ZLM_FastEffects

Scoop.

Zero Like Me #170:
Deal #5: Fast Effects


Busy at Comic-Con! Details coming soon!

[Update: Ok, back and ready.]

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 5 and deal 5 in panel 2. The cards referenced are Last Gasp, Spirit Flare, and Monstrous Growth. Do the math to discover our beast is actually just a squirrel with roid rage.

Fun Facts: This page was wrapped just days before Comic-Con! What an end to a hectic, hectic run (only to give way to the madness of Comic-Con, pun unintended). Just a moment to catch my breath before we get gunning on more stuff.

Baa: Comic-Con went great. My reports are here and here.

Ok, so we're going to take a quick break from comicsing to work on a quick(ish) project I've got to hit before I leave for Japan.

Not sure when I'll be able to get more comics done, since the other project has to take priority, but we're gunning it.

Reuxben

ZLM_Leapfog

  Any fast effects?

Zero Like Me #169:
Deal #4: Leapfog

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 3, Deal 4 in panel 1. Today's main spell doesn't really exist in white, but enough white creatures and spells grant temporary flying, also known as "leap," for it to feel safely white, even if a lot of them require some blue mana involvement. The other spell, "Fog," which has some incredible art in M12, is used to prevent combat damage, which Garry obviously used to keep from getting slaughtered by this egg-laying mammal. The creature in the last panel is roughly based on Krosan Beast, which is basically just a squirrel jacked on theshroids.

Fun Facts: Zero is granted flying in the fourth panel by Nyao's Aeronaut's Leap spell, which again, doesn't quite exist purely as is in Magic, but it's based on the common "leap" ability of many white tricks, particularly the keenly named Kor Aeronaut.

Of course Aeronaut's Leap wouldn't be a particularly playable card in draft or constructed, but it serves the plot, and in any case you'd think any decent "real-world" white mage could easily whip out a leap-spell without even blinking, so I regret nothing. Nothing.

Also, I just learned that you can die from eating raw eggs...but let's just go with people in this Magic-based universe are generally tougher than in our world. That's fair, right? Sure it is.

Baa: I actually find Flying to be a bit of an annoying mechanic. On the other hand, I've always had a fondness for fear (now more appropriately retired for "intimdate") because it felt sneakier than Flying while still being fair in the sense that if they had artifacts or the correctly colored creatures, you were sunk, but otherwise it was pretty smooth sailing. I won my very first tournament I entered by drafting two or three Nezumi Cutthroats and just going to town on my opponent.

But in reality, only black mages can really appreciate the good old days of fear, I guess.

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ZLM_Sap

Cards in hand?

Zero Like Me #168:
Deal #3: Sap

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 6, Deal 3 in panel 5. Today's title is the nickname for Saprolings, which I guess come from these berry-looking things. The pipe Z's smoking is based on the pipe Yale gives you after you graduate. The scrolls reference something related to red mages, which will make sense eventually.

Fun Facts: That last panel was a bit of a tricky call--from the pencils, I knew I wanted some of the mystery creature's face to be visible, but ended up deciding less visibility would be better.

I'm not sure if I shouldn't have included a time-passage panel (like panel 5) to begin this page, to help indicate that time elapsed between this page and the previous one. Feeling torn about it.

Baa: My first deck was green, and I still love that color, but black's where it's at. In fact, I wrote one of my Yale admissions essays on the philosophy of black mana, as elucidated by the legendary Mark Rosewater. For my second Yale admissions essay, I wrote a response to Mark Roseater's motto, "restrictions breed creativity." Thus I credit MaRo with helping to get me into Yale. I was so thrilled to meet him last year at Comic-Con. I was fortunate to have gotten to interview him over the phone my Freshman Year for my Bulldog Blogs stint, it was the same day as the VQ was doing their 12 hour improv marathon, so we even got to talk about his Boston University days doing stand up and improv. He is so crazy cool.

Anyway, now I just need to meet Conan and then I'll have met everyone who got me into Yale!

Reuxben

ZLM_Upkeep

 Bad beats, bro.

Zero Like Me #167:
Deal #2:
Upkeep

Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 3, Deal 2 in panel 4. Garry McGruder's our featured guest star, who's aesthetic is inspired by the Budoka creatures from Champions of Kamigawa set.

Also, in case it isn't clear, "glhfdd" (how I tend to end my letters of support) means "good luck, have fun, don't die." "<3" means "less than three" or whatever...

Fun Facts: Ok, so for today's final version, we're trying borderless panels and completely digital inks. I think it's looking pretty solid, and I think I'll convert all pages to this model for the print edition. [Post-SDCC Update: borders for all!]

My goodness, it takes forever to produce these pages, though--it was hard enough doing strips! It's so easy to get carried away with details and stuff once we enter the digital phase of production. But I have to make these look as slick as possible for Comic-Con, and fortunately I don't have an editor breathing down my neck, so this is pretty all right, all things considered.

Baa: This comic's final draft took a while to post because I seriously messed up my insides--I ate some bad cheese, it seems, and it felt like my stomach was slowly being shredded on the inside by the craggy shards of a broken bottle for a couple days, rendering me unable to do art for any real length of time. It was agony. By day two I just couldn't handle it anymore--I'm not so lactose intolerant I can't handle a good chunk of dairy, so I was at a loss as to what could be the problem. We eventually figured out that Tums pills would do the trick and they did. Such a relief. At one point I was literally curled over, gripping my stomach trying to figure out how to trick myself into sleeping off the pain. But, Tums! Who knew! Hope I can still go to town on dairy, though. Love dairy.

Anyway, although we're a bit off schedule, Friday's page will be up as soon as I finish pencils with the finals to follow soon after, so yeah.

Reuxben

Fun_GG

No summoning sickness in sight.

Shuffle up your sequential pages,

cuz we're dealing the first hand

next week!


Topdeck like your life

depends on it.


Reuxben

Fun_MtGG_Preview

 

The competition is intensity! Scholar budoka Garry McGruder, use green mana the unconventional method! Garry!! You'll be mighty than all of them!!! Your chance to shine!

Best qualities in material and gear is the hope! Maybe!!

Garry McGruder will fight or run, but we can still cheer--be sturdy and be study!

Only
Removal.

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ZLM_TariqAndAhmir

Sticky fingers show you care.
Zero Like Me #157:
Tariq and Ahmir

Herald_zlm.FakeTales

And yeah,
I'd love to tell you
all my problem.

Zero Like Me #105:
Zero Romance #21:
Fake Tales of New Haven
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: Romance 21 in Tale 3. A wacky haircut and Motion City in Tale 1. A Wii and Triforce in Tale 2.

Fun Facts: Tale 1's setting is the OC. Tale 3's setting is based on Fair Haven Elementary School. Garry is proud to live in New Haven for some reason...

This comic came about because I have too many scripts but not enough time...so we are literally cramming it all in there, aren't we? Curtain closes forever next week, on the Herald theatre at least.
They say he changes when the sun goes down...

And I can't get it started on my own.
When are you arriving?
The Herald version actually came out pretty all right.

I wanted to do more with music in my comic. I had this musical character named Justin, but since I was running out of opportunities for comics, I didn't think I'd get to use him again.

But then I thought to do multiple comics in one, like that incredible episode of Avatar, "The Tales of Ba Sing Se," so I lifted that script and plugged it in as the headliner.

It also gave me a chance to say goodbye to my first supporting character, Garry McGruder, someone who I really wanted to use more...the worst part about comicsing during college is you can concretely see what you didn't accomplish in your "life."

Baa: I've been trying to revisit every dining hall for the full dinner shift before I bite the bullet, but I'm running out of time...

TD's Saturday night, SY next Friday night, TC next Saturday, and PC...squeezed in next Wednesday? Anything to complete the world tour, even endure...ugh...college dining halls...

Gosh.

In more upbeat news, that wise latino Gerardo Manera returns in his groundbreaking Herald series, Kill All Your Friends, to salsa and sombrero his way into your heart, with another avant garbage piece, arguably not even a comic, which he entitles, "River," for some strange reason:

Quite frankly...

That hombre really creeps me out.

Or for our Canadian visitors:

That guy really creeps me oot.

Eh?

Reuxben

Herald_zlm.DeathBeforeDisco

Don't believe the hype!
Zero Like Me #74
Zero Romance #14:
Ransom Dan Pt.3: Death Before Disco
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: Romance 14 in panel 1, Jane, shoutout to third of three YDN EICs this week (completing my collection), new challenger named after the OGs. 1933 counts, right?

Fun Facts: Today's setting is loosely based on just outside the Silliman Master's house (creepy dark skinned guy wearing all black snapping photos of your house...check!). This is based on a writing exercise I did, a fake news article about Ransom Dan's implosion (hence the heavy text).

I had this reporter character stored away in my notes and felt this was the best time to pop him out. He wears rabbit ears to get better reception because he's a TV newsman and he uses a carrot instead of a mike so he can have a snack after covering his story while remaining in theme. I thought it was a nice Eiichiro Oda sort of bizarre touch.

Baa: From what I gather, Lady Gaga is a fashion dynamo and her outrageous style is pretty neat. The Crayon had a show where they warmed the crowd up by having us sing a Lady Gaga song, and I was like the only person in the room who had no idea what was going on. Pretty ridiculous.

One of the biggest motivations to do this comic was because I love puns and I noticed that I could make a RuPaul reference, but also I wanted to try this weird news format since I wanted to kill Ransom Dan. A lot of improvised nonsense thrown in for good measure, too. I want to make higher concept comics, like how Gerard Way runs the Umbrella Academy with such high fiction. Above is the banner I ran all week leading up to the Ransom Dan World Tour, with the following dates:

Jan 30 Jonathan Edwards (Secret Basement Show), Encore - Woolsey Hall :: Feb 5 Timothy Dwight :: Feb 6 Pierson :: Feb 12 Davenport :: Feb 13 Berkeley :: Feb 19 Ezra Stiles :: Feb 20 Branford :: Feb 26 Calhoun :: Feb 27 Silliman :: Mar 5 Trumbull :: Mar 6 Saybrook

So that was a fun concept to start with.

Reuxben

Herald_zlm.MyZeroRomance

Do I have to give my classmate's dad a check now?

Zero Like Me #70
Zero Romance #13:
Ransom Dan Pt.2: My Zero Romance
<- Previous...Next->
-First-
Easter Eggs: Romance 13, sombrero man, Pringles man, and Pink Floyd man, and special shout out in final panel; Late Night with Conan's logo in Panel 1; ?uestlove afro pick drum style, Justin Pierre layer style, Order Made Radwimps style, 3 Cheers style, Alex Turner yawn style, Mikey Way style, Pansy style, The Subways' bassist style, Tony Thaxton kit style; Shawn Harris leap style; I'm Not Okay (I Promise) and Back to the Future refs.

Fun Facts: My gosh, this was insanely fun to write, draw, and research. So much fun just getting as ridikalus as possible.

Baa: It feels like I haven't Heralded in forever...man, I miss it. What a way to get back in it, though. Wish it was always this fun.

Toldja I was starting a band! EP coming soon offa my label, Deathreux Records. It's gonna be hot like Ebola, kid.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.Multiplayer

Garry McGruder owns African-American Lotuses!

Zero Like Me #69:
Ransom Dan Pt.1: Multiplayer
<- Previous...Next->
-First-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in Panel 2; some Magic cards (prize if you can name them all, you freaking nerd) in Panel 3.

Fun Facts: Today's setting is based on Fair Haven Elementary, plus an aerial shot of 'Nam. As I was drawing this, I noticed it had started snowing outside, so I went back and drew snow onto the buildings, and then when I finished inks, it had stopped snowing and all the rooftop white disappeared, so I was doomed to inaccuracy from the start!

This has got to be the WORST, most embarrassing error I've ever let slip into a comic--okay besides this--in panel 2, I forgot to flatten the image before correcting image rotation, so my legibility-correction ended up just making it worse...doomed efforts again.

Baa: As I was writing this very post in Commons after breakfast, a herd of footballistas were huddled over my comic on the table across from me. I mozied over to find them arguing over which cards were Easter Egged in the comic! One guy tried to convince me we were looking at Brainstorm or something! I was like, "Actually it's [blah], trust me, I drew it." Oh how we laughed! And here I thought the footballas and I had a blood feud. Anyway, they seemed like nice chaps (I've only ever met one less-than-cool football player, come to think of it).

The Brainstorm guy laughed nervously, "Man, we're all such nerds," and we parted ways. Let the record show that it never occurred to me before coming to Yale that Magic could be considered nerdy. D&D on the other hand...ew.

I know they're going to beat Harvard next year. Watch.

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YDN_zlm.SoBad

Just wanna ram your hand straight through your skull, don'tcha?

Zero Like Me #67:
So Bad
<- Previous...Next->
-First-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" and napping Nyao in panel 1. Charlie Chaplin clothes. "RC ftw," or "Arsi = ha x2" in panel 3, referencing a Yalie who got ridiculously ripped off, so he will not get to open at the Winter Show, meaning my Easter Egg'd forecast is looking pretty good...yay?

Fun Facts: Garry never actually appeared in the YDN before, but he debuted in the Herald here. As his dad and brother are off at war, he is immensely proud of his military heritage and always wears his dad's old dog tags, based on a real kid I tutored a couple summers ago.

Baa: I am dumbstruck by how strikingly dumb some Yalies' speech comes off due to their insistence on using uselessness like "so good" as if it in any way communicates anything. I wanted to do violent things to my skull when I was stuck in a waiting room listening to a feemyalie prattle on and on about how XYZ was "SO good," literally her estimation of everything positive. I also can't stand the slaughtered use of "awkward," the intentional use of "Um" as if it's actually a word, and (more peripherally) freaking vocal fry. I lose a chunk of my mind at every Herald meeting because of some combination of the above, but it's mainly the blackboard-scratching vocal fries everyone is required by law to do while they address the board.

My gosh, I'm cringing just thinking about how much this comic conjures all these gross vocalizations.

Reuxben