2018/10/19 [PF 547] So many questions!

[Genesis]

Ok, first things first, kudos on compositing two different artists together in one strip, it's quite jarring, in a very good way.

Secondly, WHAT is even happening?! When did Josh get captured, last we saw him he knocked out the son trying to replace him. And why is he seeing in Ren, even seeing himself so. Did Seth break into another dimension? Or travel through time somehow? I'msoconfused...

[Raskahn]

Ok, first things first, kudos on compositing two different artists together in one strip, it's quite jarring, in a very good way.

Secondly, WHAT is even happening?! When did Josh get captured, last we saw him he knocked out the son trying to replace him. And why is he seeing in Ren, even seeing himself so. Did Seth break into another dimension? Or travel through time somehow? I'msoconfused...

Think of it this way, if someone wiped your memory back to a certain point, in order to make you believe that what you see is how you remembered it, everything needs to look like you rememered it.
And as the original briefing was drawn by Ren... 

[Genesis]

Ok, first things first, kudos on compositing two different artists together in one strip, it's quite jarring, in a very good way.

Secondly, WHAT is even happening?! When did Josh get captured, last we saw him he knocked out the son trying to replace him. And why is he seeing in Ren, even seeing himself so. Did Seth break into another dimension? Or travel through time somehow? I'msoconfused...

Think of it this way, if someone wiped your memory back to a certain point, in order to make you believe that what you see is how you remembered it, everything needs to look like you rememered it.
And as the original briefing was drawn by Ren... 

I guess that makes sense, but doesn't that then have to imply that the very base of how the world looks changed in-universe at some point? And still doesn't answer the question of how you would go about changing someone's "art style". Sound painful.

[Raskahn]

Ok, first things first, kudos on compositing two different artists together in one strip, it's quite jarring, in a very good way.

Secondly, WHAT is even happening?! When did Josh get captured, last we saw him he knocked out the son trying to replace him. And why is he seeing in Ren, even seeing himself so. Did Seth break into another dimension? Or travel through time somehow? I'msoconfused...

Think of it this way, if someone wiped your memory back to a certain point, in order to make you believe that what you see is how you remembered it, everything needs to look like you rememered it.
And as the original briefing was drawn by Ren... 

I guess that makes sense, but doesn't that then have to imply that the very base of how the world looks changed in-universe at some point? And still doesn't answer the question of how you would go about changing someone's "art style". Sound painful.

I think it only changes for the individual involved in said memory wipe. That and I don't read too much into the collab other than that it was used as a visual representation of the situation Josh is in. Not sure it has been done before and given the somewhat unique circumstances of this one, it very well might be the first time.

[Genesis]

Ok, first things first, kudos on compositing two different artists together in one strip, it's quite jarring, in a very good way.

Secondly, WHAT is even happening?! When did Josh get captured, last we saw him he knocked out the son trying to replace him. And why is he seeing in Ren, even seeing himself so. Did Seth break into another dimension? Or travel through time somehow? I'msoconfused...

Think of it this way, if someone wiped your memory back to a certain point, in order to make you believe that what you see is how you remembered it, everything needs to look like you rememered it.
And as the original briefing was drawn by Ren... 

I guess that makes sense, but doesn't that then have to imply that the very base of how the world looks changed in-universe at some point? And still doesn't answer the question of how you would go about changing someone's "art style". Sound painful.

I think it only changes for the individual involved in said memory wipe. That and I don't read too much into the collab other than that it was used as a visual representation of the situation Josh is in. Not sure it has been done before and given the somewhat unique circumstances of this one, it very well might be the first time.

True, I'm probably looking at it far too literally. It's excellent either way.

[Tapewolf]

I think it only changes for the individual involved in said memory wipe. That and I don't read too much into the collab other than that it was used as a visual representation of the situation Josh is in. Not sure it has been done before and given the somewhat unique circumstances of this one, it very well might be the first time.

Yeah, we could have just done this with Merlin alone, and would have done so if Ren had declined.  Having two different art-styles to represent Josh's not-flashback is a good visual cue that something is off, and since Merlin can do multiple styles anyway, that would have been another option.  But I kind of fell in love with the idea of having Ren draw this as an homage to the start of the comic, so we went with that despite the very real risks that it would slow things down.

There's one more page of this to go, and then we'll be back with Dorcan and Salomere, and hopefully the schedule will be a bit more stable, Merlin's health and workload notwithstanding.

To answer some of your other questions, strictly the last thing we saw was Josh's deception being uncovered by someone with a track record of manipulating and/or brainwashing his victims.  We could have shown Josh's capture, of course, but what really makes this scene work, IMHO, is the shock value of suddenly cutting to something really weird.  It wouldn't have the same effect if you could see it coming.

[Genesis]

Yeah, we could have just done this with Merlin alone, and would have done so if Ren had declined.  Having two different art-styles to represent Josh's not-flashback is a good visual cue that something is off, and since Merlin can do multiple styles anyway, that would have been another option.  But I kind of fell in love with the idea of having Ren draw this as an homage to the start of the comic, so we went with that despite the very real risks that it would slow things down.

There's one more page of this to go, and then we'll be back with Dorcan and Salomere, and hopefully the schedule will be a bit more stable, Merlin's health and workload notwithstanding.

To answer some of your other questions, strictly the last thing we saw was Josh's deception being uncovered by someone with a track record of manipulating and/or brainwashing his victims.  We could have shown Josh's capture, of course, but what really makes this scene work, IMHO, is the shock value of suddenly cutting to something really weird.  It wouldn't have the same effect if you could see it coming.

That's fair, I suppose it would have lost something if it wasn't so abrupt, and the confusion of the style shift was definitely a great way to make it all feel just subtly off.

Though I'm curious as to why Father Albina(did I remember his name right?) went to the trouble instead of just ripping his head of for incapacitating(killing?) one of his children.