Myst The Book of Atrus Comic

Rayhdeeyoh · **Posted:** Sun May 20, 2012 1:07 pm

Deledrius wrote:

Are you aware that the novels aren't a re-telling of the games, but different stories entirely?

Of course I am. But my opinion stands

Deledrius · **Posted:** Sun May 20, 2012 4:11 pm

K, just checkin'.

Troi · **Posted:** Sun May 20, 2012 6:31 pm

The comic is, in a word - Fantastic! Thank you!

I have always been reluctant to play games on-line. MOULa is my first.

I had played all of the single player games before, 3 of them several times. Then, after years of avoiding them, I read all 3 of the MYST novels. What a delight!! The novels, gave me background knowledge of the games. Since then, I've played the games again, several times.

For me, the MYST novels are integral with the games. Had I read, "The book of Atrus," and, "THE BOOK OF TI'ANNA," before playing MYST and RIVEN, the games would have been even more enjoyable. Further, had I read, "THE BOOK OF D'NI," before playing the rest of the games, I can say that they, too, would have been more enjoyable. The books and the games are interwoven, in my view.

Are the books required for game play? No.
However, if anyone wants to really know where they are, the books are a must read. Afterward, URU will look a lot different.

belford · **Joined:** Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1890

Really I'm enjoying this comic more than I enjoyed the novel. The presentation of the characters is cleaner and tighter.

(I was not a big fan of Wingrove's writing at all. I realize you were, but there we are.)

Gondar · **Posted:** Sun May 20, 2012 11:00 pm

I'm with belford on that. His writing wasn't BAD.. but I wasn't a great fan. I have reread the books before, but I tend to reread many books when I run out of newer material and want to read them again. This was an example.

I also like the presentation more. It's professional quality here, add some colouring (and maybe a bit darker inking, but not too much because it'd ruin the look) and I'd expect it to be in some published compilation. Heck, in black and white I can STILL expect it to be in a compilation!

I also like the expressivity you seem to capture on the faces. Atrus has this wide-eyed boyish look, and he's so exuberant even when he's being serious. And the whole hidden sadness mixed with deeper knowledge Anna holds.. comes out in her face.

The only issue I had was the camels at the start, but that's because of the source material's wingrovianisms :wink:

All in all, I'm now gonna have to try and wait semi-patiently for it to come out.. because even from the first bit I'm loving all of it.

Troi · **Posted:** Sun May 20, 2012 11:51 pm

belford wrote:

"(I was not a big fan of Wingrove's writing at all. I realize you were, but there we are.)"

???? Where did that come from?

My writing was about the usefulness of the novels; not a critque of anything - nothing, nada, zip.

The illustrations are based on "The book of Atrus."

Since I have read the books several times, there is significant force behind my saying that the comic/illustrations are "Fantastic!" And, my writing, "Thank you!" was/is heart-felt.

My hope is that the well of passion for doing this work is infinitly deep! I hope that we will be blessed to see much-much more.

I am so totally not interested in writing a critique. It would be the very-very wrong time to do that.

belford · **Joined:** Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1890

Quote:

???? Where did that come from?

Oh, sorry -- I was addressing Heather. (Whose blog post starts out "'Myst the Book of Atrus' is, and will always be, my favorite book...")

Troi · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2012 3:32 am

belford wrote:

"Oh, sorry -- I was addressing Heather. (Whose blog post starts out "'Myst the Book of Atrus' is, and will always be, my favorite book...") "

Oops! I'm sorry, too.

Ahh! The joys of being human!

Chuckles58 · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2012 4:18 am

This Book of Atrus comic is fantastic. I actually like the "non-colored" style, as this project might not be finished in our lifetimes if Heather was to have to color them. :lol:

But really, this is a wonderful project that I am waiting paitiently for each new page, having liked it with FB. Thanks for your hard work and the love of the story you are putting into this! It shows.

B'ni Rabbit. · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2012 4:58 pm

This is excellent stuff. I can see this being published as a graphic novel. I would be very interested in Cyan's feedback on this.

Keep up the good work!!

Troi · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 12:07 am

larkinheather wrote:

"I agree with @numinous I don't want to get burned out and see the story finished either. That's why I'm happy with the format. I know its rough and monochromatic, but it's a format I can replicate easily page to page. It allows me to explore the story, which is the most important thing to me. As for the script, it's pretty locked down and there are so many exciting scenes I'm looking forward to doing. I am confident I can finish it (all your lovely comments certainly helps)"

I've looked at your work a second time. The first time, I wrote: "Fantastic!" Now, I write, Fantastic and Brilliant!!

I've included your quote above as a reminder of sorts. You are on a roll. You've made choices, and they're working. Rough and monochromatic is an expressive art-form in its own right. There is a saying: "If it works, don't fix it."

All of us are loving it! I know that I'll be looking/reading/enjoying many more times!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Gondar · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 7:09 am

I guess what I meant didn't come out right. As it stands, I want to see this done, and want to see it in this style. If there was any inking/colouring, it'd be done later, before it's published by some major group. As it stands, it'd have to be very careful.. light colouring almost like, well, coloured pencils. More of a coloured shading than outright full colour. Too much saturation would not only overwhelm the work as is, but would take away from the tone of the work. Although, done right it could be for dramatic effect.

As for inking, I dunno. The trouble would be doing it but not destroying the look she has, which I can't imagine really being done. Personally, I'm not sure how this is done as is. Is it done on tablet?

If I sounded like I was trying to say "Oh, it's terrible, it needs X and Y" I'm not. If it sounded like I was saying "It's ok, I guess, but it REALLY needs Z!" I'm not. I'm saying "It looks fantastic.. if she could figure out how to add it without compromising the style I can see this the sort of work that comes up in large-distribution publishing. But in the good way.
The biggest thing is, any stuff like that would have to be done after it's finished. And somehow not manage to ruin the style that's already there, which I've already gone and gushed about (as has everyone else! :wink:

). If it's not possible, so be it. I don't want to see you get burned out drawing it, larkinheather.. and that's why I'm very carefully NOT mentioning the other two books in regards to you drawing them too! subtle hint carefully planted!

larkinheather · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 1:08 pm

Thanks again everybody for all the wonderful comments! It's really encouraging

Troi, I totally agree with what you said:

Quote:

You are on a roll. You've made choices, and they're working. Rough and monochromatic is an expressive art-form in its own right. There is a saying: "If it works, don't fix it."

I've been disappointed in the past by trying to perfect a project right from the start. I work mostly digitally, so there's NO LIMIT to the revising/embellishing that I could do. For example, I'm also working on this other comic, called "The Seated Lady" in which I went full blast: inking, coloring, the works. But it means it can take 8-20 hours of work for a single page! I think it's pretty, but it's exhausting (I'm still working on it btw, just very slowly).

So when I started the Myst comic I wanted to be able to produce pages more quickly, so that I could focus on playing with staging, acting and story. I think having certain limits - only four levels of shading, only one pen size, one color - has been liberating. Obviously I'd love it if it was full color and very detailed, but I also like that I'm trying to respect my own limits.

It's still a learning process. As I do new pages, I've been trying to make the lines darker and the figures clearer, more consistent. I also have some notes about panels I would like to revise or redo. But I think it makes sense to do that at the end. Gotta keep the ball rolling. My one goal for this moment is to finish.

I understand what you mean, Gondar. As you say, all kinds of options for revising are still open for the future, if it makes sense to do so. I don't know that a comic has to have a certain look to be suitable for a large publisher, or if even a large publisher is best for this kind of thing. There's lots of imponderables.

But I do think it's the beginning of some exciting things

Hearing all your thoughts is helpful in considering my different options.

In other news, I'm writing chapter 4 and I'm pretty excited about it. I've also prepared a bunch of sketches and notes related to the comic that I'll be posting (along with other random things) over the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy them!

-Heather

Gondar: BoT, BoD? Maybe!

Lord Chaos · **Joined:** Fri Sep 08, 2006 1:57 am **Posts:** 1337

My first computer was a text-based CP/M machine, which I bought because I'd become interested in writing. Handwriting and typewriting were both too slow, but the computer could keep up with my thoughts. A couple of years later I saw a Macintosh for the first time and became fired by the idea of illustrated stories. I bought a Mac when I could afford it, and drawing software, and a graphic tablet, and learned the same thing you've learned here: drawing takes a long time, and drawing in color takes even longer.

I tried another experiment: illustrating stories with photographs. This didn't work either, as the photography mind-set conflicted with the story-memory mind-set. I ended up dropping everything but the words, and those written with a text editor. The readers have to produce their own images from the words.

I admire people such as you, who can do it all: illustration, story, words. "The Seated Lady" is a neat story with fascinating drawings. So much detail, so many things to balance, all done within finite time. You've done an amazing job with both this and "The Book of Atrus." Thank you.

matthornb · **Posted:** Sat May 26, 2012 12:17 am

Your style is beautiful, and I really like how this comic is developing.

Great stuff.

Myst The Book of Atrus Comic

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