 Monday, July 18th 2005 - [352]Coffee Break (13 of 18)
Original Commentary
Yes, Jake said "two hours later". There was originally a line in there, Brisbane commenting on it. That got cut. But the important information is still there. I do feel that I'm reiterating too much - Terrence Modern Commentary
I mean, Jake could have gone in to more detail about things but it wouldn't have mattered. No point doing a play-by-play recap of the whole high school relationship.
But yeah, Jake cares about his family and friends outside his gruff exterior. When you tell him about your problems, he's just kinda nodding along and concentrating on his FBAO raid, but deep down he is paying attention. - Terrence  Tuesday, July 19th 2005 - [353]Coffee Break (14 of 18)
Original Commentary
Last night Terrence and myself had a loooonnngg talk about where this arc was going. By the end of the conversation we both came out of it a lot happier and with a direction. This will be the last week of this arc, and will hopefully make everything well rounded.
Robert really has the tech support spark- he sees something against the norm and instantly assumes it's a problem. He was still quite green in his skills, considering it took him an hour to diagnose the problem... unfortunately for both himself and Jane.-Isabel Modern Commentary
Yeah, getting so caught up in trying to fix a thing that he can't actually address the problem at hand is a Robert thing.
Anyhow, Brisbane is kinda getting caught up in the backstory here. The problem at hand isn't how they broke up, but how they proceed from here. - Terrence  Wednesday, July 20th 2005 - [354]Coffee Break (15 of 18)
Original Commentary
Terrence really liked the character design on the 'random coffee girl' used for today's comic... but I wouldn't get too attached to her. As it was, we had to have one of those talks about today's comic which ended with a few rewrites. originally she had a line that implied that she thought Brisbane was interested in Jane, but it would have opened up a can of worms that would have complicated things more than we wanted, so this worked out better.- Isabel
Modern Commentary
That "Someone I used to know" that Brisbane is thinking about in the first panel is Caleb. Caleb is astoundingly knowledgeable about any kind of performance and will speak at great length about it. He talks down to Brisbane a lot, hence the similarity.
Caleb is also completely ignorant of any other subject and will, regardless, speak at great length and with total confidence. - Terrence  Thursday, July 21st 2005 - [355]Coffee Break (16 of 18)
Original Commentary
Once again, Terrence and myself talked well into the night trying to work today's comic out. Originally there was going to be a panel where Jane and the other girl working the cafe were talking, where she was mentioning Brisbane was there to talk to her and she wanted a portion of the tip Brisbane gave because she went to get Jane.
Terrence was adamant about having Brisbane be the one who tells Jane NOT to bring up the whole "thing that broke up Robert and Jane", where I wanted Jane to say she didn't really care about what the thing was. Both brought out different qualities in the characters, but in the end it was decided that Brisbane should get the line.- Isabel
Modern Commentary
Ok, Brisbane is actually pretty good at this. Dude is a good friend and much better than Robert deserves.
Sitting around, feeling sorry for yourself, and hoping your problems go away can actually work. At least if you've got a friend who's working hard to handle things for you.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on Robert. We all need a hand sometimes. Nobody lives entirely by themselves. Still, taking action is more likely to get you results than not. - Terrence  Friday, July 22nd 2005 - [356]Coffee Break (17 of 18)
Original Commentary
Written by Isabel, hence all the action - I have a hard time visualising my characters moving. I think "pumpkin butt" displays just the right amount of cuteness, youth, and irreverence. This comic gives Jane more personality than we've seen her with before, I think. First time we've seen her really happy. It may be a trend - Terrence
I really like how the last panel came out. I think this is one of the best kisses I've drawn - Isabel
Modern Commentary
Speaking of people needing help, I'm so glad I've got Isabel to help me get things resolved here. Without her guidance, this storyline would've been longer and had less happen in it.
Never a great combination.
- Terrence  Sunday, July 24th 2005 - [357]Coffee Break (18 of 18)
Original Commentary
Isabel suggested that the comic skip directly to Robert, Jane, Brisbane, and Kimberly on a double date. I thought the previous comic needed continuation; that there was something there that still needed to be said. I wrote up three versions - Robert and Jane talking, Robert and Brisbane talking, and Robert and Jane talking. None of them really went anywhere. I had thought of doing something involving Jane explicitly forgiving Robert for The Incident, without knowing herself what The Incident was. But it didn't need to happen - Terrence
Basically, I had to create three different images for the background of today's comic - two of the windmill and the fizzy drink machine. On the plus side, I have a full-size coke machine for ND also. I should create a full set of outdoor equipment in case I need it. The reason the comic took so long is that there's a lot of detail in the background, from the thin stars to the castle. It's been a long time since I've spent three hours on one comic. This is one of those comics I wish I could post without all those words cluttering things. Ah well. And yes, Kimberly and Brisbane did swap positions between panels one and three. They move like that sometimes - Isabel Modern Commentary
That soda machine probably got re-used a lot.
Beyond that, not much to add. The middle of the storyline is a bit loose but I'm happy with the end. I think the first panel is a little too formal and too explanatory, but it tells us where we are and how we got there.
Kimberly is...she's not wrong, but I think that getting two people back together after they broke up years ago may be more difficult.
- Terrence
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