “Funky Winkerbean” too. Just thought I’d point that out (even if FW technically might not use sepia per se).
Oh wow! While I love Don’s colors (from ver. 2), the sepia here looks totally AWESOME!
That frickn dang gnome is back
Gnooooooooooooooome!
I would like to point out at this time that I suspected baldie wasn’t on the up and up a while ago. ^^ That and I enjoyed this strip a lot; the composition is really nice. Carry on.