Vigil: The Blight

[kostmeyer]

What's not completely off?

[Zephrania]

The dark'n creepy feeling. You got it down well.

[kostmeyer]

I see! Got it!
On another note, Vigil apparently had a very good New Year and hasn't quite recovered yet....

'Don't blame me you lazy...'

Normal service will be resumed next week!

[kostmeyer]

Vigil will be back on the weekly schedule this week - have to reclaim the site from the newbies!

[Virtus]

Here I am again, spamming like crazy! XD

Long overdue, but twice as many pages reviewed! Does that logically make it a giga-post? Sorry for the delay, Kost. But you know me, SW pages in dozens... I believe you understand my priorities.

SPOILER WARNING FOR NEW READERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Page 11:

"I'm here! Show yourself!"

You may call it scribbles, but I call it god-given talent! The scenery is, as always, nothing but your finest work. If I might ask, do you draw the characters first and a
scribble the background afterwards, or the other way around? Extra kudos on the research into the correct levels of different gases in breathable air.

Correction, also known as Seb nitpicking: There's a slight typo with a space between I and T in "It can communicate". Also, shouldn't there be a zero before .93 in the atmospherical readings? But I think that's just a different way of writing it, it varies from person to person, just making sure.

Page 12:

Blight: "Little fool... Be careful what you wish for."

If this page ever gets coloured, I can only imagine what color to pick for Blight alone... Purple-lilac, like the Blight's presence in the cover perhaps?

Page 13:

Blight: You stand before the Devourer! The Life-Thief! You stand before the Blight!
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"

Mind your footing indeed... I'm really impressed with the angles you're able to pull off here, gives a great sense of movement as Vigil panics and wiggles in the Blight's grasp.

Page 14:

Blight: "Your body is being ingested... Consumed... Broken down and converted... It hurts, I know... But soon it will all be over... Soon all there will be... Is the Blight."

Another dramatic page, ending with a rather ominous cliffhanger. I find the Cognoscenti's belief in Vigil touching, leaving the reader with a lot of hope for Vigil to pull through. Now, who said you were the most cynical of us two long ago? XD

Page 15:

"I can't fight it! Physically. But with my mind, I can."

I really love the Blight framing style on this page. Regular panels are fine and all, but a true artist such as yourself knows when it's time to have fun and experiment. It's a great framing device to further cement the illusion to the reader's experience of being inside the Blight's mind with Vigil. I was also caught off-guard with the Blight's origin being mystical in origin rather than scientific as I previously believed.

Page 16:

"But he is incapable of regret... There is only the hunger..."

We now know enough about the Blight to move on forward with the story, and we see a proper end to the lovely Blight-framed montage. "SCHHLUUUCHT!" is definately the grossest SFX I've ever seen. It really conveys how Vigil is... Well, 'squirted out' from the Blight's grip, for lack of a better definition.

Page 17:

"The memories of what you were... They're painful to you, aren't they?"

Pop goes the massively detailed six-eyed head (Panel 4 = PURE DISTILLATED AWESOME). I love how this page sets up the next one, which I didn't see coming.

Page 18:

Doamna: "You were foolish to run, child. It ends. Now."

Never underestimate the dramatic story twist power of a splash page. As previously stated, I didn't expect the Tetrarch to catch up with Vigil right in the middle of her skirmish with the Blight. But I guess that being a time traveler makes it hard to be fashionably late. Caught me completely off guard and it will nail any new reader that's just passing through to keep following the adventures of Vigil.

Page 19:

"Help me free the Cognoscenti vessel and I will return to the Homespire with you."
Tetrarch: "We are here to subdue you, princess. We have no time to be distracted by trivialities."

To see Vigil running for the hills brings a smirk to my face. It always does when she's forced to rely on a physical plan rather than her fancy powers. Interesting background in panel 4 there, with what apperars to be a river. Given that they're inside an enormous organism though, I'll take a wild guess that it's some sort of alien concept comparable to a blood vein.

Page 20:

"If telepathy won't work... Let's try telekinesis!"

Good ole roughhousing... With futuristic pulse-staffs, but still. Sometimes good old-fashioned fisticuffs are the best solution.

Page 21:

"I'm used to being able to sense the thoughts of my opponents - Anticipating their every move... Without that edge..."

The fact that Vigil didn't finish the sentence with "we're not alone" and instead lets what happens next speak for itself is purely sublime. Do I spot a Terminator reference with the smashed-up Tetrarch robot?

Page 22:

The Blight: "Fool! Did you think that you could stand alone against the Blight?! You will not escape me a second time!"

I love that in a way, it's only because of the Tetrarch's presence that Vigil is able to figure out a solution to the Cognoscenti's predicament. Extra kudos on making the Blight look even more horrifying in his third adopted shape since Vigil barged in.

Page 23:

"I've got it, Qil! I have the answer!"

It's just adorable to see Qil exclaim "remarkable" when he's in mortal danger. And we get some more great shots of the surroundings. If there is one thing I admire Kost for (speaking in third person for dramatic effect) is that he never shies away from details. A real "Doing it for the Art"-trooper.

Page 24:

"The R'athh that landed on Earth - Its course was redirected from this point."

As any comics nerd, I love the presence of continuity in the titles I read. Yet I also appreciate how there is a balance between light and heavy continuity. The three adventures I've so far read and whatever else you plan to connect to them demands a release in TPB form someday! Maybe not this decade, but SOMEDAY!

Page 25:

Tetrarch: "No more running."

It's never easy, is it? People always has to interrupt when time is of the essence. So is also the case for Vigil's race to hinder her plan from backfiring in the Cognoscenti's faces.

Page 26:

Tetrarch #1: "To stand against ONE of the Tetrarchy is folly!"
Tetrarch #2: "And now you face two!
Tetrarch #3: "And now three!"

Why won't the robots just shut up? Whoever programmed them must have been a large verbally versatile ham... No offense. XD

Volume control? Nah, if it had been vertical, I'd say it would have been easier to confuse with one of those. I support the decision to go with this approach to a countdown, alien scribblings are cool and all, but sadly very confusing. This is much more... omnilingual.

Page 27:

Tetrarch: "Now... Strike as one."

I admit that when I first read this page months ago, I didn't quite understand it. Upon closer inspection now though, I noticed the little portal in the corner of panel 5 and finally got the jist of Vigil's plan to redirect the collective blast of the Tetrarchy into the tentacles clogging the exhausts to the engines of the Cognoscenti's vessel. Not an easy effort, but mission accomplished. The Cognoscenti are free.

Page 28:

"I would have gone with you if you had let me help my friends. You brought this on yourselves."

Cue extensive ass-kicking.

Seeing what Vigil did to Nall in that grudge match you drew a while ago, I can only imagine how horrifying it would be to see her compress a living being the same way. Single-minded automatons however, are fair game. Robot goons can only last for so long against someone that can let loose on artificial beings. That is Doamna's dilemma to not trust a real agent to finish the job.

Page 29:

"Pride goes before a fall."

If only she could admit that whenever any skirmishes she gets in because of her ego CAN be avoided...

I agree with others, that Blight-face in the floor is high octane nightmare fuel. Part of me doesn't want the flashback following this to end, cause I can only imagine what the innards of the Blight might look like...

Page 30:

"The pain gives way to darkness... And then the darkness itself gives way... To memory."

So far, Vigil's home time looks just as I imagined. Clean, majestic... But sterile, particulary with the artificial butterfly buzzing by. Something that makes sense for Vigil, a free spirit, to flee from. Might I add that Vigil looks positively H-O-T in her gown? Not to give Doamna credit, but damn, whatever seamstress she ordered to put that together knows how to make the bride irresistible. Or is this Vigil's pre-bodysuit look for her telekinetic coating?

Final Words:

You know Kost, from now on, I'm going to stop praising your art, at least it's quality. You already know that you could draw a pile of menure and still blow me away. You don't need my praise on that, it speaks for itself.