What secrets lurk in the shadows?
Next episode: Thursday, June 17th – sketchblog updates daily! (scroll below – juicy stuff these past days!) And don’t forget the LoB Facebook Fan Page!
Legend Of Bill
A fantasy comic for fans of everything from D&D to Warcraft!
OUR WORLDS
quicklinks
WEBCOMICS ONLINE by TH3RD WORLD STUDIOS, LLC.
© 2012 Th3rd World Studios. All Rights Reserved.
© 2012 Th3rd World Studios. All Rights Reserved.
This storyline is fantastic. Top shelf work!
Man, if Vorik were around today, he’d be on the management fasttrack where I work for sure!
Oh, this Vorik’s definitely a bad apple. I have foreseen it…
Aha, THAT’S it: the love of money, a root of all kinds of evil. Quite enough to turn the head of Vorik and then embitter the heart of Vasheeva.
David, I have to hand it to you; you needed a planet-sized dramatic payoff, and already I see the shadow of the eclipse coming.
o_o When first I saw Vasheeva in this webcomic, I never thought I would ever feel this sorry for her. I hope that at some point, someone puts paid to Vorik, not just for what he did to her, but for how it warped her.
Oooh. Gork of Givernly before he was a swamp rat. Nice touch having Vorik call him “swamp rat” as a foreshadowing.
Oh he’s a big ole meanie bo beanie! He will get his cumupence!
Comeuppance
c-o-m-e-u-p-p-a-n-c-e
Comeuppance !
And lest we forget, every good villain needs a lowly, bumbling underling.
@Johanan: Assuming the king seems to be the father he seems to be, his “FORTUNE” is his daughter.
Brilliant! Vorik is absolutely creepy in that last panel.
@mk15…Ahhhh I never even considered that….Bravo Sir/Madam/Whathaveyou
I absolutely love this story line, excellent work. The last panel is great, the shadowing is awesomely done. It really expresses the dark that is Vorik.
Unless Sir David says otherwise, I’m going with the simplest explanation: Swamp Rat’s speaking of the King’s MONETARY fortune. If he were speaking of the DAUGHTER as the fortune, somehow I don’t think everybody’s tones of voice, wording and facial expressions would be quite so creepy. Lust-driven, maybe…
I’d had an idea that Vorik and the Warrix might be different beings. But, the appearance of Gork of Givernly here seals it. He was made from a swamp rat into what we see here (a Wormtongue-like henchman of sorts), and then into the green golum-like creature in the Dark Queen’s service, then back to a swamp rat. Vorik & Warrix are the same being.
The look on Vasheeva’s face in 2nd panel is really well done. The scene captures the timeless love between father and daughter, much like Elrond and Arwen.
How the King could have been so taken in ..? I’d have hoped he (a king!) would have better advisors around. Seems Warrix/Vorik had some mechanism to snow him so thoroughly. Vasheeva … we can put that down to youthful innocence, but a wise old king should have had better perception.
If Ganyon, Knower of Things, was a Court Mage/Advisor or somesuch at the time, something was FAIL in that. I’ve been wondering if Ganyon might be Gypsy’s father ….
Nice hat-tip to Bradbury’s book, BTW! That was one of the greats of its time, a really creepy masterpiece.
I am very curious as to how far into the past this retrospective is projecting. Any chance you might throw us a bone on that detail? David? Please ..?
Dam reminds me of a scene from Aladdin with Jafar and Yago Street rat swamp rat one in the same love it. Go team LOB!!!!
Hey, look it’s an old friend!
I like him more as a rat :3
*sighs* I had a sneaking suspicion that “Mr. Perfect” wasn’t all he appeared to be. Just the way his facial expressions were drawn… *headshake* I feel awful for Vasheeva. No wonder she turned.
@3xp4t While the Ray Bradbury story was terrific, the title itself was taken from Shakespeare. “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,” is from Macbeth, Act 4 Scene 1.
However, I can’t say for certain which one David is paying tribute to more…
Hello, team! Wonderful comments. It AMAZES me how many of you are tuned in to the story and characters so closely, such as the fact that you recognized an old swamp rat so readily in a similar, but differing form… Most impressive, my fellow Jedis. And that you feel for Vasheeva as I do, man… what a payoff in itself as a writer. Nowthen, a few answers to your comments:
Johanan: yes, swamp rat speaks of the king’s monetary fortunes. But I have a feeling Vorik isn’t satisfied with only his money… and why tell your underling EVERYTHING, hm?
3X: Yes… as you can see, Vash and her father are very close. They really have each other, ultimately… and the king is not so easily fooled… some other mechanism? Very astute, dear reader… and how ironic you should mention Ganyon, whom we have not seen the last of…
And the “Something Wicked…”, 3X and Hoomi, is actually a reference on my part from Shakespeare, but of course that edgey feeling of the Bradbury story to boot! Double-edged sword in meaning (and coolness), that quote!
And how far back does this story project? You’ll see… all will be revealed… I’d enjoy any thoughts or guesses.
Kyle: Very astute indeed!
Silka: You haven’t seen anything yet.
this is the first time I see your web comic and I’ve have to say that I loved it. I’m from Mexico, and overthere we have our web comics too, specially this one I would like you too know: http://www.produccionesbalazo.com (I strongly recommend the links: “interzone” and “cadaver exquisito”)
bye
y’know … I shoulda remembered the Shakespeare reference. Been too many years & I forgot. I’m just happy it was deeper then a ref to the movie, which was not worthy!
Seeing Ganyon’s hat a few strips back made it pretty obvious he’s at least familiar in the first person with this portion of the story. Bill also appears to be part of a prophecy, so a Knower of Things hanging out on the border of the Frozen wastes … pretty much has to have some part(s) left to play. Not entirely rocket science.
Oh, & Don using him as an avatar kinda gave a bit of a hint!
Thoughts on the story age … Vasheeva has to be about 17 or 19 years old here. Once she gains her Dark Powers, she could be any age now. She seems cynical & worldly enough to be at least in her 30s by now. I mean, her boobs are no longer quite as perky as Gina’s(!), no matter what magics are available to fight the suck of gravity.
But Warrix could also have been holding the Frozen Wastes for 200 or 1000 years. Just not enough history available to us yet.
Ganyon came to my mind that maybe he indicates a limit (like 50 or 100 years) … but, as a wizard (we assume), he could well be older than 300 lifetimes of men, like another famous wizard.
We don’t know how long gnomes live in the Billverse, so even if the one shadowing Bill & Frank is the same one at the announcement of Vasheeva’s & Vorik’s union, I’d say it could still be a hundred or three years since then. Although, we hope that smurfs have a rather short life expectancy …
Even Vasheeva’s Godmother, Shiarra, could be any age; she’s a friggin’ Frost Queen and appears to be an enchantress of some power.
BTW – I do note: today’s strip may well be the first strip without a comedic punchline somewhere. Not that I’m objecting! LoB has walked a delicate line of advancing the story in drama and providing great humor & silliness. I’d rather good continuity than a forced farce at an inopportune moment.
Thank you David! And, Don, I am not forgetting your tireless work to deliver a great strip every time. Thank you for your magic touch, also!
“David, Knower of Things”!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! What a wonderful thing to find on a double-take…
Thanks for the feedback…and how wonderful to know that Ganyon will be popping back in at some point…
LOVE THIS COMIC!
I’ve been reading daily for a few months now, actually found you from reading The Dreamland Chronicles, and am especially delighted by the “Mad Magazine” vibe you guys have going here. Awesome storyline.
Just one observation – the word “fortunes” in panel 3 does not need the apostrophe. It is plural, not possesive, nor a contraction (unless it has some extra meaning you haven’t yet revealed…)
*cue creepy music*
Back in Pomona, California, we had a rather Lurch-like manager that believed in using intimidation to get things done. I always had this incredible urge to wait until I knew he was approaching around a corner, and then recite the “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes” just as he appeared. Then I could exclaim, “AAAGH! IT WORKS!” and take off running.
No, he wasn’t a manager in the department I worked for, but he did have a lot of sway over our department…
I love hat last panel! Super eerie/creepy. This chick flick needs a bit of CREEP.
One more thing… didn’t Vasheeva’s, er, boobs get a lot, er, perkier along the way to becoming a Dark Queen? Does Getting Evil Magic Powers come with a free appointment with a plastic surgeon? Is the Dark Queen some kind of Medieval Silicon Sister? Just wondering, after seeing today’s little Facebook ad…
@Johanen – I believe that she underwent some sort of transformation beause the present day Vasheeva has pale skin, scarlet lips, red eyes, pointy teeth and pointy ears. So I don’t think that it would be that hard to toss in a boob job after all of that.
He probably keeps a trophy box full of tongues.
And so the “everything goes horribly wrong” part of their relationship begins. I love this comic. Oh, and still not a gnome in sight.
@Don Kuehn: And not only that, her facial expressions look a lot different too. Transformation proceeds from within, as Undersecretary Screwtape once pointed out.
You make an excellent point, and if I weren’t so tired I’d be laughing my head off at it. Yep, the Dark Queen is bad to the silicone, er, the bone.
Did I miss an update? I’m a little lost.
@Pixie: It seems you maybe missed this announcement? Notice, your comments from 14 June are still near the top in pole positions 7, 8, & 12. We’ll all need to be extra patient for a few weeks.
@David: Holding breath in anticipation … I’ll be happy whenever the update gets here. Quality first; time is irrelevent.
Dude…Apparently I suck!
Yes definately holding my breath too. Can’t wait to see the new comic.
Vorik reminds me of the bad guy from Corpse Bride.