3236 A Real Flashback
Hey! Today’s strip is a little unusual:
The flashback panels were drawn back in 1990s by myself and Kanthara when I was running a big AD&D campaign called “Legends of Shadow & Light” and its sequel “The Further Legends of Falania”, the campaign world that had the largest influence on the shape and characters of YAFGC.
Kanthara created and played Roberta the Halfling and this scene was something we didn’t do at the table, but wrote and drew ad-lib at work that week as supplemental material. (We did that sort of thing a lot). So here is this week’s guest artist collaboration!
Check Kanthara’s stuff out at Kanthara Draws!
-Rich
"Real", huh? So all the other flashbacks were fakes? 😉
Sorry I didn’t have the explanation up before you saw it but… this is a true flashback in the sense that the art was drawn long before there was a YAFGC.
Wow! And here I was wondering if you were trying something new. I did like the blur effect in panel 5.
Ah, a tankard of your finest swill my good barkeep for the lovely lady over there.
Exactly! Hahah
…wait, is this literally art from before the strip began? ?
Some years before yeah.
I love the ‘fade’ effect and change in art. The whole effect works great for a cinematic feel :O
I agree! Making the memories look more sketchy is very effective! In one way, it reminds me of what Rich Burlew does in The Order of the Stick, by using crayon lines instead of regular solid lines. Here, the rougher sketches, the hand-drawn lettering and the page curl artefact from the scan make for a clean break between story and story within a story.
I don’t know if you planned it like this, Rich, since previous flashbacks haven’t had this effect, but I like it.
I confess…. I didn’t plan that. I’m glad it worked out and I’ll think about doing things like that in future flashbacks. But the flashback artwork is not only much older, it’s only partially mine. Roberta’s a PC from a campaign I ran before I moved out of Montreal and the player drew her in these panels (and the panels in the following strips), Holvo is an NPC she met in that campaign. These panels were written at the time we were playing the game.
Hey – can I do a Guest Artist flashback with you sometime? I am reliably informed that my stick figures look pretty good – and they would definitely look distinct from the present-day narrative!
t!
Okay. Now this HAS to be done.
And I just came up with a GREAT idea for it, too.
Alright, you both had me at "Rich Morris/t! collaboration." I am hugely looking forward to seeing this!
(We did that sort of thing a lot)
And it was AWESOME.
t!
We? Is there any context to this? Something I’m missing?
He’s quoting my parenthetical statement in the strip description above.
This is a really creative use of old art! And despite it being drawn as a comic, it reminds me of the classic AD&D modules–Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, Tomb of Horrors, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks-that came with illustration booklets. You were using the stuff to enhance your campaign, in its own way.
I like how that effect makes it feel like a memory. Blurry to begin with but clear as day when he remembers her.
I like how comfortable Roberta looks on that towering human chair.
I suppose that to get by gracefully in a tallfolk world, halflings would adopt the same tricks as cats: redefine every object as it pertains to YOU.
Open book or newspaper? Cat-rest.
Keyboard? Cat-warmer.
Human? Large cat-warmer.
Countertop? Cat-balcony.
Fence? Catwalk.
Actual catwalk? Cat-catwalk.