Whitechapel - FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-02T04:03:51-07:00

Hey all (and Warren, I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of posting this thread, but I figured it would be prudent, please eradicate if you think it'll be too messy/more bother than use).

It's been said in an earlier thread that what you're seeing with Freakangels is a sort of "beta" comic. It's made to a professional standard, but on a tight weekly schedule, and whilst there's normally time for some edits after pages are drawn, there's not enough time for the weeks of editing and continuity checking that a full-on trade should normally go through before publication. Warren is but one writer with many other projects to attend to, and I am but one artist with 6 full-colour pages (and often other work) to produce every week. Avatar are also kindly supplying this to you for free.

Which brings us to your interaction with the comic. It seems that an increasing number of people think it's helpful to point out features of the comic that they think are mistakes. It's important to know/remember this is a full time job for me part of which is the research and referencing of all important features of the visuals, Ariana (who does some of the editing) has a remarkably keen eye, and Warren's a professional with a long history of experience. Chances are, we'll have spotted or thought of the problem you noticed and not had time to correct it, or decided not to correct it (for aesthetic purposes, or because it conforms with the general level of verisimilitude the story works at).

That being said, there is a chance that you might have a useful comment to make, since further edits will be made before trades hit the shelves and even obvious things can slip by people who stare at the same page all day. So, if you want to be helpful, first think carefully whether you know what you're talking about and if your observation is:

an instance where aesthetics were chosen over die-hard realism?
just down to personal taste/opinion?
only noticeable by a few specialists?
too pedantic or too general?

Then if you still think your observation is worthwhile, place it in this thread and do it concisely, constructively and with a specific reference to episode number, page number and panel number, so it can be of real help to us.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-02T05:57:34-07:00

Thanks, Paul; is it all right if I repost this in a Freakangels thread on another forum? It may be considered...pertinent.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-29T17:47:29-07:00

Did anyone else notice that the ejection port on the Jack's Glock keeps changing sides? I don't think it's pedantic, and the Glock is an iconic piece so it's likely to get noticed.

When first shown in Ep 16 pg 4 it's on the right side, as is correct.
Episode 18 pg 6 it looks like it's on the left side (as Jack's setting it down prior to diving for Caz's rope)
It's definitely on the wrong side in the Mudlark's hand Ep 20 pg 2 and again on pg 4 when he's dropping after Jack's awesome throat slash.

I did search to see if anyone else mentioned this, but got no results. Hope it's not a dupe.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-29T21:35:26-07:00

@jwdoom:
I think most people can't tell a glock from a desert eagle and the guns don't seem to have a specific role in the story, unlike a terrorism story were the gun's origin is relevant .. or spy stories, were the technical funcitionality of them is at stake.

That being said, I don't know the range of corrections they are after and the kind of focus the story will bring later to this side.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-29T22:30:41-07:00

Nobody's mentioned the ambiguous hand position when Arkady introduces us to Caz in Episode 13 (bottom of page 3). It was the talk of the town back then.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-30T07:40:17-07:00

Hello Paul,

Concerning Freakangels Episode 0011:

There were a lot of people refreshing page 3 but those problems had to do with the nature of webcomics.

I still think that there may be a slight problem with page 3 in print form (specifically if it will be the second visible page when the book lays open). The fact that Luke and Arkady touch the edge of the page may throw it off from the rest of the book because (to the best of my knowledge) there is no other case in the Freakangels webcomic where the art extends beyond the established white border. This is relative to watching a movie that suddenly changes aspect ratios (though not as drastic). Basically, it may fight the flow. A simple fix might be butting that art against a corner edge line like on page 2-panel 4 (except of course that edge would only touch the art on the bottom right of page 3). You could even fade that line like page 4...but I do think it may be an easy and worthwhile fix. Another fix may be simply spattering white to eliminate the panel line around Arkady's wrist on page 2-panel 4. (For the sake of a proper analysis I saved the pages on my desktop and opened them to the same size juxtaposed and I still feel like the lack of a border may be odd.)

As for the Glock variations; I own and shoot a Glock and I didn't notice that (although these things are always easier to comprehend in print). That critique may be just short of pedantic (and not worth the time if you are on a tight schedule).

That ambiguous hand position of Arkady in Episode 0013 (page 3; panel 4) is especially heightened by her expression. I really don't think that's a case of our minds being in the gutter either (and it may even be intentional).

Otherwise, I have no potentially negative critique of the art in any matter...even when it comes down to personal taste. It's a win!

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-08-30T10:13:54-07:00

I very often notice photos of water that have been added in. I know that there’s plenty of other stuff done this way in Freakangels, but there’s something about water that makes it distracting; probably because really realistic waves aren’t something that can be drawn with a pen. Shingles, OTOH, work just fine this way.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-09-02T07:25:55-07:00

Thanks for your feedback people:

@jwdoom

That's fair enough I think, although a very very small number of people are going to notice something like that. To be honest I'm glad you recognised it was meant to be a Glock in the first place, since I've never held or fired a gun in my life.

@diello

I might well sort that out.

@Walker James

I wanted that full-bleed, or else I wouldn't have done it full-bleed. It is in every respect a moment outside the frame, and if you think that's breaking some sort of inviolable rule, try reading some Osamu Tezuka ;)

@James Puckett

I think that's just a personal threshold thing. You draw the line there, a few people don't like the use of photo textures at all, yet more people don't even notice. I think there are pages where it works better than on other pages, and I may tweak some of those, but that's my style.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-11-14T15:39:18-08:00

@Paul

Good job. It's clearly and obviously a Glock. You even caught a lot of the little details, except how bloody uncomfortable they are to fire. And they're poop for southpaws.

As far as the proportion of people who'll notice it, gun boards/forums are chock full of uptight pedants. I hope they make a small portion of your readership.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2008-11-15T08:09:43-08:00

Sorry, I was too enamored by the story and the beauty of Paul's art to notice the glock exiting hole dancing around.

In the grand scheme of things, Does it affect the story? No. It's just a gun. As long as it shoots. It does its job.

Concerning the photo textures. It fits with the "punk" style. They did it/do it in flyers, posters and album covers. Appropriation has been a part of art since there was art.

I mean seriously, look at the effort and attention to perspective, architecture and detail put into this page.

Water-shhhmater!

At least it isn't a lightboxed, poorly traced moneyshot from a porn DVD like some -ahem- artists use these days.

Besides, I've come to expect it in Freak Angels now and I'd hate to see a sudden jarring switch in the art because of the disappearance of the photo collage elements.

Is it a style I would use? No. Does that make it wrong somehow? Definitely not. Paul's the artist. Paul likes it. Therefore, that's FreakAngels.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T07:42:34-07:00

Episode 64/65 - In the end of 64 and the first panel of 65, the oh-so-friendly lady-with-the-knife is wearing a green patched t-shirt and similarly patched trousers. In the rest of 65, she's moved to a tank top and unpatched trousers.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T09:20:30-07:00

> I've never held or fired a gun in my life

I was drilled that if you're given a gun, don't believe anyone telling whether it's loaded or not loaded: instead, on receiving it you should immediately check for yourself, by inspection. Therefore, "Eight left in the clip, one up the snout" seemed to me to be telling the audience (because, he ought to be checking for himself). The FA characters presumably haven't been drilled, so I'm not suggesting you change it there (just, possibly, remember in the future if you ever draw professionals).

More importantly IMO I take it that that's a safety switch which he's making unsafe on panel 3 of episode 61. That switch has disappeared entirely by panel 6. I noticed that on panel 6 because the camera was doing a close-up there for several frames as if we were supposed to see every detail, he is taking up pressure on the trigger, we'd like to know whether he's going to fire and/or what's going to stop him: and so the position (or the very existence) of the safety at that moment is relevent to the plot. It's odd that you should call attention to it in one panel and then have it disappear completely the next.

That type of safety may be an after-market add-on, so if you happen to be working from several photos, then perhaps some photos have it and some not.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T16:33:15-07:00

@Fan
I'd already assumed the FAs weren't formally trained. I may not have handled firearms, but that just meant I did my best to look into them in more detail.

That safety was a tricky one. I'd given Jack a glock earlier in the story, but without realising Warren had specifically written in the script for Kirk to take the safety off, and given it a whole panel. Since the safety on the glock I'd been using for reference was on the trigger and that made for a confusing panel, I had to do some quick scouting to see if there were a common mod I could use as reference for an extra safety, an actually came across the same information you linked there. However it looks like in my rush to finish the episode I forgot to add it in in those last two panels.

I'll fix that one since it's a genuine one-moment-it's-there-the-next-it's-not kind of error.

It saddens me a little how the only type of errors in detail that people mention commonly are weapons-based, as if that's the only kind of detail that matters. It'd be nice to get an architect-geek or a botany-geek or something commenting :(

@overand

Thanks for sticking that here :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T18:17:39-07:00

> It saddens me a little how the only type of errors in detail that people mention commonly are weapons-based, as if that's the only kind of detail that matters.

Sorry; I noticed the safety, because it is the safety that's the detail that mattered to me.

And, maybe people who know guns are trained to get all pedantic around them: a 'pay attention, no mistakes' kind of attitude. When you fire a bullet, you can feel it shoot away with some ungodly number of foot-pounds, and there's never ever any taking it back.

Anyway, I find guns sad too (though I don't find all 'weapons' sad: for example I see Kait's night-stick as more a shield/defensive tool than an offensive/destructive weapon).

And in fact the comic is full of details that I like a lot, that are lovely, that matter to me, and that I don't think are in error: and which I therefore won't comment on or criticise. Details like the rainbows, and the feeling that I recognise the architecture from when I've been in London. I wonder if you know how much people like it.

> It'd be nice to get an architect-geek or a botany-geek or something commenting :(

On the first panel of episode 64:

* Why all that superstructure of scaffolding: for the extra height/sunlight, or what? It's only a few extra metres.
* Three water tanks, at 3 cubic metres each: about 10 tons, when full of water. I hope that scaffolding is solid.
* The trees are top-heavy. Apart from whether their roots have enough space, they'd blow over in a wind.

And KK's copter wouldn't fly.

But those aren't errors, IMO: they're Heath Robinson-esque, visual set design.
They're also an important metaphor, for the world they live in and what they're doing with it :)
And lovely.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T18:59:17-07:00

Not about guns.

In Episode 0008, page 2, Kirk is given a loaf of bread by a grocer named Bob. Wheat and other grains take vast tracts of land to grow, and so are not urban crops. Is someone growing potatoes, making potato flour, and baking bread? If so, why aren't they also making vodka?

To go to the trouble of growing grain, someone would have to be obsessed with tasting beer one last time before they died. And then that would be all they'd use it for.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T19:08:33-07:00

@Fan (3181.14)

KK's copter could easily fly, if all it ran on were water and her energy making it superheated steam. It would not have the weight of fuel and a combustion stage.

More importantly, these things work because FreakAngels will it to be so.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T19:29:20-07:00

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/urban-wheatfield-london.php

Let's try using the internet a bit first? Thanks.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-15T20:21:18-07:00

It'd be nice to get an architect-geek or a botany-geek or something commenting :(

On the first panel of episode 64:

* Why all that superstructure of scaffolding: for the extra height/sunlight, or what? It's only a few extra metres.
* Three water tanks, at 3 cubic metres each: about 10 tons, when full of water. I hope that scaffolding is solid.
* The trees are top-heavy. Apart from whether their roots have enough space, they'd blow over in a wind.

I'm an Arborist, so trees I can certainly comment on :)

First up, engineering considerations: given the volume of soil in the bins the trees are planted in it's unlikely they'd fall over - good dirt is really heavy, even more so when you add water to it - and you'd be amazed how small a half-ton root ball is.

The real problem is root growth. Trees don't have tap roots, they have root plates - envision a wineglass standing on a dinner plate and you've got a pretty good idea of their natural structure. Also, when planted in the ground, roots rarely grow more than 600mm below soil surface. Beneath that depth there is too little oxygen for roots to grow.

Repurposed wheelie bins don't permit spreading root growth and root volume is intimately linked to shoot volume: you need lots of roots to support a full sized canopy and/or fruit production. A tree of that size and maturity in that shape container just doesn't happen (unless it's a recent transplant and even then the root ball would be too small to support the canopy; imminent decline and death expected). If the tree were grown from sapling in that container I'd expect to see it somewhat stunted, shorter than usual for the species, and unlikely to fruit due to the small root volume and it's limited ability to absorb sufficient nutrients and water from the soil. I hesitate to rule out anything though, because Nature and trees have a way of defying expectations on a daily basis...

The palm tree though would do just fine :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-19T06:02:55-07:00

It saddens me a little how the only type of errors in detail that people mention commonly are weapons-based, as if that's the only kind of detail that matters. It'd be nice to get an architect-geek or a botany-geek or something commenting :(

Well it's not exactly architecture, but it is structure related (and really, sadly, detail obsessive :). The arrangement of the watchtower seems to move around a bit from episode to episode. For instance in the first shot of the tower and in this one the helipad is on the north-east corner and the hut on the south-west. Here and here they've reversed.

Yes, I took the trouble to work that out :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-19T07:57:35-07:00

Lighting-geek?
Ep 18 Page 2 - The shadow from KK's bike is a reflection, rather than a shadow as it was on the previous page.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-19T09:03:44-07:00

Ep 18 Page 2 - The shadow from KK's bike is a reflection, rather than a shadow as it was on the previous page

How so? What is it reflecting off? The floor is wood..

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-20T00:56:05-07:00

I think he means it's a distorted and flipped silhouette of the bike rather than an accurate representation of what the shadow would really look like under those circumstances.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-20T06:14:54-07:00

@ Sarracenia

Cool, thanks for the tree-based input :) Unfortunately there's not much I can do now that location has been so firmly established, but I'll bear the info in mind for future agricultural scenes.

@Purple Wyrm & Klumaster

You're both right about those (and blimey that must have taken a bit of thinking and mapping to figure out which direction the watchtower is facing. This is the problem with working with a real place XD)

I appreciate the help from everyone, but take a few minutes to figure out whether you're commenting on sections that have already gone to publication.
Unless I put a note up here saying I need edits for a reprint of volume 1 or 2, then stick to pages that will be in Volume 3, so we can get some practical use from the thread :)
(that's eps 49+ there are 144 pages or 24 eps to a volume).

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-20T20:10:37-07:00

Right ho! Volume 3 it is (I shall thus refrain from mentioning Luke's mysterious one frame shirt... oh damn ;)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-28T17:43:26-07:00

In episode 66 page 4 panel 2 the word "to" seems to be missing from the first word balloon.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-08-29T03:59:23-07:00

@Derekshepard
Either you miss-read, or that's been corrected super-sharpish by Ariana :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-13T00:29:00-07:00

[Ep. 0068] ...(B)ottom of page two... A matched pair of panels, nearly identical, but for the diabolical glow of Luke's FA juju, carefully nudging the safety off of Kirk's firearm. ...(A)nother interesting difference: the camo pattern on Kirk's pants. Hmm. Seems a bit odd. I would think (the) artist would just clone the panel, and then change the significant details. The rain, for exam-- holy chikkin nuggitz, the rain. Every drop, streak, splash and ripple is the same. The panel was cloned! Which begs the question: why are Kirk's shorts apparently squirming like Rorschach's mask on Red Bull?

Hello, Paul. As per your request, I transplanted that observation from the general discussion of Episode 68. I don't feel it is a big deal, actually -- just a minor distraction. The only reason I brought it up was that the camo pattern changed while the raindrops remained the same, leading me to wonder whether it figured into the story, like maybe Kirk had just been shunted, in a nano-instant, to an alternate universe -- a very existential plot point to be sure, but hey -- c'est la steampunk, nesty pass? ;-)

As always, I stand in utter awe of your artistry. Just remember: in hyperspace, no one can see your pants.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-13T12:03:43-07:00

in hyperspace, no one can see your pants.
... Thanks for making me spit mt.dew dddrum.
Hahaha.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-13T12:08:10-07:00

in hyperspace, no one can see your pants

And just like that Arkady's earlier lack of undercrackers is explained...

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-13T15:33:00-07:00

I'm guessing the raindrops are a different layer in the drawing program, and only that layer was cloned. But I'll await Paul's more scientific explanation.
In Hyperspace, your pants exist in all points of the universe simultaneously, no? Now I suddenly I have an idea called "The Sisterhood of the Time- Traveling Pants." Or, "Have Pants, Will Travel." Ack, this hurts my head.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-13T15:52:17-07:00

I hadn't noticed the squirming pants before. Now it's all I can see.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-17T13:11:55-07:00

@ Paul

I was just re-reading the series and I noticed that in Ep 61 and 62, Jack's tatoo seems to have vanished comepletely. It meandered in and out in the earlier volumes, but has gone AWOL completely now.

ETA: Ep 64 pg 3

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-18T06:20:13-07:00

Episode 69, panels two of both page one and page three - Luke's bullet holes disappear from his pants.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-19T11:28:34-07:00

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, or if I'm just seeing it wrong--
but the first page, first panel of episode 60, the girl has two right hands. Both hands appear to have the thumb on the same side.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-09-20T16:06:30-07:00

@elae

Thanks! Hadn't spotted that one. Not quite two right hands, but a colouring mistake that makes it look like one of her fingers is her thumb on one hand. Will be fixed :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-10-30T19:13:33-07:00

Episode 74, page 3, panel 1: Connor is missing his fishnet right sleeve.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-10-31T05:01:09-07:00

@Fan :) Thanks! Noted and will be fixed for trade.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-13T13:27:49-08:00

Credit goes to robinimmortal here:

And uhh why is Sirkka wearing what is either dark shorts or a skirt in Ep 75. But in Ep 74 she was wearing 3/4 length skintone leggings? :P

Leggings vs. skirt. Original post here: link.

I have to say, I actually like the skirt look more.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-14T05:44:01-08:00

@ZJVavrek
Ah, nicely spotted! I prefer the skirt too :)
Paul.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-16T22:12:05-08:00

Another vote for the skirt here!
Although, I do like the cute leggings :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-27T09:17:16-08:00

I really hope this is her teleporting, but Arkaday goes from next to Connor and Luke on the middle left of the group to the far right of the group next to Kirk (just her bomber jacket and ponytail) to the far right next to Miki/Kait/Connor on pages 3,4 and 5 on Episode 77. Well, left/right if viewed from the back.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-27T09:25:48-08:00

I'm not seeing that one.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-27T10:38:12-08:00

@frexels & warrenellis: Page 3 I assume is her moving up through the group, but yes: on Page 4 Arkady's standing next to Kirk at one side of the group, and on Page 5 panel 3 she's all the way over at the other side standing next to Connor. Nobody else has moved more than a step. (Given what's going on, I'd take this as being the first time she teleported and nobody noticed - including her.)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-27T14:11:03-08:00

@Don: Yup, that. I said right twice when I meant right then left. She's on the right side of the page both times, but the view switched from front to back, so she should have been on the right then the left from pages 4-5.

It might be kind of big, considering she's a character that can actually teleport, but I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't drooling over the art for this chapter. Everybody's body language is so perfect.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-27T17:29:28-08:00

This may well come under the heading of artistic license but I found it a bit jarring that the exterior of the collapsing warehouse (http://www.freakangels.com/?p=227) has a brick texture, but the inside is clearly reinforced concrete. It's particularly obvious on the big chunk falling in front of the jeep on the left. It looks like the place was built out of concrete, and then someone painted bricks on it.

If I'm being a pedantic douche, please ignore :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-27T18:47:18-08:00

Insufficient detail on the bricks could be debated, I guess, but it's entirely plausible that the building could be made from both.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-28T04:36:31-08:00

Re: Bricks & Concrete -

Some buildings are src (steel reinforced concrete) beams and columns with brick/ cinder/breeze block walls. Sometimes cinderblock & brick. I could go on...

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-28T05:19:37-08:00

Brick fascias are hardly unknown.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-30T01:46:06-08:00

@Purple Wyrm
Just a hiccup caused by the colouring techniques used on FA. I'm gonna go with Warren and say it's just decoration (but the real reason has something to do with drawing thousands and thousands of little bricks and finite time).

@frexels
You picked up a genuine problem there. Don Hillard described it properly. That's what comes from drawing pages out of order ><

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-11-30T03:33:42-08:00

@Paul - Fair enough. Decoration it is! :)

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-04T10:08:19-08:00

In episode 78, the first panel of the first page, Connor is missing his fishnet.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-04T10:51:13-08:00

@Silhouette
Thanks! ^_^

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-13T20:45:05-08:00

Ep 22 p.4 panel 4 -- Is that that woman's left foot, or her right foot?
Ep 34 p.3 panel 1 -- Wheat, OK, but where did Karl get the bananas from?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-14T01:25:31-08:00

@NakedCelt - Cool, definitely a left foot on a right leg. I once lived in apartments in a chilly climate with a banana tree thing growing in a protected courtyard. Most years it got bananas. First time I'd ever seen them grown, the bananas looked upside down and happy to see me. He couldn't feed many people from his roof top garden, he must have more gardening space. Victory gardens! Anyway, they aren't in the new volume, so probably no one cares to change them.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-14T01:55:19-08:00

@NakedCelt
Oh man that's an embarrasing one! I thought I'd stopped doing things like that when I was 13! XD Duly noted, but way too far back to make an edit for, the book's already out!
The bananas are from his Garden (by purchase of a totally fucked up weather system) :) They are there if you look.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-14T05:54:02-08:00

I've noticed a few things, like the garden and watch-tower that look impossibly rickety and less than practical for those with important things on their minds to build.
But they both serve as symbols as well- and they are each visually important to the story.
Sometimes, the reality of engineering is less important than striking a tone, and that certainly works in this case. We get the idea.
Sure, KK's helicopter could fly if she used her FA power, why not?
I haven't noticed much about the firearms, but I regard them as being elements that simply help tell the story- not too important except to show when someone's serious.
But when the attacking river-people used a mortar to shoot at the bell house, it might be good to point out that a mortar round would never have such a low and flat trajectory, while a rocket might.
Perhaps, I thought at that point, someone misidentified the weapon.
This is a common error even by soldiers in war. There's never time for all the information so you just make do with the pertinent details- in this case, Explosion!-Find Cover.
Quite authentic then.
On explosions- by day, they tend not to be those fiery blazing things but rather dirty smudges that throw nasty metal whizzing stuff that is very bad for you.
(Exploding rounds at night are deadly flowers of globular light. A fantasy land.)
It's true. You find beauty when you least expect it.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-18T16:44:40-08:00

Episode 80, Page 4

Should we be able to see the bullet hole and blood on Mark's pants?
It might be covered or too small to see in the frames before this, but shouldn't it be visible here?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2009-12-27T22:42:51-08:00

It seems to me (and if you're wondering if your comment is "nit-picky" or "pedantic", pay attention) that the type of feedback Paul is hoping for is, quite possibly, the type of feedback that he is responding to. If you're so caught up on accuracy in terms of fire arms, gardening, day/night explosions, concrete/brick, ricketey watch-towers, and steam powered helicopters, then it's likely you're missing out on the story. I don't just mean the plot (if you're looking at it in that much detail, you're not missing the plot). No. I mean the pace. The flow. The simple enjoyment of going along for the ride, being sucked into the ebbs and flows of a well told, entertaining story. A character's clothes or tattoos changing from one panel to the next? Things like that are jarring and interrupt that flow and are obviously errors that can be fixed- well spotted.

However, the guns don't matter (watch any of the Warner Brothers DC animated shows - the guns are clearly guns, but simple, non-specific and who cares?). As for the gardening: I live in Perth, Western Australia - it's a fairly harsh climate but you can pretty much grow anything in your back yard, Whitechapel at the end of the world? No problem. Night time explosions during the day look much better, are easier to draw, and are a much more dynamic and colourful storytelling tool to use in a visual medium (like comics). I used to work in a warehouse that was concrete inside, brickwork outside. Rickety watch-tower and steam copter? Wait a minute, those people don't look like real people..! Stylistic choice - deal with it.

After all of that: I haven't picked up on any mistakes in Freak Angels but (the point, at long last) I've sure as hell noticed a bucket load of mistakes in the above postings about the "mistakes" in Freak Angels. Simple rule of thumb, people: If you're going to be picky and pedantic about other peoples' work... well, spell check, that's all I'm saying.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-16T12:31:27-08:00

In re the safety -

As story, it worked perfectly for me. I don't know my way around handguns aside from what I see on TV (smirk), but my instant impression on viewing those panels was that the safety was being mucked with.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-24T11:28:37-08:00

Paul - the gutter - snapping in ep 83 panel two - may need some color to make it look less like a psychic boot to KK's head.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-24T13:02:27-08:00

On page two, one of the corner braces of the side table getting knocked away has disappeared between panel one and two.

I thought the gutter scene looked just fine, though.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-25T01:29:08-08:00

In episode 54, 'Kady drops Kait into the Thames from across the room; and in episode 55 she 'ports her back again. Whereas in episode 83 she says, "I can't jump with you unless we're touching". Maybe she can just 'jump' KK then, without jumping herself?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-25T02:30:40-08:00

@stsparky
Sorry, but if that's a boot then my leg is a length of guttering. It's quite hard to walk.

@Berserker
Ah! Thanks. when I spotted that I felt like I was doing one of those "spot the difference" puzzles XD
I've marked it for correction.

@Fan
Good point. Uh... Warren? Oo

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-25T10:40:51-08:00

Paul - I know it's a 'gutter angle' ... a poster thought it was a boot to KK's head.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-25T10:51:25-08:00

@Fan
Good point. Uh... Warren? Oo

I'll get to it.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-28T01:24:37-08:00

@Stsparky
Yeah, I read that post. Out of interest do you agree or were you just reporting the possibility? I really don't think too many people are going to be seeing a boot in place of guttering there.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-28T09:09:37-08:00

Just reporting the possibility - I've no problem with your art.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-01-30T00:43:42-08:00

@Fan:

In episode 54, 'Kady drops Kait into the Thames from across the room; and in episode 55 she 'ports her back again. Whereas in episode 83 she says, "I can't jump with you unless we're touching". Maybe she can just 'jump' KK then, without jumping herself?

It's not clear that she doesn't touch Kait in episode 54; she does reach out off-panel, and it doesn't look like a very big room. Maybe, having 'ported someone with a touch, she can 'port them without touching for a short time afterwards?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-02-09T03:12:16-08:00

An architect's opinion on mistakes within the comic, hopefully not overly pedantic.

In Book Three, episode 053, pages 3, 5 and 6, the battery posts are drawn as if arranged on a flat surface, yet the top of the bin also presents some quite deep grooves. The resulting effect is quite disconcerting and it's made worse by the angle of the texture used on the lid, which actually accentuates the apparent depth of the indentations. This optical irregularity is especially noticeable on page 6, where we have a close-up on said contraption - I took the liberty of correcting it in the image below:

From a professional point of view, the very distinctive watchtower and sky garden (well, probably not the garden- those water tanks and dirt bins are heavy, after all) would have been blown away by the first storm, because of the flat, continuous floors that would have offered wind an ample surface against which to push. In fact, that is the main reason most similar real world platforms are made using perforated panels, to alleviate some of the environmental pressures on the structure - (wind, rain, snow, etc). Not to mention the fact the chipboard pieces don't seem to be attached to anything and are just resting there gravitationally.

Another interesting effect I noticed is how the watchtower structure seems to be getting thinner as the story progresses - in Book One the support struts were a bit overkill - metal is structurally very strong, and beams that size can fully support a warehouse roof and a few tons of snow, while the whole thing is swaying in an earthquake... That , of course, if they are properly fastened together, which doesn't appear to be the case - the beams (which are very heavy, I might add) are just casually lashed together... By book three, however, the structure has become somewhat more believable - the beams are thinner and incastrated in the roof of the church below. One thing I don't really understand, though, is why the look-out hasn't made use of the already existing church tower staircase to get half-way up the watchtower, instead of using all those rickety ladders (I'm with Alice on this one).

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-02-09T03:26:08-08:00

Please stop confusing continuity with story choices or illustrative shorthand, or I'm just going to kill this thread.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-02-09T03:56:43-08:00

I apologize.
My comments about the tower and garden weren't supposed to highlight a problem - I'm fine with whatever choices you and Paul made on those two subjects, but the battery is NOT a case of "illustrative shorthand", but a full blown error, in the same vein of "left foot on the right leg" - someone is bound to notice it because it looks unnatural.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-02-09T20:11:51-08:00

Something is still bothering me about the bananas, and I've just realized what it is. It's not just that bananas are tropical, although I will snort quietly to myself if I see them sharing garden space with frost-dependent vegetables like parsnips or cabbages. Trouble is, domestic bananas are also seedless; they can only be grown from cuttings. Did Karl liberate a few plants from a botanical research facility or something?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-02-11T11:47:49-08:00

@wings_of_wrath

Thanks for being so enthusiastic and dedicated, but seeing as you've put in so much effort into spotting and reporting mistakes, please also put in the same effort to reading carefully through the thread and using your best judgement before you post, since I've already said that edits for volumes already in print aren't of any practical use at the moment.
Please continue to keep an eye out though, as yours is evidently a sharp one, but a concise explanation is all that's needed in the future. I'm not thrilled at having someone rework my drawings without a by-your-leave, no matter how accurately.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-02-12T00:48:56-08:00

Noted and WILCO.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-07-04T01:46:30-07:00

This might be too nitpicky, but on the first panel of the newest page three, the gutter corner is still intact. KK ripped it off in episodes 83 and 84.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-07-04T09:29:42-07:00

@frexels
Good point! It's a small detail, but easily noticeable, since it was a plot point. Will sort out.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-07-09T00:00:42-07:00

Page 1, panel 3. Shouldn't we be seeing the buildings reflected in the puddles?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-09-12T15:53:26-07:00

This was mentioned in the discussion thread for the episode, but I don't recall seeing any official comment/reaction so I thought I'd post it here in case it got missed.

Episode 106, page 1, panel 1. Caz is talking to Karl, but says "you and Karl" went out to kill Mark - surely that should be Kirk?

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-12-18T10:06:17-08:00

Episode 118, on the last page when Alice is pointing the shotgun, the coloring seems 'flopped'? Some parts of the barrel and assembly are brown, and the wooden stock under the barrel is gray like the barrel.

This might not be an accident, of course, and is a minor detail - but it did jar my eye a little.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-12-18T14:42:32-08:00

@Berserker
Nope you're right about that one, I think it escaped my notice before uploading. That episode is also missing all the steam effects and rotor-blur for the new coptor >< Bad mistake.

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2010-12-24T09:45:30-08:00

Going back and re-reading through part 5 today, I came across something I remembered having a problem with in episode 113.

It was the big map of London on page 3, with the little dots showing all Mark's drones - I'm a little color-blind, and that greenish tint to the map and against that similar shade of red cancel each other out to the point where for a minute or so I didn't see any dots at all until my eyes finally tired from staring.

I'm betting not many people have this problem but me, but I thought just in case I'd bring it up...

FREAKANGELS continuity & editing

2011-01-01T02:10:54-08:00

@Berserker
Ah, that's significant though, since there's bound to be more colour-blind people who read it. I'll brighten the dots for the trade so they stand out in tone as well as hue.