Starship Farragut: The Comic book

[Kail]

While we are waiting for the next installment of the animated adventures of the Starship Farragut and her crew, thought you might enjoy reading the startrekanimated.com comic book "Dearly Departed".

http://startrekanimated.com/tas_comic09_main.html

 

[Horizon]

Good story and great art, as always, Kail.

 

[Barbreader]

I have added a link to this comic from my Starship Farragut page, vis: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/22.html (See the bottom of the page)

 

[Kail]

240 views and only 2 comments. Oh well, I tried.

 

[FalTorPan]

I feel your pain. I've been working sporadically on Astronuts for almost ten years... and it gets virtually no feedback.

 

[Barbreader]

That's why counters exist. If you thought the only people looking at stuff were the ones that commented, you'd think traffic was less than one per cent of what it is.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Nice work, Kail. I always enjoy your TAS comics.

As ever, the artwork is fantastic. If I had one criticism, it's that I found Prescott to be a bit too much of the "rules lawyer" here. I never thought he was quite that aggressively rules-bound, not to the extent that he'd be almost insubordinate. But that's purely a personal impression, and I'm sure others will differ.

Either way, awesome work.

 

[Kail]

Thanks Nick.

Prescott may have been written a little over the top, but the story required a confrontation between he and Tacket, and his "by the rules" attitude seemed to be the best angle to acomplish that end. We tried very hard not to make either one of them the heavy, and in the end both of them could have been correct. We left it up to the reader to decide.

 

[USS Intrepid]

That's not unreasonable.

Like I said, it's entirely a personal perspective, and I agree it was certainly the best angle for a confrontation between them.

I hope we'll see more of these Farragut comics from you, they're always a treat. And another Exeter one would be nice too.

 

[Kail]

I doubt you'll be seeing any fan film comics in the near future. I think I need to get back to the original crew.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Aw, that's a shame. Still, there's only so may hours in the day, and whatever you work on I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

 

[Kelso]

USS Intrepid makes a valid point. Both Prescott and Tacket were slightly exaggerated- Well, I say "slightly," opinions may vary- in order to build the contrast, and ultimate conflict, in a short amount of time... perhaps too much so. I usually try to keep the comic scripts moving at a pretty quick pace to keep Kail from having to do twice the artwork and to keep readers from having to slog through a 100+ page comic. You're right, though, Prescott does come on pretty strong with his "rules-lawyering" and Tacket is a little too focused on finding the scientific solution, rather than seeing the sphere as a military threat to the ship.

Thank you very much for taking the time to not only read the comic, but give some constructive feedback. Not everyone does that.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Not at all. Thanks for taking the time to make and share it.

 

[Cap'n Caveman]

Did anyone notice that "Michelle Smithfield" is spelled "Michelle Smithfiled" on page 1?

Anyway, I have to finish reading it later. Looks very interesting though. Nice artwork!

 

[Kail]

Did anyone notice that "Michelle Smithfield" is spelled "Michelle Smithfiled" on page 1?

Anyway, I have to finish reading it later. Looks very interesting though. Nice artwork!

Nice catch, thanks. I'll fix it.

 

[Michael]

I just finished reading it. I was rather intrigued by that neat little story. I especially appreciate the story structure with the cross-cutting between Tacket and Prescott on the Farragut and the Captain and Smithfield inside the sphere/nebula. That way it never really got boring. While not terribly original, I really liked the aliens and even found myself wanting to know more about them in the end. I liked the tension aboard the ship and the characterizations in the nebula scenes. Also, there is some really good humor in this.

If I had to criticize something, I'd say that at times the artwork seems to be a little stiff and almost too plain. But believe me, I say that with the greatest respect for your work. I understand there's only so much you can do and still make it look like a comic version of The Animated Series. But still, I wish there'd be more room for some dynamic illustrations and a more playful and free form.

But ... great job, guys! I think I'll actually read it again.

P.S.: Another minor suggestion for improvement: Maybe the single comic pages (the JPEGs themselves) could be links to the respective continuation page. That would greatly improve readability, methinks. Also, why not make it available as a PDF?

 

[USS Intrepid]

I really liked the aliens and even found myself wanting to know more about them in the end. I liked the tension aboard the ship and the characterizations in the nebula scenes. Also, there is some really good humor in this.

I'll second that. It was quintessential Trek, and it'd be fun to revisit those aliens one day.

 

[Barbreader]

I really liked the aliens and even found myself wanting to know more about them in the end. I liked the tension aboard the ship and the characterizations in the nebula scenes. Also, there is some really good humor in this.

I'll second that. It was quintessential Trek, and it'd be fun to revisit those aliens one day.

Sounds like an invite for an Animated ST: Intrepid... same race, 100 years later...

 

[USS Intrepid]

Neat idea, but I'm pretty sure Kail would have neither the time or inclination for such a thing.

 

[Kail]

First, thanks for the constructive comments. As for the artwork, I've never claimed to be much of an artist, that's why I work in the TAS style. I'm always open if anybody wants to help with the artwork, doing more free style type stuff. I'm a little frustrated with my limitations too. I hate reusing the same shots over and over again, but I really don't have a chouce.