Super glad I got around to finally checking this comic out! It was a super fun ride and I enjoy all the characters quite a bit. Was helpful that I had some previous exposure to them through the Draw Your Characters and New Realm of Scrutiny threads, but even without those I think you did a great job introducing the characters and fleshing out their dynamics between each other.
One thing I really got to praise you for with your comic is your excellent ability to frame shots with a lot of these scenes. There was no point where I was feeling like the presentation was boring at all or the posing felt flat, which is really good! And not only was it done well for some of the action scenes, but a lot of the comedy scenes hit because of how you placed your characters and the sorts of expressions you did for them. I think another advantage to your comic is the one panel structure you do for your pages. It pretty much guarantees you can build up moments since you have to move on to the next page to find out what happens next. And it makes it feel like even slight changes in body language or expression hold more significance, which is really cool.
Your characters are just so much fun and none felt unnecessary or boring in any way. It helps that we follow the main characters quite a bit and they're fleshed out enough. Tsukiko's a fun character. She's pretty confident, very strong, and quick to make decisions. I think having her paired with Haruhi, who is a lot more timid and careful, creates some really interesting and sometimes funny scenarios. I really liked the first few chapters just following Tsukiko finding her and convincing her to join the clan and then going to pay off her landlord. We also met Rhea in Chapter 2 and I wasn't sure about her at first, but I came to like her as the story went on. She even held her own against some enemies in Chapter 4 which was really cool to see. And then Kaizer also came into the scene that same chapter and helped save Tsukiko. We didn't get to see a whole bunch of him yet, but he was already shaping up to be a cool and fun character as well. I also like how everything that happened so far was leading toward everyone (including the bad guys) coming to the Kirisame clan for one reason or another.
Seriously, I'm glad I got around to checking your comic out. You put a lot of good work, time, and effort into it and it certainly paid off. I have no clue if you plan on continuing this specific story or not, because as of writing this it seems like you've come back (which I'm really happy about, by the way, I missed seeing you around) and have started a new story based on Haruhi. I actually read through all of that this morning and the premise is pretty interesting. Regardless, it's super great seeing you again and seeing you still working on stuff! Hope you continue the good work and that I see you around more often again! Thanks for the great stories!
I am forever grateful that you went through the entire comic so far and enjoyed it!
Unfortunately, I have some terrible news regarding Graestein. In June 2022, my solid state drive died during a power outage, causing me to lose everything Graestein related, including all the upcoming shots I had for the series. With this crushing blow, I realize I will have to restart this whole thing all over again, from scratch, for the 4th time since my techniques have rendered these screenshots obsolete. Knowing Graestein is a gigantic project, I've decided to leave it be for the moment and instead focus on shorter, individual stories like Haruhi Mizutani & the Curse of Ephollias, for example. I have a roadmap in terms of upcoming comics, which goes like this:
December 2022: Akane - Life of Crime
Q1 2023: Paul
Q2 2023: Soren
Q3 2023: BREAKOUT (A Soren/Tsukiko short story looking into their backstories)
Q4 2023: Demon Tears (Halloween Special) & Kana's Diary
2024: Graestein: Toccata of Darkness (the 4th god damn revision UGH)
I hope these will pique your curiosity and thanks again for your consistent feedback!
Oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. Kind of makes sense now why you haven't done anything in a moment. I'd be completely devastated if anything like that happened to my comic (god, I need to backup shit soon, lol). I think the shorter stories idea is a really good one. Gives you time to work your way up to revising it again while also doing all these cool stories for your characters. I'll definitely keep up with the stuff you're doing. Hopefully the new revision isn't too rough on you!
One thing I really got to praise you for with your comic is your excellent ability to frame shots with a lot of these scenes. There was no point where I was feeling like the presentation was boring at all or the posing felt flat, which is really good! And not only was it done well for some of the action scenes, but a lot of the comedy scenes hit because of how you placed your characters and the sorts of expressions you did for them. I think another advantage to your comic is the one panel structure you do for your pages. It pretty much guarantees you can build up moments since you have to move on to the next page to find out what happens next. And it makes it feel like even slight changes in body language or expression hold more significance, which is really cool.
Your characters are just so much fun and none felt unnecessary or boring in any way. It helps that we follow the main characters quite a bit and they're fleshed out enough. Tsukiko's a fun character. She's pretty confident, very strong, and quick to make decisions. I think having her paired with Haruhi, who is a lot more timid and careful, creates some really interesting and sometimes funny scenarios. I really liked the first few chapters just following Tsukiko finding her and convincing her to join the clan and then going to pay off her landlord. We also met Rhea in Chapter 2 and I wasn't sure about her at first, but I came to like her as the story went on. She even held her own against some enemies in Chapter 4 which was really cool to see. And then Kaizer also came into the scene that same chapter and helped save Tsukiko. We didn't get to see a whole bunch of him yet, but he was already shaping up to be a cool and fun character as well. I also like how everything that happened so far was leading toward everyone (including the bad guys) coming to the Kirisame clan for one reason or another.
Seriously, I'm glad I got around to checking your comic out. You put a lot of good work, time, and effort into it and it certainly paid off. I have no clue if you plan on continuing this specific story or not, because as of writing this it seems like you've come back (which I'm really happy about, by the way, I missed seeing you around) and have started a new story based on Haruhi. I actually read through all of that this morning and the premise is pretty interesting. Regardless, it's super great seeing you again and seeing you still working on stuff! Hope you continue the good work and that I see you around more often again! Thanks for the great stories!
I am forever grateful that you went through the entire comic so far and enjoyed it!
Unfortunately, I have some terrible news regarding Graestein. In June 2022, my solid state drive died during a power outage, causing me to lose everything Graestein related, including all the upcoming shots I had for the series. With this crushing blow, I realize I will have to restart this whole thing all over again, from scratch, for the 4th time since my techniques have rendered these screenshots obsolete. Knowing Graestein is a gigantic project, I've decided to leave it be for the moment and instead focus on shorter, individual stories like Haruhi Mizutani & the Curse of Ephollias, for example. I have a roadmap in terms of upcoming comics, which goes like this:
December 2022: Akane - Life of Crime
Q1 2023: Paul
Q2 2023: Soren
Q3 2023: BREAKOUT (A Soren/Tsukiko short story looking into their backstories)
Q4 2023: Demon Tears (Halloween Special) & Kana's Diary
2024: Graestein: Toccata of Darkness (the 4th god damn revision UGH)
I hope these will pique your curiosity and thanks again for your consistent feedback!