The art was finalized a an hour or so ago – I’ve spent the last chunk of time slowly tweaking dialogue. I used to do this all the time – throw down the script and then refine it, refine it, refine it, post. Lately that hasn’t been the case, which hopefully makes this an oddity as opposed to a return to form. An oddity would be a good thing, see, as it would indicate an overall improvement in writing.

For the curious, changes from the typed script include a rephrasing of Lang’s last bit of dialogue, and some subtle tweaks to James’ delivery, in order to make him sound like the mildly paranoid dissmissive control freak and part-time asshole that he really is.

Some characters are a bit more difficult to “find” than others. James comes clearest when he’s in a mood, Yang seems to delight in chatting with Whitehouse, and Lang… well, Judy’s proving tough to get a handle on. Fortunately he doesn’t talk much – my work with him will consist largely of expressions.

Strip 199 – Know anything about booking bands? Established bands typically come with riders, to the effect of “If you want us to show up, you will provide forty midgets, twelve gallons of baby oil, six live Moose, four former United States Senators and a partridge in a pear tree.” I imagine that a practiced Psychometrist would come with similarly exotic requirements, particularly given the legal extremes that (you’ll find) James has gone to in order to secure Lang and protect his acquisition.

Strip 200 – Strip #001 was posted to deadcityradio.org on 2005.08.31. Prior to 2010 this was my Other Comic. With The Dualist complete and Transitional Voices on hold, DCR is now The Comic. Strip-format production is out the window after this chapter wraps. YEAH! So while there may never be a Strip 300, material adding up to it (another 25-35 pages, approximately) should amass in significantly less than the five years and two months it’s taken to reach this milestone.

Strip 201 – The verbal equivalent of massive whips, Rimmer. Massive, massive whips.

James? Condescending? It’s more common than you think.

Strip 202 – A bit different than Yang’s last direct “interjection.” It would appear that he’s getting better at it, though it’s difficult to judge – could be a stride forward in skill, could be Whitehouse’s brain adjusting to and fine-tuning the interference. Either way, the environment takes to blown-out smeariness remarkably well. Huzzah.

Strip 200 falls on Page 50 Actual. Web readers who see this when it’s fresh will notice a “52” at the top right – that’s counting the covers for chapters one and two. Fifty, 200, and the last line of dialogue for that strip? Unintentionally appropriate. I feel good about that.

Most of the rendering for this scene is done – this is good, as Work 2.0 may be throwing me a PC CPU-pegging project this week or next – if that drops, it;ll blow the rendering timeframe all to hell. The more of a rendering buffer I have, the better. Right now it’s two and a half pages – hurtling towards other numbers at very low speed!