Details in this took ages. I feel slightly bad, because the flyers we recently handed out said “Sunday” on them. But newcomers, full disclosure, there’s a reason we don’t have an update day listed on the site: it varies. Not much! I’ve had a pretty consistent Sunday-Monday happening for a long while now.

Oh, also for newcomers:

1. The current story, “The Bookend of Unimaginable Power”, starts here.
2. This is a followup to the first Morth story, “Shades of Black and White”, which starts here.
3. I guess you could start from the beginning, but let it be known that for strip quality reasons, volume one of a hypothetical future EN book would start approximately here.

It was my first con, and Silv’s first of that size and scope, so we didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, it was busy, but that’s what happens at cons, right? Well by all accounts it was crazy busy compared to previous years. Probably something to do with hosting the first full Star Trek TNG reunion since the show ended, and (reportedly) Stan Lee’s last appearance before retiring from the con circuit. Might be a factor. Organisation was a bit of clusterfuck, and I really hope they are better prepared for the descent of the nerdswarm next year.

Also a ReBoot DVD signed by Michael Benyaer

Speaking of Miss Strong, my girlfriend I and shared an elevator with her in the hotel on Saturday night. We were on our way to the pool facilities, I didn’t have my glasses on, and I wasn’t 100% sure it was her. I wussed out on saying anything, and spent the rest of the evening wondering. The following morning, Silv and I ran into her in lobby. This time I spoke to her, confirmed it was her in the lift, and may have slightly fanboyed her out, but it’s hard to tell. And then as her party got up and backed slowly away, I noticed Billy West had been sitting there too. Your mirrored shades almost fooled me, Billy West!

Sadly, we didn’t manage to catch any of the voice acting panels (except for the last couple minutes of a Futurama panel) because I bet those would have been a blast. The only panel we managed to hit was Wil Wheaton, and he was entertaining. But must try harder next year.

Reader Keith, Silversword, Virus, John DiMaggio

Hi as well to Sub Zero and Scorpion, aka Josh and Paul

The Aversion Bureau (slightly weirded out by the aforementioned hubbub at the Pixelated Toaster booth next to them)
Los Muertos Ink (boothmates with Pixelated Toaster)
Wasted Talent (whom Silv only recognised after having passed by two or three times, whereupon he promptly bought a pair of books)
Little Vampires
Teach English In Japan
We neglected to swing by Weregeek, which was a shame, since they’re apparently my neighbours here in Edmonton.

Then there were the big kids, like Blind Ferret, Sam and Fuzzy, and Questionable Content, who don’t need our measly links, and whom we were mostly scared to approach. Because insecurity. And also not actually being a reader of any of them.

All in all, fun times. And it’s filled us with renewed excitement about Exterminatus Now going forward.

More photos:
]]> http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-05-07/blog/so-calgary/feed/ 10 http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-05-06/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/the-revolution-will-be-televised/ http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-05-06/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/the-revolution-will-be-televised/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 11:43:18 +0000 Virus http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-05-06/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/the-revolution-will-be-televised/

Morth’s Great Conspirator co-conspirator, Kevin the Deceitful returns.

So Calgary Comic Expo was a lot of fun. I’ll be back later on to share some stories, photos, and links to some of the webcomic folks we met. Because it’s late.

I think we have a comment system now. Go nuts.

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If you’re just joining us, welcome along. You’ve found us mid-story, the current arc begins here But it is a kind of sequel story to an earlier arc which is not as pretty, but it will establish our first and only recurring villain.

Get in touch with us at encrew@exterminatusnow.co.uk

(Cast page is updated, have fun in there.)

Whoops, hey guys, sorry to cut away from the story just when it was getting juicy. I have actually drawn two whole comics this week, I just couldn’t quite manage a third and provide a story update. Besides, we spent all today in taxis and arrivals lounges meeting Silversword who is now here in Canada-land for a spell. So, above you see page one of our convention flyer. If you want to see page two, you will either have to:

1. - be at the Calgary Expo, where you can get a physical printed copy, double sided, on real live paper and everything. I guess Silv and I can even sign it? Would people actually desire that sort of thing? That feels very strange to me, but we’re game.
2. - or let’s say this: donate more than a couple of dollars/pounds/euros to our Paypal and we’ll email the digital version to you.

Sound reasonable? Kinda making this up off the cuff. If you’ve donated recently already, don’t worry, you don’t have to donate again (but you can if you want!). And when I say “a couple”, you know: a quid, two bucks, whatever. We’re easy, just don’t take the piss with 1 cent amounts. They’ll get eaten by fees, and you’ll get squat.

If we have prints left over, we might be up for selling them online. Is that the sort of thing people would be interested in? Email us at encrew@exterminatusnow.co.uk and let us know, or swing by and post on the Forum.

The convention is this coming weekend, but I should be able to get a story comic done in time. Spoiler: Morth will be in it.

By the way? Working for print is a pain the arse.

There goes the second Chekhov’s Gun of the story; get editing, Tropers.

End of the month! Calgary Expo! Virus and Silversword will both be there!

How about some behind the scenes?

Designing Marley – In Memoriam
Way back when I wrote the character, he had no name or species. He was conjured up on the fly to drive the plot, and he was referred to in scripts as “Antique Guy” or “Jim”. I asked for ideas on how to flesh out this character, and Eastwood suggested a scarab beetle, tying him thematically to the idea of ancient artefacts, what with the sacred scarab’s prevalance in Egyptian antiquities.

I thought this was interesting idea. But bugs are kind of hard to work with. They don’t have much of a face to speak of, and it becomes difficult to give them identifying features. A beetle’s main feature is its big wing casings, and carved scarabs are always depicted viewed from above, as just a big bulky shell. But that would be his back, and that would be A, rarely turned to the viewer, and B, covered up if I wanted to give him clothing of any sort. But I gave it a go, making this dorky looking bug dude.

He kind of lacked any personality though, and also looked too tubby to stand any chance of outrunning the guys in the chase sequence*. So I gave up on the scarab idea as unfortunately impractical, and made a couple of doodles of this generic mammal with glasses and a Tintin cowlick.
* Of course, even in the final design, let’s face it, he wouldn’t be able to outrun the athletic feline that is Rogue. We’ll chalk that up to dramatic license, and Rogue being slowed down considerably by the market crowd.

He had a bit more personality in his design, so I just had to pin a species on and be done with it. But, at a loss for a mammal species, and still quite enamoured with the symbolism of the scarab idea, I gave it one last try, incorporating the cowlick into the bug face, because why not? It could be some spiky, chitinous, pointy bits instead of hair.

It was about this time that I looked into Egyptian scarabs a bit more. Turns out, the Egyptians’ favourite dung beetle was of a particular species, Scarabaeus sacer, and when you image search that, it turns out this species just happens to have spiky, chitinous, pointy bits on its head.

So that was serendipitous.

I’m rubbish at clothing. I ought to get Silversword to design outfits more often, because he’s much better at it. But I thought a Hawaiian shirt would be fun, prevent him from looking too stuffy and academic, and inspired by Wash in Firefly. And in searching for antique shop reference images, I’d spotted this shop owner wearing a set of keys on a lanyard. That struck me as very evocative. You know immediately what they’re for, they’re to open display cases so a customer can take a closer look at that piece of jewellery that caught her eye. Also, apparently neckwear is character design gold, that’s why all the main cast eventually ended up with something around their necks (hint: Vi’s is usually under his shirt).

Then we had him roughed up and shot in the head to drive the plot! Sorry Marley!

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Hrm, it’s hard to force a joke in the middle of a footchase. So he’re a funnier bit from a different double-act:

Pixellated: Passed Silv a few quid towards his trip ticket as well, btw; along with a stern warning that Canada is clearly plotting to steal more of us
The Virus: If they want to steal us, why don’t they make my immigration easier/faster?
Pixellated: They’re in a long play. If they make you work harder to get in, then you’re less likely to abandon them because of all the time and effort you put in
Pixellated: They’re friendly on the outside, but devious on the inside. Look a Tim Horton’s employee turly deep in the eyes, and you’ll see nothing but lies, deceit, and more lies
Pixellated: truly*
The Virus: Sounded a bit Lewis Carroll. Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did look a Tim Horton’s employee turly in the eyes.
Pixellated: Jabberwock is secretly a Canadian Public Service Announcement, sort of like the Inspector Sands message on the tube
The Virus: I’d always wondered why the monster was “Jabberwock” while the poem was titled “Jabberwocky”. It’s not supposed to be a Y, it’s actually “Jabberwock, eh?”
Pixellated: http://i.imgur.com/9lllw.gif
Pixellated: CONSPIRACY UNEARTHED