Bang.
Anyway, that’s a wrap for Arc 1! And by Arc 1 I mean… everything from the start of the comic up until now. There’ll be two more arcs, so lots more pages on the horizon.
On a related note, I’m taking the opportunity to have a working break before the start of arc 2, so Red Moon Rising will return on the 25th of March. I’ve got several things in the pipeline, including a store (finally) and a return of twice-weekly updates, helped along by a new art style. Also, hopefully a new website if I can fit it in, because jings, this place hasn’t changed since like 2010.
Also, I get to draw things that aren’t in this one courtyard! God, that’s going to be good.
So thanks everyone for your incredible patience and support. There’s going to be a lot going on here very soon! 🙂
0 thoughts on “Page 305”
Lisse
Exciting!
Even though Danil’s been a total brat for this scene, that first-panel face kills me.
And also: the event that has been predicted for just about every page for last 10 pages at least 🙂
Kyethn
Yeah, it’s been tough not to say anything, I would either end up just confirming or denying it and no one likes spoilers.
Mark. A Sargent
Nice end to things. 🙂 Glad to hear you’re getting things sorted. Sounds like you could use that break. I like the current art style quite a bit, so I’m curious to see what your new style will look like. I’ll certainly be back for Arc 2.
Alex
THE RED MOON RISES. 😀
Kyethn
DAMN RIGHT.
Ryan V
Man that was a long wait. What a helluva chapter.
Kyethn
Cheers! And sorry about the wait. Man, it felt like it took forever.
Shorts
Slightly more than 11 months.
Kyethn
I was trying not to find out. 🙁
Ryan V
Yeah, it was worth the wait. I’ll go back and reread the chapter pretty soon. 😀
FaroCastiglo
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I would recommend taking some time to develop a page buffer during the break, so that this comic can update more regularly. This is one of my favorite webcomics out there (and I read a *lot*), but the one thing that makes it hard to follow is the inconsistency. Really, the *only* thing that could make this comic any better is regularity.
Other than that, keep up the great work and I hope to see a lot more of this comic when it returns!
Kyethn
Oh, no offence taken at all – you’re totally right, and that’s definitely something I’ll be doing over this break. I’ve been thrown completely off the normal update schedule by various unfortunate events in the past year, but if I had had a buffer… well, then it wouldn’t have been nearly such a big deal, and it’s something I’ve been painfully aware of.
Also, that’s a huge compliment! I’m sure there are other areas I can improve on, but I agree that the irregular updates are a glaring issue, and one I do intend to tackle. Thanks for sticking with RMR throughout all of this! 🙂
Todd West
I was pretty sure I got what you were describing, and looking at the Coventry panels on DeviantArt seems to confirm that. Sounds great; go for it!
Andore Mordre
Awesome! I’d been wondering for a while now how much was left to the comic…now I know that it’s only a third of the way done!
Which means…a looooot left! 😀
Kyethn
Indeed! I’m in this for the long run. 🙂
wr4ith0
Yes! I have been so waiting for this to happen!
wurtane
HOLY CRAP!
Also, so excited for the other Arcs 1. You know, you could make Arc 1 a graphic novel. It’s that well-written and well-animated!
Diana
Dude, seconding the living daylights out of this. If this comic became a graphic novel, well, I believe the phrase “shut up and take my money!” applies 🙂
wurtane
Haha, definitely!
Rana
Yes, here too.
My gosh this page is _gorgeous_.
Cat
I secretly want to believe that he isn’t dead, but knowing how the last couple of pages have been it’s probably not likely, is it? :/
The first arch has been really great, so I have no doubt that the next two will be just as fantastic and better. (and when you come back from your break on the 25th, I can pretend it’s a birthday present. I would definitely check out the store if you’ve got it up by then! 😉 )
Kyethn
No comment, as ever. You’ll just have to read on. 🙂 And thanks! It’ll most likely just be prints initially but hey, gotta start somewhere.
alala
Yaaay, so many things to look forward to! Please be sure to relax! We’ll all be here for you when you come back 🙂
awesomepageawesomepageawesomepageDEUXEXBRACKENNAAAAAAAA
Kyethn
Haha, I meant to say in the news post, everyone who’s been saying Deus Ex Brackena for the last several months was completely right, good job.
Also, it’s an awesome phrase, but I couldn’t say anything without giving away spoilers.
Shorts
DEUS EX BRACKENA
Persia
Take that, magic bully!
On the frequency / art style issue, well, I read quite a few web comics and this is by MILES the most beautifully drawn / painted of them all. Some pages are so beautiful they make me gasp. So I would be quite happy for a single weekly update, if the quality of the art remained so high.
Kyethn
The thing is, making the pages so complex is really slowing down production to the point where (as everyone has seen) even hitting one page a week has become difficult for me. And with another 600 pages to go, I would quite like to finish this thing before I kick the bucket.
Having said that, it’s not like the art quality is going to really diminish in any tangible way, I’m just wanting to try something a bit different and work to my strengths. Instead of pencilling/inking I’d quite like to try a style that’s more like bringing the current painted style of the backgrounds into the character as well. It’s a bit hard to describe what I’m planning since it’s basically a big ol’ technical endeavour, but it’s going to be more value-based than lineart-based. So… I guess, you’re just going to have to trust me. 🙂
Andreas
Part of me will be in that courtyard forever…
Kyethn
Tell me about it. I close my eyes and all I see are arches.
Matt Davis
Well done.
Was it just me, or did that last panel get very John Woo?
Savail
WOW, your heatsink kicked the bucket? You’re very, very lucky your processor survived such a harrowing experience. o.O Very lucky indeed. Though an excuse to upgrade is always nice. 😉
Adriel
The only person I would complain about being late…
would be Bracken. Fewer casualties, anyone?
Though I suppose Danil would be hard to shoot if not in the middle of the courtyard.
And I’m really looking forward to seeing how the story progresses from here. Where to next? How are the survivors going to deal with the new reality of characters-to-corpses?
Mm. Yeah, this all has definitely worth the wait, checking every day for an update.
I look forward to see your art style evolve. You already communicate things nicely through tonal value. And I love the painterly style of the backgrounds – I feel like I really need to sit up, take notes and learn a few things.
Enjoy your break, and I do hope you get a bit of a buffer in – mostly so you don’t have to feel pressure. I’m really enjoying RMR, but in the end it will be best if it is something you enjoy as well. I always cringe when you bring us a free, beautiful page of evoking artwork, compelling storyline, and are _apologetic_ about how long it took. I’m grateful for the opportunity to read RMR (and for free, no less), regardless of the span of time between updates, and I’m sure there are several who feel the same.
But really, enjoy your break. Relax! Have fun.
T.
… I originally wanted to write some smart comment here about how surprising, beautiful & amazing this page is – especially as the end of the arc …
… but since I am way too late and so many people did that & more in words & style that are far from my meager capabilities … I’ll just stand by their words …
Thank You for doing this !!!!
=)
Grawuar
What a great page… And with so many animals! 😀
knorq
Deus Ex Brackena T-shirt???
Ink
I would buy ten of these.
Dray
So worth the re-read. That was glorious! I adore how you’ve advanced in your art, too — were you looking up specific advice for the last dozen+ pages, or is that just the passage of time and practice, or a combination?
Kyethn
Thanks Dray! 🙂 Nothing terribly specific as I recall, though I had been trying to focus on the flaws in my pages – things like composition, as well as shot framing. I’ve had a bad habit of zooming in too close with my shots, so you’d often get frames that were more cropped than they ought to be. I tried to have more variety in that sense, zooming out the virtual camera as it were. You see a lot more feet in the last chapter. 🙂
Also perspective is something I was pretty actively studying. I had kind of been winging it before, so I decided to try a more academic approach. It’s not practical to do precise grids for each page, but I think setting them up for the last bunch of pages was a good learning experience.
TrashMan
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
A pox on youz. I liked Danil.
Kyethn
Shame none of the other characters would agree at this point!
Char
Can you make me a character in the story, just so I can be the one character who mourns his loss? 😉
augh, that first panel just… it… it… feels. Feels, in the middle of my throat, cry… cr… sobbing cries. Sobbing…
TrashMan
So what if none of htem likes Danil? He doesn’t like them either.
Give the guy a break. People constatnly try to kill him and he’s only doign his job. You’d be in a bad mood too if poeople bombed you, tackled you, and burned your face…and endangered the whole country to boot.
Eva
Just read this all the way through, and I have to say that RMR has some amazingly well-judged layouts. 297 for instance… “Jaw, meet Floor; Floor, Jaw.”
kayakninja
Well, after taking way too long to finish my reread, I have to say that I am once again loving this comic. Best art on the internet and a fantastic story to go with it.
Also, sad about losing Danil and Lethe. They were two of my favorite characters. 🙁
Going to have to see if I can’t get my girlfriend to start reading over Spring Break. She’ll probably enjoy this as much as I’ve been.
Lazy J
this is really one of the few web comics i enjoy enjoy enough to keep checking back on and hey you deserve a break you do exceptinal work keep it up and apoligizes on spelling never been my strong suit 😛
Thracecius
There are so many words that could be used to describe this page, let alone the journey to get to this select moment in time, but seeing as how I can’t possibly imagine being able to accurately review such a masterpiece, I’ll have to settle for these few, meager thoughts:
– “BOOM!”, serves you right Danil for trying(?) to kill the (arguably) most sympathetic character in the story (Adrianna),
– *sigh*, I really didn’t want you dead, Danil, (and you might not be) because I only consider you the main antagonist at this point in the story (only the author has enough information to call you “villain”),
– “Nice work, Bracken.”, because it’s high time that self-important mages discover that they are not invincible, and a good ’ol fashioned slug thrower (a sniper rifle, in this case) is just the tool to make it happen,
– “Poor Arinn.”, watching your dad (he’ll find that out eventually, I’m certain) and your mother brutally killed by a mage on the same day (and possibly your aunt as well?), is going to set you up for some very hard times. Hang in there, kid.
Your art, pacing, and storytelling began incredibly strong and it has only improved, Rose, and I cannot even imagine what will come next. Your talent, skill and dedication is, without question, among the most impressive I have ever come across in all my years of reading online comics/graphic novels, and the competition is very steep (Phoenix Requiem, 3 Minute Max, A Redtail’s Dream, Skullkickers, Guilded Age, to name a few) when it comes to not just grabbing my attention and entertaining me, but drawing me deeply into the story at both an emotional and mental level.
Thank you, so very much, for taking the leap of faith and sharing your art and your stories with us.
Most sincerely,
-Thracecius
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