Rearranged a bit. Linework separated from backgrounds; scale to match height followed by a little bit of moving around and cleanup – Thad’s blur and Val’s shadow in the first panel have been tweaked a bit, and Val’s been scaled down and moved a bit in panel two.

A point I’ve made elsewhere in the 1e metadata, that I figure bears re-stating here: Nobody who commits any of the violence in The Dualist has any hollywood-grade special training. Thad and Ornix have the typical backwoods redneck “we’re bored and hide-and-seek is more fun with camo” survivalish “training,” and Val has whatever skills Thad has (with much less muscle mass). I greatly prefer the back-alley brawl in They Live to the too-long boring-ass violence ballet of the latter Matrix movies or the 2004 Appleseed*, and fuck if I’m going to write or draw any action I’d skip on a DVD.

That said, I have some simply marvelous violence planned for other stories (DCR, TV, etc)… and it’s mostly the kind of stuff that’s over in seconds. Just like the real thing!

* 1. I’m an enormous, slobbering fan of Appleseed. It’s a matter of public record that I’ve been waiting for the fifth installment since junior high, that Tantek’s helmet is a loving (and greatly simplified) homage to Briareos’ Hecatonchires body, and (I don’t think I’ve written this anywhere outside of IRC, so here it is) I love the 2007 film. Not so much the score, but man. The film is PORN.

2. Given everything mentioned in 1, the intro Deunan “workout” scene was fucking boring. Nicely choreographed, beautifully shot, good music… and it’ll cure your insomnia.

Cast

  • A traumatic Awakening in the summer of 1997 was just the beginning of Thad’s emotional problems. The disappearance of most of his Pittsburgh friends a few weeks later compounded his issues and, while he...

  • BMC Long Term Care patient 6656, Annathena Val (hence Val) is a Cognitive Empath, born with an incredibly rare neurological disorder that arises only under a “perfect storm” of genetic abnormalities – a condition...

Glossary Articles

  • Rattan Cane

    The 4′ long 1/2″ thick Rattan Cane is a walking stick and sometimes-weapon favored by Thad, who also uses it as a focus for harnessing and projecting his psychic will. Dyluck uses the weapon...