#411 – No way out

Oh man WordPress 2.8 is totally crazy now. I can’t even begin to explain how, but the wonky peg-legged way in which I have to upload comics now is cuh-rAAAzy. Oh well. Computers in general are crazy.

ANYWAY, this page was way complicated, but worth it because I always love painting Zedwig. <3

  • Eliza
    Zedwig must be so stressed out...
  • Peapod
    That last panel of Zedwig is AMAZING.
  • Crystal
    OMG HE LOOKS LIKE AN ANGEL IN THE LAST PANEL!!! an angry angel... <3<3 *faints*
  • Squee~~~ <3 <3 <3 Sorry, this page makes the logical part of my brain take back seat to the fangirl one XD *jumps up and down* KILL! KILL! KILL!
    Zedwig's hair is so amazing on this page! In the last panel, especially! How do you do it, Colby? :o The magic effects are awesome, too :]
    *studies them*
    I want to stare at this page, it's hard to take my eyes off it~~ *stare* *stare* durrrrrrrr~~~
  • Barrett
    It's like an addiction. He's addicted and he wants to quit, hates it even, but he can't. :D
  • Barrett hit the nail on the head. :)
  • Mad-Dawg
    I guess thats why some religions think that doing drugs is a grave sin. You know, ive never really understood why certain religions (like that of the Mormons) think that drinking coke and watnot is a sin...

    ;P (mostly a comment to Barrett--not Colby)
    Btw, Zedwig is kind of annoying me. I mean, it is obvious that he can fight Fang's control. At the moment, it seems like Fang is fighting Sangwine-- which does in fact take the greater part of his attention. So, Zedwig could probably try a little bit harder to not be such a pansy-elf-piece-of-sassafrass... And fight for his own freedom--as well as that of the realm.
  • Barrett
    You would, Madison.
  • Mad-Dawg
    Thank you, I try. Btw, Barrett, u need to check ur email. And... Colby, you should really think about starting some random (awesome) blogs--cus i know u can do it. I have to say that they would be incredibly bamazing. And... u are forgiven Crystal--if that is an apology up there. Though, i wasnt really angry at you--at all (though u really do need to learn how to proofread ur comments--sorry in advance). Cant wait for an update--though i thought it was supposed to happen on fridays... ... ...
  • spas
    dude, colby's tuesday/friday schedule has been something of a suggestion in recent months, like traffic lights in italy. it could be a good idea to go on green, you'll have to wait to see what the driver does. since it's a free comic, we do our best to show our appreciation and not act entitled to anything. this attitude in general seems to be acceptable to web comic creators, who invest mad amounts of time for our entertainment. she's been pretty regular over the years, though, and it is another reason to love lint.
  • Okay, okay, fine I'll try to stick to the update schedule you buncha whiners. ;B
  • Mormons think breathing is a sin. I'm not breathing right now, in fact. I never do.

    We're also made of magic.
  • Crystal
    lol actually, they believe that if they can get enough mormon-converts, they can become a god of a different world.. but then, you have to wonder- what world does our God come from? lol and they think Jesus got married...weird... lol you might have just lost yourself a fan! O.O lol probably not... lol the mormons think we're made of magic? O.o weirder...
  • Haha, Crystal, you totally need to get your facts right about the LDS faith. ;D

    Also, I had to take down your last comment because I felt like it was too combative. Let's be generous about each other's religions, okay?
  • Crystal
    my sorriness... ToT
  • Crystal
    lol good idea
  • spas
    colby, your dream reminds me of a jewish parable. some find it frustrating that rabbis often answer a question with a story. can't you not digress this time? and no, apparently they cannot avoid digressing. but the story always offers the answer. most people love the stories. yours is a good one.

    i'm sorry for carrying on this religious discussion, since i don't wish to offend anyone and in the u.s. it seems like religious discussions always offend someone, but i can't help but thinking that because of this we all (humanity) just manage to avoid finding our common ground, tragically, like the lead actors in the film 'made in heaven'...and just the most random chance could help us find it.

    i respect your beliefs, crystal, and of course i'm sure we all agree that we each have a right to our own. i do suggest you ask your priest or religious leader what the man was called to his face during his lifetime. it is my feeling that if all the modern-day followers of monotheistic religions would know more about this kind of thing (who was yeshua? was he knowledgeable about judaism? my understanding: actually he was a learned rabbi whose reforms and criticisms of judaism were not taken seriously by his scholarly jewish peers - but that is to say, i think his life was a very jewish-inspired one, albeit altered by his own epiphanies - therefore, knowing something about judaism means knowing yeshua's academic background better - i love to discuss his life with knowledgeable christians - they usually know more about it), it might be easier for us all to come together as one, as it is written in the hebrew song, 'hinay mah tov' - the english translation of which is simply "oh how good and oh how pleasant it is for brothers and for sisters to dwell as one."

    irshad manji wrote a book called the trouble with islam today. http://www.irshadmanji.com/ she calls for a new dawn for islam, she's got a plan to make it happen and she's brilliant. it strikes me as ok for a muslim to talk about islam critically, in fact, it's necessary that she does so and it gives me faith that she is actually doing it. it makes me think: maybe judaism is also at a low point in history requiring fresh perspectives to help us move ahead as a people. as a jew, i feel free to discuss this. i think we should all strive to become 'a light unto nations' yet i am not sure that we do, that we are tolerant enough, open-hearted enough. do not all of our religions ask this of us? trust me on this, us jews will raise the level of judaism - on our own. i trust mormons and other religious groups to do the same, on their own...from within. when we show each other mutual admiration and respect, we learn from each other and grow. here is an example - i know some of these people here in jerusalem: http://jerusalempeacemakers2008.jerusalempeacemakers.org/

    muslims, christians and jews praying together for peace. you never know what you might see next!
  • Mad-Dawg
    Wow, I didn't think that my Mormon comment would spark such a discussion... But, what i gathered from this series of comments is that, though some religions may be at a low-point on the whole "make the world a better place crusade", there are still people out there who are in fact trying to lift the issue back up. In my oppinion, the best way to do that is to just be a good human being. You can become as active as you want in certain issues, but if it is simply you trying to make a difference, you are not going to have that much of an effect. Inspire those around you to help you and you will have a much more magnified effect.
    Throughout my life, i have been told to be Christ-like, and though that is not necessarily the clearest picture of the way you should live your life for God, it is still a very good idea of a place to start. Basically, my philosophy is to be a strong Christian example to those around me and hopefully inspire people to join my efforts to improve the world--however subtle they may be.
    Anyway, i dont really see why we all just dont decide that our own personal faith supercedes our need to disrepute those of other religions or sects. Maybe it is just that we are all selfish and only see our own self as correct. Maybe we all have a God-complex in which we need to be the most important thing. Who knows? (Of course WE ALL do--just dont want to admit it)
    My idea--be humble (but not too humble as to be a coward).
  • Good idea spas. I should visit Jerusalem, since it sounds like there is indeed poverty, and because I want to know so much about the mutual-dislike between various ethnic groups. I say 'various' because there is so much dislike between everybody that it is hard to sort-out who dislikes whom... Anyways - visiting a country sounds like a good idea, but I would much rather give away money, and then ignore the problem. It seems so... Effortful to actually talk to the people who are suffering :( @colbycheese: Heh, nice dream. @spas: Who is yeshua?? Oh. Oh. So you mean - that Jesus wasn't a white man with all the aesthetic white man phenotypes that we get to see in Childrens' Books? And what a great name for a song : ) I usually don't listen to songs with lyrics (except Ode to Joy) but this may be one worth listening to (if people sing it). I agree about fresh perspectives. All religions and governments need fresh perspectives. [quote="Mad-Dawg"]Inspire those around you to help you and you will have a much more magnified effect.[/quote] Aww - nice! Good idea Mad-Dawg. @selfishness&faith: I do not see why disliking everyone who disagrees with you is selfish... I think it is just making an assumption, which is ok. I just dislike it when the people whom you disagree with get killed/enslaved/trolled. Then it sort of forms a human rights issue. But I totally cling to my religious ideologies, and will never give them up, no matter how many people try to convince me otherwise. But I do not think that is as bad as ethnocentrism, and the ironic thing is that the scriptures of all major religions in Canada actually agree with each other (or so I've heard) on most important issues. E.g. How to act. I'd just like to get a hold of the texts that tell us how to do Mayan hard sci-fi tech. Erm... Yes I believe in hard sci-fi ancient cultures. Making the world a better place is a very fascinating pursuit, but I wouldn't have as much fun setting examples as I would being able to participate in politics. Like I know everyone says that politics are evil, but... Every Environmentalist since (what was his name..?) has been interested in politics, since... Good politics can reward common sense (e.g. with natural resources). But with racism and anti-semitism, I don't even know where to start but in Jerusalem!
  • Crystal
    hear, hear... as i said... or am saying... my sorriness
  • spas
    well, there may be some evidence to show that yeshua did get married - if you keep calling the man jesus one might readily question how much you know about him. unless you're talking about someone else - the jewish guy, right? there is even an archaeologist who claims yeshua is buried on my block in jerusalem! this wasn't a residential neighborhood back then, but the modern-day irony of it is that his find is behind our local grocery store. anyway, the point is here, you can't know any of these things for a fact. why mock the beliefs of others when it comes to ancient history, when you don't know for certain yourself? i think the point of faith is that we're not meant to know absolutely everything. we're meant to have some trust in HaShem and be content not knowing everything.

    i'll tell you one thing, jerusalem is the religious capital of the monotheistic world - and we have serious poverty here that is almost third world, with over 25% of the city's population being children living in REAL poverty. i lived in inner-city housing projects in new jersey for five years as a kid, and i am saying you likely have not witnessed poverty like this. and religion tells us to take action when we see injustice and to show compassion to those in suffering - the world is so busy arguing about our war with the palestinians, but who is worrying about actual jewish and palestinian children? mormons, that's who. the only christian sect supporting the free dental clinic for poor children in jerusalem (dental volunteers for israel) is mormon. brigham young university and mormon dentists. that's real. that's tangible. they are not out to convert anyone here either, from what i've seen, but only to help. if you ask me, as an israeli jew, what yeshua was talking about (his teachings which founded christianity!) then what the mormons are doing here? that's it. i challenge other christians to step up to the plate! come visit israel, then speak your peace about mormons or other christian sects. my bet is you'll be a bit more broad-minded after the trip.
  • Such a nice comment, spas.

    I once had a dream I had to take a test, which had various religious questions on it. I thought that if I got the answers all right I would get to progress. It was really important.

    So I was taking this test, and the woman who administered the test was the most annoying person I'd ever met, or one of them. I couldn't stand her. She thought she was so cool for having all this power over administering the test. She made me madder and madder until I was about to just up and give her a piece of my mind.

    Right as I was about to do chew her out, I suddenly realized what the real test was. It wasn't if I knew this or that religious history or scholarly scripture question on the written test, it was how I treated this woman.

    That was, literally, ALL that mattered. And I think it is all that matters...
  • Crystal
    OMG COLBY'S A VAMPIRE!!! lol you should have one in the comic... idk, like, about to get Bactine...? omg i need to stop reading twilight... *chucks it out the window and buys every single book that colby has ever written*
  • anonymous squirrel
    Ya know, sometimes reading these comments is almost as good as reading the comic itself... :D
  • keLpy
    yay new page! :D

    Zedwig is scaring me though
    and I'm surprised Derf's backslap didn't completely knock him out.
  • Gave him a nosebleed, though!
  • Crystal
    nosebleed? *checks the top panel* OOOOH i was wondering if he was crying and it was dripping off his nose or something... i think we should have a cry scene soon... idk, like sang gets fang and goes back to bac and then cries but then it turns out that bac is back! ^-^ lol i <3 poetry jkjk but still... that be sad
  • Zypher
    OHMYGOSH Colby, I am so utterly impressed/amazed/ JEALOUS!!! Your art is so pretty and your colors and your story and I am loving this SO much!

    Seeing a new page certainly brightened my day. It was pretty bad before... But now I am happy.
  • Carolyn
    "You don't know how badly I wish you had succeeded."

    ...Right, Zedwig. Right. That's why you looked so smug when you knew Derk didn't know the answer to the last question on the last page. I think Zedwig secretly likes the atrocities Fang makes him commit and keeps up his little 'woe is me act'. For somebody who hates what's he's being forced to do, he could show a bit more remorse and resentment for it.
  • Crystal
    lol so true... but its derF not derK
  • spas
    i agree with carolyn and falco pretty much. zedwig is not trying so hard to resist. he wasn't ordered out here, he's not being ordered about by fang right now. he's enjoying it, but the reason he relishes destruction is because the black magic has worked its poison on fang and corrupted him. i think he was extremely remorseful about that, as he slowly saw his true self and inclinations being whittled away by the black magic, and that who he is today is no longer the real zedwig. from the first time he used the black magic, he stated as much, that the use of it would corrupt his soul. so little is left of his real self and this is why he yearns for death.
  • Falco
    I basically agree here. I'm always sort of surprised at how much fangirling goes on about Zedwig because to me he's a very creepy character. It seems like he keeps up the angst to justify how much he likes what he does -- it's OK, he figures, because at least he feels bad about it. Sometimes.
  • LeafyGreenTerrorist
    Also, we've forgotten--he's gone completely bonkers. :0
  • Right. He's crazy. Well, there's some sanity in there somewhere, but it's buried.
  • No, I think his smugness during the contest was more on the scholarly level like "HAH! I know more then you! In your FACE! >:-D *does a little victory jig to congratulate his impressive intellectual functions* ".
  • CC
    This page is just gorgeous.
  • LuckyMrph
    ....AMAZING.....! poor Zedwig.... This is just AMAZING! can't wait for the next update!
  • Wendy
    Colby, just in case you're too modest to realize it, that last panel is gorgeous. I especially love the motion in Zedwig's hair.
  • Oooh, thanks. I wasn't sure it came out the way I wanted it to, but it sounds as if!
  • Wow, this page is just beautiful and oooo drama! I love all the shiny effects. Poor Zedwig, he's so disappointed...
  • Gnugs
    Oh wow... <<fans herself="">>... there's just something about Zedwig. </fans>
  • Us fans are just thankful that you were able to upload it at all. :-D Thanks for your hard work, Colby!

    Man, Zedwig's face is always so flustered. It's endearing while being slightly strange for a male. Hmmm...

    As I told Colby: Zedwig...nooooooooooo...D:
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