Lackadaisy Sabbatical
Added 2016-01-20 08:06:10 +0000 UTCKind of a low note of an update, but the next pages, I think, are more interesting.
Thanks again, everyone, for bearing with me.
The full size page can be viewed here:
Lackadaisy Sabbatical
Comments
Oh Zib... The amount that I'm attracted to an anthropomorphic cat is starting to worry me.
Sue Donem
2016-02-03 17:43:40 +0000 UTC....... Wow. Thank you. You explained it so clearly, to a level where I can understand it and for that I thank you once more Tracy. I had my two monitors to help me out as I was reading it through, switching back and forth with your write-up and the sequential art. What a joy it was to read this. I just saved this particular set of notes in the 'Audio Production Projects - 2016' folder in case my voice actors need to look deeply into this particular scene to help them in their performance. And how exciting! So far we're 6 strips in since Lackadaisy Redivivo! 24 more till it hits the sweet spot for me to say: "Okkee dokee! *cracks knuckles* Lackadaisy Audio Contemplation time!" Ha ha... XD Keep up the amazing work as always Tracy!
Elson Wong
2016-01-24 18:08:05 +0000 UTCSure. To open with, this takes place the evening after Virgil and Zib were initially arrested. The officer (Kinsley) has asked Virgil to demonstrate his sobriety by reciting the alphabet. Virgil trails off into spelling bee format, but the officer draws the conclusion that whatever is wrong with Virgil, it can’t be that he’s still intoxicated after a nearly 24 hour stay, and so decides to let him out. Virgil tells him he can spell more words for him (either jokingly, or because he’s lost track of what’s going on and has thought of a new get-rich-quick scheme on the fly). The officer suggests “recalcitrant” as a wry commentary on the sort of individual Virgil is...and probably implying this isn’t the first time they’ve crossed paths. -------------- The officer then tells Zib he’s leaving too, but for different reasons - “This is a holdover sty for grogged up miscreants, not a hotel.” The first part of that line is just a colorful description of the drunk-tank in which Zib is currently seated The second part means it’s meant for very temporary holding. ‘Holdover’ would be another term for a station lockup. ‘Sty’ refers to a pig pen. ‘Grogged’ would be slang for drunkenness, derived from ‘grog’ - a rum based drink that itself became generalized slang for any strong alcoholic beverage. A ‘miscreant’ is a troublemaker, a misbehaved individual...someone who is recalcitrant. Zib notes that there’s not much of a distinction between a sty for drunken, ill-behaved people and a hotel. (As a former traveling musician, he probably stayed in some exquisitely seedy places). The officer explains that Zib can do the remainder of his waiting (for his arraignment) in the city jail. “You’ll notice a difference” implies that it’s a much more unpleasant place unlikely to warrant even sarcastic comparisons to a hotel. Zib can probably expect to be hosed down with cold water, dressed in stripes and tossed in with some actual criminals. In the next panel, the other officer offers some backhanded advice, telling Zib he ought to discontinue the running of his mouth in jail where it’s likely to bring him further troubles. (If you recall from the previous scene taking place at the station, Zib had an outstanding bench warrant for missing his court date for a prior offense. He’ll have that delinquency to answer for, as well as the original offense, and so, as the officer notes, he’s probably going to have a month or two sentence to serve.) ------------- Zib and Virgil exchange goodbyes. Virgil says “remember what I told you” on his way out, implying he had imparted some words of wisdom to Zib at some point during their stay, but Zib’s response reveals that Virgil had actually imparted some words of delusional paranoia - he apparently has an elaborate, if not imagined backstory involving obscure aristocracy poisoning him to sabotage his destined political rise. Virgil follows up with an attempt at parting advice, but it comes out as a muddle of the common-sense idioms, “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” and “Get all of your ducks in a row.” Zib, in sympathetic reply to the confusion and paranoia suggests that Virgil not drink radiator fluid...presumably because he did drink radiator fluid. At the time, radiator fluid was made mostly out of wood (methyl) alcohol. It’ll get you drunk, but it’s extremely toxic and if it didn’t blind you or simply kill you, it’d likely leave you with some other permanent damage. (Thousands of people were poisoned by wood alcohol during Prohibition in fact, mostly because it was used to denature industrial alcohol, where desperate alcoholics might turn for the intoxicating effect or where bootleggers would get some part of their supply). ------------ Zib is being escorted out and crosses paths with Dom again, who’s apparently returning to burn some midnight oil at his desk. They exchange some banter that’s a sort of continuance of the previous tone they’d taken with each other, but it has some underlying meaning as well. “Greener pastures” here is a metaphor for better places, although with Zib in handcuffs, it can be assumed Dom’s asking with good-natured sarcasm. Zib’s response is a modified version of the proverb “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine”. Dom asks if Zib was given a chance to make a call, and Zib declines, stating in essence that he welcomes the departure from his usual circumstances. The implication is that won’t be looking for someone to post bail for him, and that he’s not even eager to inform anyone of his whereabouts. He’s also wary of Dom after their last conversation since he knows what Dom’s job entails, and Dom knows what Zib does and the sort of company he likely keeps. Dom might be curious to see who he’d call. He deflects Dom’s question about his name by quipping about being his prison pen-friend (or pen-pal, though the term wasn’t in common use at the time). Dom minimizes jokingly, stating that Zib’s only going to the ‘hoosegow’ (old-timey slang for jail) and not to prison (as in a state or federal penitentiary), pointing out that they aren’t quite the same thing...and perhaps subtly reminding Zib that he not only remembers his name, but he picked up the other details from yesterday’s discussion (between Zib and the officers) as well. Zib’s final response, “I’m not ambitious,” is in keeping with the tone of the conversation and his apathetic facade, though he’s probably serious about not aspiring to get into any deeper trouble. ----------- The final panels depict Zib on his way out to take a ride in the police van (aka Black Maria) as the officers exchange some small talk about the looming storm. Dom arrives at his desk, where he seems to be fitting some puzzle pieces together.
Tracy Butler
2016-01-24 16:38:19 +0000 UTCActually part of the fun is decoding the message of the story/scene, especially when you figure it out yourself or talk among like-minded friends, who happen to love the series as much as I do, and make sense of it. XD I kinda got the jist of what's being said after a second read-through but yeah... The footprints behind each piece of dialogue is complex and meaningfully linked back to the characters and historical events of the story, it's crazy how you can come up with this sort of thing Tracy...! But you know what, for the sake of convenience I'm going to use my 'get out of jail free card' and request your help to clarify this scene for me. It'd be very much appreciated! ^^
Elson Wong
2016-01-24 11:27:17 +0000 UTCIt's been so long since I've gotten to sit down and read Lackadaisy... I forgot how much I enjoyed just looking at the pages. Hopefully, after I reread and catch up, I can catch the next update!
MJ Johnson
2016-01-24 08:41:41 +0000 UTCah, sorry about the wordy dialog. I can go through it and try to clarify, if that would help at all.
Tracy Butler
2016-01-23 22:58:03 +0000 UTCHow about I share with you my thoughts with a quick illustration? <a href="http://sta.sh/013sd7vb6m6u" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://sta.sh/013sd7vb6m6u</a> Btw - the last three panels - the atmosphere is to die for. I can already picture this entire page with sound... X3
Elson Wong
2016-01-23 19:44:33 +0000 UTCSuperb! Oh man, a literal STORM is coming, and it looks awesome! You've outdone yourself Ms. Butler, phenomenal work!
Maklarr4000
2016-01-21 05:18:51 +0000 UTCThank you for reading, and for the support!
Tracy Butler
2016-01-21 04:18:52 +0000 UTCDrago's such a badass. Looks like he's got some informants too. This should be fun.
Jess Rhodes
2016-01-21 03:34:47 +0000 UTCHoly...Holy...HOLY WOW! This is an amazing set of pages! Those storm clouds and the feelings this gives off. Chills.
Sam Stump
2016-01-21 00:21:28 +0000 UTCThank you!
Tracy Butler
2016-01-20 23:26:52 +0000 UTCThank you, Ava, for your exceptionally kind feedback. It means a lot to me, knowing you enjoy the updates that much. =)
Tracy Butler
2016-01-20 23:21:04 +0000 UTCWell, thank you! That means a lot coming from you - your dialogue writing is in the realm of the sublime, I particularly enjoy the exasperated, sardonic interplay among Namah and her keepers.
Tracy Butler
2016-01-20 23:17:31 +0000 UTCThank you! It's good to hear that the character acting holds up.=)
Tracy Butler
2016-01-20 23:10:46 +0000 UTCThey were there overnight. This takes place the same evening as the Savoys' party and Mitzi's attempts to instill morale in the remaining band members on the previous pages.
Tracy Butler
2016-01-20 23:09:37 +0000 UTCI admire the work you put into your environments and all the little details that are works of art by themselves. <3
Angela Cross
2016-01-20 23:06:29 +0000 UTCWow this is wonderful as always!! but real quick, is this still the same night as when they got picked up or is it later the next day??
Kiki Glover
2016-01-20 21:45:02 +0000 UTCWow.. thanks for all that work above.
Stephen Smoogen
2016-01-20 18:55:47 +0000 UTCEverybody has already said it-- UGH this is so good. What a good update to just steep in. Also, have you ever tried to look at comics without actually reading the text, to see if you can follow the tone and gist of what's going on, and see if it's just as interesting? I find myself poring over the images and expressions and forgetting to read the text at all, because the images alone convey so much. So... dang, good work on that!
Leigh Legler
2016-01-20 18:51:34 +0000 UTCI can't get enough of that dialogue- every exchange glitters with wit! Sublime.
David Lillie
2016-01-20 15:23:03 +0000 UTCInteresting, I wonder if he refused the personal call so that flak didn't get back to the Lackadaisy or anyone there.
Recremen
2016-01-20 15:18:05 +0000 UTCThings seem to be coming to a head soon...the sense of foreboding you've created over the last few pages is impressive.
blueeyedintrovert
2016-01-20 13:33:16 +0000 UTCWhat a beauty of an update. Fantastic to see Zib up and running... speaking fairly figuratively, mind you. Every time I see this guy's face, I become more and more curious as to what Dom Drago is up to... Each time an update appears, I mentally scream "There's no way this comic could get any better." And then the next update arrives, and my mental scream increases drastically. In short, everything about this update is scintillating and gorgeous. Thank you, Ms Butler!
Ava
2016-01-20 11:06:35 +0000 UTCOh. My. God. I just finished watching Week 1 Lessons of Pictorial Composition by Nathan Fowkes via Schoolism (the guy is amazing - loved every bit of his introduction and what we're about to learn from his class). Then I went to my inbox and found the next update from you Tracy. I safely assumed it was a quick update on concept sketches, and lord behold. 25% of the way the thumbnail image of your latest comic loaded - I stopped it, thrilled by the prospects just from the gorgeous visuals alone. And so I shout out to myself: "Hell no am I going to relish the next glorious page so quickly!" So I'm gonna take my time and save it for the weekend! This is gonna be goooooooood! Ha ha! XX3
Elson Wong
2016-01-20 10:21:16 +0000 UTCMost comics, it seems like you end up seeing more of the author than the world they create. Lackadaisy is more like a window to something that once was. The faces, the personalities, the endless stormy twilight that Missouri likes to bring are all so perfectly conveyed. It's like waking up but the dream still lingers, just the other side of the glass. It's not that fake objectivity that likes to dry out most historical fiction, but it's the touches of humor and sympathy that give the crimes and tragedies of the past something like a new grace. It's eerie, because I know I'm seeing something new and special unfold. Thank you so much for this.
Doscher
2016-01-20 09:17:14 +0000 UTC
