Page 1078…
Hi all!
I’m back from my quick trip to NY for my godson’s christening.
Was nice…but a LOT happened while I was gone.
We had some issues with the prints (they weren’t registering as SOLD when they were purchased) that are now FIXED.
And other little things (like me forgetting to add a word balloon on Friday’s page.
All fixed now.
But today…
TODAY…
Today we start one of my favorite parts of the story.
We return to the time of KING ARTHUR!
This sequence of pages (which will span 11 weeks) will (hopefully) answer ALL questions of how Nicodemus rose to power…and so much more.
It’ll be like my STAR WARS PREQUELS…only better.
🙂
I hope you enjoy. And thank you for your patience during my brief absence.
I will start signing prints and getting them out later this week. I can’t wait for you all to get them. They look gorgeous.
Have a wonderful day.
Scott
Discussion (100) ¬
woo hoo!!! Backstory!
Nick walking on all fours looks unnatural to me… And his wings look off.
Alright! Something we can sink our teeth into!
Looking forward to this 11 week ride!
CAMELOT!
Uh. Sorry. Can’t help thinking in ALL CAPS with random SLANTED BOLDS after reading all those 1000+ pages. 🙂
Thanks for an amazing job so masterfully done, Scott!
11 weeks! Wow, this will be an in-depth flashback! Looking forward to it! I’m wondering if King Arthur should have been the face on the first page of Chapter 15. That would have been a spoiler, though. Maybe next chapter, Artie!
I noticed right away how bright it is in the castle compared to when Alex visited Nic there. Nic almost looks out of place in this environment. Nic does sound a like a flatterer here, implying that Arthur is beyond human.
Looks like Lake_wrangler was likely right in yesterday’s comments. It was the “law of the land” (perhaps a spell) against 2 kings being in Dreamland simultaneously that kept Daniel out. When the elves studied what was keeping Dan out, they most likely didn’t know about the spell.
I finally realized that though King Arthur’s time in England would have been in the early sixth century, time passes differently in Dreamland so only 600 years have passed there since the end of Arthur’s reign.
*jumps up and down* 11 weeks!!!!! *dies* so cant wait for it
It may look weird, but it’s necessary: He is, in word, subordinate to King Arthur, and by respect to the king’s human size, Nick must keep down to be able to speak without shouting, nor does he want to appear too threatening to humans. Any pretensions he has at this time is well repressed and out of sight.
And the wings, strange as they may look at this time, are actually correct.
Scot, you could make this comic the worse comic in history and still be better than star wars episode 1.
…but we don’t mind you making the best comics in history either!
I look forward the next 11 weeks! Thanks!
I love that castle. It’s just so elaborate and spiffy looking. The sheer impracticality makes it that much more awesome.
Oh, look, some guy and a dragon.
The first thing that came to my mind when reading this page was how Nic looks so much more like an animal now, that made me wonder if he naturally stands upright or if he`d most of all like to walk on four paws and he now stands upright to look more like human kings do. That reminded me of Jungle Book where king Louie is singing: `I wanna be like you` 😀 (and now that song is stuck in my head lol)
Run Arthur!!! Wait, Nic is good at the moment…
Beware the ides of March!!
Loving the new pages and really enjoying the story so far. And BTW, the site and the pages look fabulous on the iPad. 🙂
Interesting…..
Nicodemus: “Humans are incapable of such things. They are quite capable of being crunchy and good with ketchup.”
Arthur: “What?”
Nicodemus: “Um, nothing…”
I know that King Arthur’s actual excistence would have been around the sixth century, but judging by the armour and the sword design, I’m guessing that here he’s based more on the myth which is depicted as taking place in medieval times. Or maybe this is just how Arthur viewed himself in Dreamland.
Looks nice, but Arthur needs to be skipping while Nicodemus claps the coconuts together.
Yeah, what Raidur said!
Write on, Scott! =)
It seems to me that Nicodemus will turn out to be just misguided but not really evil in the end.
Don’t forget that Nic is younger here too…
Coconuts? In Dreamland? The coconut’s tropical!
The middle age began in the 5th century with the fall of the western roman empire!
Exactly.
Have we actually seen him walking on two legs, or just standing on them after flying?
Hehe.
Ugh. I just had an ad come sliding in over the comic. How annoyiong.
Et tu, Brute?
Actually I’m going for the more “romantic” version of King Arthur. The 12-14th century version.
LOL!
Well thankfully the Clone Wars tv series has made up for it a bit.
My boys and I really enjoy that.
OH! I’m so jealous.
LOL!
Exactly. I went back and forth on which version to use. I went with the romantic 12-14 century Arthur.
Yikes.
Do you remember what it was?
I can try and block it.
Nicodemus may be a flatterer, and indeed his words are flattering if your ego craves recognition, but understanding court intrigue one can easily hear Nicodemus’ unspoken, “Nor are you capable of comprehending my plans.”
Hey, I resemble that remark, I kan two comprehens Camelotte!
I think he went storming in on 2 legs when Felicity took the amulet in his treasure room.
ELEVEN WEEKS?!!?!?!? Oh mah gahd :U That’s a long flashback.
but coconuts migrate :U EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!!!
Maybe Faeries carried them in.
As i look on Nico in this four legged stance… I can’t stop thinking of a huge stick and a catapult Arthur uses to throw it with…
Also: WoW eleven weeks is a looong time! You meant it like a constant flashback or like the sword tells it with short coffee brakes?
I’m looking forward to it either way 😀
Plus he was on 2 legs while stomping around breaking things in Hilmdel.
So… is Nicodemus Y Ddraig Goch ? 😛
“The same story is repeated in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, where the red dragon is also a prophecy of the coming of King Arthur. It is notable that Arthur’s father was Uther Pendragon (“chief dragon”, erroneously translated by Geoffrey as “dragon’s head”).”
One might say, “Monty Python never dies, he just fades away”. XD
I’ve never had a problem with the prequils myself. Might just be because I was about 10 when the first one came out, so I didn’t have to deal with 30 years of nostalgia and expectations.
Sounds to me like the original events took place in Dreamland, and only through the memories of humans that visited did Arthur’s story become a legend of Earth.
But he doesn’t fade away, either, does he?
So if we carry Nic’s logic further, Arthur is incapable of comprehending his own vision of Camelot. So begins the lies and half-truths which cannot stand the light of close examination.
I’m so going to enjoy this flashback!
Bas Draig! Bas Draig!
Agreed, I enjoy following that series myself.
🙂
It didn’t occur to me when I first read your comment, but later I realized: Alex has never been to this castle. This would be the inside of Camelot, wouldn’t it? And Alex encountered Nicodemus inside the castle at Astoria. Of course, over the years Camelot may have become Astoria, I suppose …
Also, I just discovered an awesome map of Dreamland in the wiki, here: http://thedreamlandchronicles.wikidot.com/main:places
Kudos to whoever created that! (I’m not skilled enough with the wiki yet to retrieve a name; sorry … )
Awesome page; Camelot looks great, and Arthur is everything we could expect him to be.
Any chance we’ll see Merlin some time in the next 11 weeks? Merlin has always been my favorite Arthurian character, the new TV series notwithstanding …
Don’t forget to VOTE!
No. This is Astoria. Alex has been here. He and Felicity ran through these exact halls.
We’ll see Camelot when Arthur wakes up.
Actually this is Astoria.
We’ve been here before.
🙂
He will not fade. He shall live on through the internet meme.
Oh I can just HEAR the subtle loathing in the last panel.
European faeries or African faeries?
I knew you were going to ask me that. 🙁 I hit ‘close’ way too quickly. It was a survey sort of thing, and I think there was the word ‘wall’ in it.
Oh! Sorry, my mistake then; JakesDad’s statement about the lighting holds, then.
😳
*sigh*
Yeah, now that I ignore the word “Camelot” in the dialog, and actually look at the picture, it’s pretty clear that that’s Astoria.
Oh, well, it still looks good …
😉
LOL. You made me choke on my Hot Pocket! I’ve got to stop reading these during lunchtime.
Nii!
You know, the more I look at this page, the more I like it. Unfortunately, in staring at it, I’ve discovered a minor physics defect: in the middle pane, Nicodemus has both hand and his foot on his right side off the ground. Given the center of gravity implied by his position and build, I don’t think he could do that without falling over, at least not at a walking pace that Arthur could keep up with.
Minor, as I said; I don’t know if it would be worth the effort required to put his right food down (and maybe lift his left one a little). Most people apparently haven’t noticed, so in print most people probably wouldn’t notice.
😉
Here you go, Arthur Skipping and Nic clapping Coconuts
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/Ranchlamb/NicArthur.jpg
Wooow…amazing! Finally, we’ll get some ANSWERS! …You had better not be just leading us on here, Scott. If we don’t get a bite of some tasty exposition after all this build up….well, I for one would be mentally and emotionally crushed. My institutionalization would be all your fault. 😛
Also, am I the only one who thinks Nick looks really sad in the last panel? Did he have a wittle human friend as a drakelet, one who betrayed him? He seems so downcast. It’s not his usual schemey face, nor the gloaty face…
Ha!
That’s great!
Alright. I’ll look into it.
Thanks.
So that IS as funny as I thought it’d look. Awesome job!
lol xD i wonder if he’s thinking the hallway should be taller too*giggle*
Besides…..it’s only a model 😛
So falls Caesar! I mean, Arthur.
So are you going whit Tennyson’s “Idylls of a King” or Le Morte d’Arthur by Malory? Is there even a difference? I’m eager to see the development and it will be over cover 11 weeks?!? Wow, that is a lot of delicious backstory! I can totally see what happens. After Arther is mortally wounded by Modred (or the like) and after he is carried of by the ladies to Avilion, a spell is cast on him to heal horrid wounds. Nicodemus, grieved by the lost, takes up Arthur’s crown, and guards his sword (I assume the sword’s name will be reviled to be Excallaber) till he returns. Unfortunately, he is corrupted by the flow of time and by his rejecting Arthur’s ways, substituting his own, until he comes to hate Arthur, and all humans for being foolish and weak.
Still, wouldn’t he have some way to fold them against his body?
Are you saying that Nicodemus’ last name is Palpatine?
Some call the period late 5th cent-10th century the Dark Ages, and then the High Medieval Era from 11th-13th or so Centuries.
I don’t know… [whooshes off into oblivion]
I think that Scott is going with Le Morte d’Arthur by Malory. 12-14 romantic Arthur who is betrayed and killed by his son that he doesn’t know is his son. If I following Scott’s planning right (feel free to correct me if I am wrong), Avillon is in more ways than one Astoria with a slight name change. If I am wrong about that, then I am. If I am right, then yay me! Any way, it is only said that Arthur will rise for what is essentially the apocalypse… any one else know how I figured that out or should I explain it? Either way, Arthur is supposedly asleep when they place him on the boat to Avillon, and is carried away by the maidens of the lake. Then one of the two knights (forgot which one :\) throws Excalibur in to the lake, where it is caught by one of the maidens of the lake. It then vanishes in to fog and the knights leave. I think the maidens put the sword in the cave that the death of the ogre way back at the beginning of the entire comic. Nicodemus probably found out by looking out on the lake, went to try and pull the sword out, couldn’t, and some thing happened that sealed him in there with it. I may or may not have just summarized the next 11 weeks of speculation, comic pages, and so forth… If I did, feel free to be mad at me, if I didn’t then it will at least be interesting to see what comes of it.
Camelot! Well, as long as it isn’t a silly place. Now where were my coconut shells?
You have to love comics that relate with legends/history. However, when I think Monty Python I think “Bring out your dead! and the “I’m not a witch!” part. Totally not related I know. 🙂 BTW, good job on the lighting.
Seems a lot of people dont realise Arthur is talking about whats going on in the waking world
Nicodemus in his four-leg stance tells me that he has a human body, with a dragon head at the top of his spine and a tail attached at the other end. For example, his torso is suspended between his shoulders, rather than being directly over them, and his rear femurs are so long that he cannot extend his legs straight down below his hips without his knee hitting the floor.
I don’t mind: dragons are fantasy creatures and people can draw them however they like; I’m just curious if there is a specific story reason (e.g., Nicodemus is a transformed human), a software rendering reason (it can articulate a human skeleton but not a fantasy skeleton), or if Scott just envisioned that dragons would look like this.
A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.
Nicodemus could be referring to humanity as a whole and in that case I would have to say he is probably right. Arthur tried to build something better than what was but some people would take advantage of it and it would ultimately fail.
That is the map from the books, Scott posted it on the forums to answer questions a few times and I thought it would help to have it next to the list of places.
Nicodemus knew where the sword was but wasn’t with it until shortly after Alex entered the Tomb. He had been busy ruling Dreamland but had a spell to let him know if anyone got close to the sword.
Hey Scott!
I’m lovin’ the Arthur references…but just as a quick side note, I feel like the way you drew the castle is a little odd; it almost looks like a layer cake which it makes it more humorous rather than regal looking.
Welcome to the comic. Now you have to endure the daily cliffhangers with the rest of us.
RG- in that case, Nic would be following the same flawed logic of the Sentinels in the X-Men comic series. I wouldn’t be surprised, as robots are not the only ones capable of such flawed reasoning….
Nice MiB reference, and one of my all time favorite quotes …
😉
In front like a bat maybe, but that might make walking a little tricky.
Ahhhhh!!!!!
You’ve got a point. 4 footed creatures can have 5 different gaits (horses have 4: Walk, trot, canter, gallop and lizards do the diagonally opposite limbs move together walk). Nic isn’t doing any of these.
Yeah, Amy, this loss of speed is a bit depressing. But look at the bright side, too: Paddington’s gonna enjoy 11 weeks of mud baths while Scott isn’t looking! 🙂
With Nick’s build, I would hazard a guess that his gait would be similar to a bear’s, but less “lumbering”, because he share’s the bear’s ability to stand upright or walk on all fours with relative comfort in either position. (Actually, a raccoon might be a better comparison, because it’s dexterity and agility would be more on a level with Nick’s.)
But of course, the slowest walking gait of a bear, or a raccoon, or anything with four feet is going to be very similar, as dictated by the limitations of physics.
It does look a touch like a cake! Heh! Not that its a bad thing… And Pablo has a point as well, but I kinda like him like this, it could also be that he is on all-fours because the ceiling is too low.
nice to see nicodemus walk on all fours for a change.
How did he get there so fast then? I am pretty sure that no one has yet made a telep–and now I feel like Homer Simpson. Nicodemus has wings. D’OH! But then that makes the questions of what happened that created the over hang (feel free to correct me on that if I am wrong) that had a few fairy houses built on it, I think, and what hid the sword behind enough stone and rock that it hid the cave that the sword was in (redundancy ftw)? I can understand if it was Nic who hid it, but if not him (first pages of the comic indicate he came out from the darkness past the sword btw) then who? Why did they hide it? Either way, Nicodemus shows up in the comic on all four legs walking from the darkness behind the pedestal Excalibur was stuck in until Alex pulled it out, and Nicodemus then came walking forward asking who touched the sword. Later in the comic it is shown that Nic didn’t spend all his time in the cave that the sword was in. He was busy trying to coerce the elves to get rid of the dreamers. This may or may not have been done easily through some spell similar to a holographic communicator (see Star Wars prequels walking hologram projecting droid for reference, the one that shows Darth Sidious). But I digress.
ooh shiny dragon! must be pretty pampered in that palace to keep his scales polished
http://4thwall.240gl.org/viewtopic.php?t=425
The tomb was originally sealed some 600 years ago so once it was covered the Teddy Bears would have been able to set up town nearby without even noticing that it was there. 600 years is a long time for mortals so they even could have been there before it was covered and still not remember about it. Since it was built into a cliff face not a free standing structure. There is a back door on page 39 that explains Nicodemus’s location when he appears.
I’d guess the software rendering myself. Note that the kracken also had a human torso – every creature so far has had a humanoid base, as far as I can tell. And looking at him when he’s standing up…Nick totally has pecs man. Ripped pecs, too. Bet it helps him take off from the ground, along with those meaty shoulder muscles.
I had a flashback like that once. It was called ‘Fall Semester 2005.’