Annotated 29-2
Sure, let’s do another early callback with Gravedust’s “I suppose you will find out,” which he also said in Chapter 1 and which he’ll riff on in the series’ closing line.
My favorite kind of scene to write is one that unfolds like this one did. All I really knew was that this page would be Gravedust giving E-Merl some encouragement between the interview and cave scenes, and every line of it was just how I thought each character would react to the previous line I set down. It’s like playing ping-pong with yourself. (Phil did edit in the insult “wastrel,” improving on “oaf.”)
A few readers noticed that E-Merl’s “candle exercise” is pretty similar to the beginning of Robert Aspirin’s Myth Adventures series, in which the fallen magician Garkin trains his apprentice Skeeve. But Garkin’s a more complex figure than E-Merl’s masters seem to have been. He may have insulted Skeeve and even smacked him now and again, but overall he was more nurturing than abusive (as seen in the Phil Foglio adaptation at right). E-Merl hasn’t gotten that kind of praise from a fellow magician until, arguably, now, and he’s not quite sure what to do with it. Once Gravedust realizes mere compliments won’t do, he retreats to being a bit cryptic, hoping that the puzzle will motivate E-Merl to chew on his words rather than dismiss and forget them.
There are apparently psychological studies that have shown that, once a person decides they’re bad at something, it becomes very difficult for them to get better, even if they really want to.
Having a good teacher that can train you out of that mindset is the best thing ever.
I’ll take a couple dozen of those teachers, please!
The last panel on that image reminded me of Girl Genius with the art style. lol
They’re both drawn by Phil Foglio, so, y’know, it makes sense. (GG co-written by him and his wife, Kaja; MA adapted by him from the novels by Robert Asprin (before Asprin had co-writers).)
He’s also done several Magic cards (as has Kaja), the Phil and Dixie strips in Dragon (and later, Duelist) magazine, and the comic XXXenophile (obviously pornographic).
Wow. Well now I feel silly for not checking the artist’s name for Girl Genius. I had no idea the he was such a big deal, the art style just stuck in my mind after giving that comic a quick glance many years ago, but I honestly thought this might be someone else entirely, haha!
Buck Godot’s my fave I think.
Aaah, I forgot about Buck Godot (probably because, unlike the others, I merely knew it existed at one point, never actually read it).
My fave of everything he’s done (that I’ve seen) is a DC miniseries called Angel and the Ape.
Same artist!
Did anyone else think Gravedust was preparing to train E-merl? I know mysticism & E-Merl aren’t an obvious match, but “the wrong sort of magick” felt like a seed planted
Yeah, I was honestly hoping for that the first time.