Chapter 17 | Page 3b: Hot Stuff

Today’s page takes us back to Ralph’s Diner, where Captain Heroic proves—once again—that nothing rattles him… not even a surprise soup bath.

Hailey is mortified, Captain Heroic is dripping, and somewhere across the diner, Yazmine Velour is livestreaming the whole thing as heart emojis rain from the internet. It’s a small moment, but one that says a lot about who Cap really is—and why people can’t help falling for him.

Transcript

Panel 1
Hailey (distraught that she has dumped hot soup on Captain Heroic): Omigod Omigod Omigod…

Captain Heroic (turning to another person eating at the diner): Excuse me. Would you hand me a napkin, please? (The person hands him a napkin)

Panel 2

Hailey: I’m so sorry Captain Heroic, sir. I didn’t mean to — {sob}

Panel 3

Captain Heroic (handing her the napkin): Here. Please don’t cry.

Panel 4

Captain Heroic (continues): Most of my first impressions involve disintegration rays. And actual impressions. In concrete.

Panel 5

Captain Heroic: This was far more pleasant — not counting the bay leaf in my shirt.Yazmine Velour (as she livestreams the interaction from the other side of the diner, a torrent of heart emojis flow from her phone as the audience reacts): Omigod Omigod Omigod

After Dark

This week's commissioned MicroFic delivers exactly what you’d want from a pairing between Dynasty and Father Christmas.

  • Yes, he lives up to his name.

  • Yes, Dynasty knew exactly what she was doing.

  • No, the North Pole will never be the same.

I also posted the Goblin Girl MicroFic from the Monster Girl poll — and the response was so good, I might need to make these poll-powered MicroFics a recurring thing!

Halfpixel



Three members of Blank Label Comics are ending their partnership with Blank Label Comics to form a new collective, Halfpixel, along with the creator of PvP, Scott Kurtz.

Dave Kellett, Kris Straub and I will become members of the new Halfpixel — previously a hub for Straub and Kurtz’s joint efforts. The site will now become a hub for all four of us and the projects the four of us are collaborating on — such as the popular Webcartoonist Weekly podcast and the upcoming “How To Make Webcomics” book being published by Image Comics.

From the press release:

“The four of us are finding ourselves working on more and more projects together, and Dave, Kris and I decided it wouldn’t be fair to try to split our energies between the two groups,” said Guigar. “We told our BLC partners about this a few weeks ago, and, true to BLC form, we’re doing this without the requisite Webcomics Drama. Those looking for sour grapes or angry sentiments are going to be disappointed. We’re all still very much friends and fans of one another’s work.”

All of the artists will retain control over their respective creations and Web sites. “In the broadest sense, the name ‘Halfpixel’ will be what we’ll organize under any time we do a project together,” said Kellett. “Things like the podcast, book, convention appearances, content for the hub site, any joint animations or second strips we do together…that sort of thing. Any time two or more are gathered together for a project, we’ll probably do it under the Halfpixel banner.”

“I started the old Halfpixel out of a desire to really push myself creatively and see if I could come up with the next big thing” said Straub. “That philosophy stuck when Halfpixel became me and Scott, and it’ll be a driver for the four of us now.”

“I think that Webcomic collectives are the new garage bands,” said Kurtz. “Everyone plays an instrument and you look for people to develop a sound with. We all got together and started jamming one a week and realized, ‘holy crap, guys… this sounds GOOD. We should take this on the road.’”

The Webcomics Weekly podcast can be found at halfpixel.com/ww. “How To Make Webcomics” is in the January issue of Previews magazine (Page 143).