Tales of Squark: It's BACK!

[Squark]

That's right, Tales of Squark, an obscure fancomic from when fancomics were few and far in between (although TOS came just after Remember, so it was sort of a leaping on thing, although if you dig through the discussion threads for ABR, you'll find mention that TOS was planned before Lying launched Remember)

Anyway...



<there will be a banner here... once I make it>

Tales of Squark is a fantasy-Sci Fi webcomic about Squark, a character in ABR. It details Squark's life, from his humble beginnings as a non-sapient penguin mutated by exposure to magical waste, to... Well, I won't spoil it for you... (of course you could look on the ABR wiki, which has some info on it...)

Most Recent comic
#42- An Introduction to "Ask Squark"
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/42-AskSquarkIntro.png


The Archive (http://talesofsquark.smackjeeves.com/archive/)
First Comic (http://talesofsquark.smackjeeves.com/comics/347786/obligitory-chapter-title-page/)

Bios:
Chapter 1Lennyhttp://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Bio%20pics/Lenny1.pngLenny Clearwater ("Look. My Mom pulled a Lucy Stone and kept here last name. It's not MY fault my surname seems feminine.") was born in Sharn, Breland, two decades before The Last War ended to a pair of retired adventurers. Lenny was a precocious child, but preferred to spend his time camping instead of sitting in a dusty room reading boring textbooks. When it came time for him to choose a career, he chose to join the fledgling ecological society of Sharn. Unfortunately, most people think of them as "Crazy kooks who've spent to many days out in the hot sun." Lenny, however, has remained blissfully unaware of this, mostly because he prefers fieldwork to giving speeches to raise awareness of leviathan poaching. He is a bit naive, but is very knowledgeable about the outdoors.
Talianahttp://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Bio%20pics/Talinia1.png Taliana is a Kalashtar, a species of former humans who bonded with the renegade Quori, creatures from the plain of Dreams. The Kalashtar fight a war against the Dreaming Dark, the evil force that leads most of the Quori. Taliana is about 19 years old, and is one of the youngest field agents chosen to work outside of the Kalashtar strongholds in Adar. She is level-headed, and very good in a fight.Squarkhttp://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Bio%20pics/Squark1.pngThis is a penguin. They don't do much besides waddle, swim, eat fish, and lay eggs. Well, most off them don't...Chapter 2Squarkhttp://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Bio%20pics/Squark2.pngSquark 9pronounced SQUORC) is a penguin mutated by a combination of the magical waste dumped into his flock's breeding ground and experiments by the Inspired, the Dreaming Dark's host-species. However, he has been kidnapped and forced into a bizarre maze by an unknown scientist, who appears to have given him sapience.Jeeveshttp://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Bio%20pics/Jeeves2.png Jeeves is a Lantern Archon, created by Cartoon Physics when Squark said, "Let there be light above me!" Jeeves is slightly more level-headed than Squark, but not by much...Chrysalishttp://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Bio%20pics/Chrysalis2.pngChrysalis (pronounced Chris-ALL-is) is a Psiforged, a psionic version of a warforged. He has no idea how he got into the maze. He has a solid head on his shoulders (pun intended) and while he's not thrilled at playing Straight Man to a Talking Penguin and a glowing ball of light, he doesn't exactly have a lot else to do.

Copyright Stuff: Star Wars is the intellectual property of George Lucas. Doctor Who is the intellectual property of... someone in the BBC. Apologies to these people and all others for everything I've ripped off from you in this comic.... Not that you'll ever come across it...

[Threeshades]

First finish the post, then post it. :smallannoyed:

[Tiffanie Lirle]

Wait, how did this get approved if the post isn't even finished? <.<

[Shades of Gray]

@Tiff. Q has a theory. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6451432&postcount=951)

Regardless, I'm looking forward to the return of ToS.

[Hacktor]

Wait, how did this get approved if the post isn't even finished? <.<

What the young lady said.

[Lyinginbedmon]

@Tiff. Q has a theory. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6451432&postcount=951)

Regardless, I'm looking forward to the return of ToS.

I keep reading that as "The Original Series".

I'm too much of a Star Trek geek I guess.

[DoomITP]

I'm too much of a Star Trek geek I guess.

I know how you feel :smallsigh:

[Squark]

Wow... This is embarrassing... I forgot about this because I was sure it wouldn't be approved half finished.

Will edit immediately. I'm going for a M-W-F schedule, so an all-new comic will be up on Monday.


EDIT: Ok, title post is mostly finished, although I might leave the "banner" as it is, just to be funny. Bios will be added when I can spare the time... That's not the right word... Can apply myself to putting them down on paper long without getting distracted.

[Squark]

Apologies for the double post.

Just wanted to let you know- New comic will be up at 5 PM tomorrow (U.S. Central Time) on Smack Jeeves along with annotation. Said comic will be posted here sometime after that, because I can't set things to modify the title post in advance :smallfrown:

[Squark]

Sorry about the tripple post. New comic is now up on this thread.

[Squark]

Note: I REALLY appreciate comments. Gremlin, if you check this thread in addition to the smackjeeves site, post your comments here, please, so I'm not constantly double posting...


Anyway, I posted a new comic on Smack Jeeves on Monday, but never uploaded it to photobucket and added it here.


So, to make up for it, you get today's comic an hour early.


Not that anyone reads this comic, anyway... Really, its depressing that I get more feedback from lack of content than the content itself...

[Green-Shirt Q]

That floating green ball in the sky reminds my of...something. I can't quite put my finger on it. :smallconfused:

Anyway, this is an origin story of Squark, eh? How he became a god? I'd like to see that. I'll keep reading.

[Squark]

Bios are being added, sorry for missing the Friday update.

EDIT: Chapter 1 bios are up! And now, so are the chapter 2 ones

EDIT 2: New comic is up early. For reference, Curb Stomp Battle (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.CurbStompBattle)


EDIT 3: Comic #39 is up! In other news, after this chapter ends, I will be taking a brief hiatus to do an art upgrade and build a buffer.

[Squark]

While my schedule slip was entirely due to laziness, I am beginning a massive art upgrade tomorrow. And to think that this all started because I wanted to give Taliana a body more like Celias...

[SinisterPenguin]

I started reading this a while ago, while you were on hiatus. Excellent comic. :smallsmile:

One thing, though--if you want readers to notice when you've posted a new comic, I believe you're actually allowed to double post in this forum if you're announcing that the comic has been updated. Just a tip.

[Squark]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Preview%20Pics/ArtUpgradePreview.png

A preview of the Art Upgrade. Basically, what we have here is the new male template on the left, and the old male template on the right. It should be noted that, in retrospect, I should have used a different body type for the new one I'm showing you for comparison. You see, the body type on the left is a "Roy" body type, which is slightly stockier than the more common "Elan" type, which I've always used exclusively.

I intend for most of my characters to use the "Elan" type, but particularly muscular characters, like Chrysalis, will use Roy's body type.


Tomorrow: Different Female Body Types!

[SinisterPenguin]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Preview%20Pics/ArtUpgradePreview.png

A preview of the Art Upgrade. Basically, what we have here is the new male template on the left, and the old male template on the right. It should be noted that, in retrospect, I should have used a different body type for the new one I'm showing you for comparison. You see, the body type on the left is a "Roy" body type, which is slightly stockier than the more common "Elan" type, which I've always used exclusively.

I intend for most of my characters to use the "Elan" type, but particularly muscular characters, like Chrysalis, will use Roy's body type.


Tomorrow: Different Female Body Types!

It's quite good, but I'd suggest you move the arms so that the hands are facing directly down. I'd also make the smile just a little bigger, and make the taller eye slightly wider. And I'd move the taller eye up just a little so that it's on the same level as the other eye.

[Squark]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Preview%20Pics/ArtUpgradePreview2.png

Here we have the two different male body types I mentioned. I should mention that I am departing from Burlew-style art a bit here, since the difference is not quite as noticable in OotS.

[Tiffanie Lirle]

The thin body type is far too thin imo. Also, their feet should be a little longer, when you look at the legs. Their eyes are also a little small in comparison with the mouth.

It's definitely an upgrade from your original work though, but it'd be easier to provide some criticism if we saw more then a generic no details figure. Give them some decent clothes and some hair. :smalltongue:

[Squark]

At this point, these are just the skeleton templates.


I have run into a slight problem- I've realized that the second Female body type, which I intended to base on Celia, is so thin, it gives anorexia a bad name. I've also noticed that as far as I can tell, only Celia sports that body type, so its probably just a Sylph thing.

EDIT: Taliana post-upgrade
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/Preview%20Pics/ArtUpgradePreview3.png
Please note that this is a work in progress. I'm not entirely happy with it. What I'm going for here is a slightly more practical version of a "spy catsuit." Here's what bugs me at this point; 1) Her bust- I don't like how it looks like she's wearing a corset, rather than a sports bra, but playing with that area is not my specialty. Err... That sounded rather dirty. Although I suppose the positioning could be due to the armor padding on the outside. 2) The leather pads (the dark parts) don't look quite right yet. What I picture the armor as is like this: The bodysuit itself is made of flexible materials, but there are leather pads on... vulnerable areas, like the stomach and bust. 3) I want to keep the amulet, and I have changed the coloration, but the fact is, when you are climbing walls, sneaking in the shadows, running through corridors, and making long jumps, a necklace could easily get in the way.

Any thoughts?

[Lyinginbedmon]

Wrap the necklace around the wrist?

It works with shopping bags, why not jewellery! :smalltongue:

[Squark]

Another problem- Squark is going to require a complete redesign in order to keep him the appropriate size, while still being as versatile as he is at the moment.

And here's a small comic to lampshade it

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/TheGreatSquark/Tales%20of%20Squark/40-MixedReactions.png

[Squark]

New comic is up. In case you're confused, the big hole in the ceiling is just that, its just that the beam also broke through the next ceiling, the next ceiling, and the next, and so on, and so on.

(Its at the top of the page)

[Squark]

New comic is up. As it suggests, I am indeed taking questions about TOS.


However, any questions related to the number of today's strip will result in the questioner being shot. Not that I have anything against Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but let's be a little more original here, shall we?

[Squark]

Quadruple Post! Anyway, I'm going to post a comic soon, but I'm going to probably struggle until I can get a buffer made.