Ref: Upgrade
Commentary
Playing around with backgrounds, especially as I don’t have a SketchUp of the interior. Thought I’d try a different style.
Also, OH DEAR, THEY ARE BEING SUCKED INTO A TORNADO!
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
Character: Chris Rusae
An odd mix of gamer and adventurer. Is a tech whiz, and not afraid to use it to meet his own means. Costars in the spinoff SR:Scouting. Accomplished at hot-air ballooning. Fun fact: His design is modeled after the character in Pokémon Crystal, and his last name is based off of the Hoenn games.
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Suction
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More Than One Tornado
Oh snap. There’s more than one. By the way, I feel that I should point out that Chris’s car is just off to the side in Panel 3; that is where they are running to. Also, Nikki hadn’t seen the tornado until Panel 3; she just noticed the wind change and went to Chris’s expertise.
This comic is based off of a video I saw at my first Central Plains Severe Weather Symposium. Jeff Piotrowski had been filming one tornado when suddenly the wind shifted and he realized there was another one much closer behind him.
From an artistic point of view, there were two issues. One was Panel 4; I didn’t want to actually show the characters, just their headsets and Chris’s hat comedically flying off as they take off running, but it didn’t seem like enough. While my blowing dust at the bottom of the panel may not be the most artistic, I felt that it did at least fill in some white space, so I am satisfied with it. The other issue was whether to go greyscale on this comic. The problem with this arc is that it is supposed to be dark due to the storm and the fact that it is evening, but if I make the backgrounds black, then the tornado isn’t visible. I think it is fine to be black and white for this comic, but I think I’m going to be forced to switch soon…
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
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First Sign Of Trouble
Nikki is quite right to question Chris’s desire to take pictures, but Chris does have enough experience to know that the tornado they’re watching isn’t a present danger. Me, I’m a little more chicken; first sign of the twisty stuff and I’m gone (while calling it in, of course).
Funnily enough, the tornado isn’t even visible in this comic. The main reason is that I haven’t been too happy with how the backdrop has looked; I think I need to do greyscale when showing it. But fear not; you’ll get a look at one soon!
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
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Murphy’s Law
And things are getting interesting! I finally busted out the raincoats seen in the splash page; Chris is too cocky to wear one, but Nikki and Percy don’t care much for the wet stuff. For those unfamiliar with my vernacular, getting a ducking basically means that there wil be heavy rain.
Back in my early days of storm spotting, I had a partner my age who fulfilled a role similar to Percy. She would tell me what was going on where. The only trouble was that while I have a near-perfect mental map of my county, she was quite unfamiliar with all the small towns and side roads and often pointed me in the wrong direction. This resulted in quite a bit of confusion, and since then I’ve gone solo. I sometimes miss having my “eyes” (knowing what is on the radar), but I’m perfectly okay with staking out my spot and waiting to see what happens.
This comic was delayed by my loss of my inking pen and my spare being dry. Previous to this comic, I was using a fairly generic felt-tip pen for all of the comics; I finally went into the city and invested in five different weights of fine line markers. I’m going to be playing with line weights a lot coming up as a result; I’ve really enjoyed having these new pens already!
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
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Tornado Warning
This one was originally slated for Tuesday, but I decided at the last minute to throw in the previous comic to add a more realistic view of storm spotting. This is particularly evident in Panel 3, where it is difficult to tell that Chris has pulled over to the side of the road and had his flashers on. Originally, Percy was going to be giving them directions to the site, and so only the right blinker was needed. However, a good storm spotter would have already been at his or her site, so the change was made. I was quite satisfied by the radar hook echo over the road map on Percy’s computer screen; it’s not often that I draw using only the computer and I thought it turned out quite well. And while I’m throwing out terms, the low hanging cloud in Panel 1 is a wall cloud. Rotation is taking place in this area of updraft, but no tornado has formed.
And speaking of tornadoes, the NWS radio reference to “Hallam County” is a tribute to the town of Hallam, Nebraska, which got decimated during the May 2004 tornadoes. I have been to Hallam since, which has recovered nicely (although the lack of large trees is definitely noticeable) and I participated in some of the clean-up near Fairfield, NE (about two hours west, but still hit pretty hard). I also did my student teaching at Norris High School this past semester, which had been hit by the same tornado that hit Hallam as well.
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
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A Typical Job
This is one of the rare times that I have no guilt about using copy/paste. Yeah, storm spotting really isn’t that exciting; the most excitement I’ve had was one drive back when it started pouring very hard and I had to pull over.
As previously stated, I do believe that this story arc will be the most dramatic so far. Which kinda defeats the point of my last paragraph and this entire comic… ANYWAY, timing was not my friend with the start of this arc. First the April Fools’ joke, which while brilliant, didn’t really help the flow. Then recovery from my trip to Minnesota and then proposing to my now fiancée did not help with comic production. In addition, Thursday’s comic was SUPPOSED to be today’s, but then I thought this would at least give storm spotting some credit and realism.
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
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Preparing For The Storm
A nifty little preparation montage as the storm brews… I should note that I myself am a storm spotter (and yes, my training did involve videos of what not to do, as referenced in Tuesday’s comic). I should also note that there is a difference between storm spotter and storm chaser: storm spotters stay in strategic locations and report what they are seeing, while storm chasers are actually out driving, getting too close, thrillseekers, etc. Storm spotting, if done right, should be much less dramatic.
And yet this arc is the most dramatic yet. I feel slightly hypocritical.
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
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Scared
Yeah, yeah, lamest art yet. The last week I was on the road in Colorado, and the scanner that I used previously was in what had become a temporary guest room, so I didn’t have access to it. My plan was to scan in and edit for a Friday/Saturday update last week once I got home…and a squirrel fried the phone line. So, story arc got delayed for a week, but here we go again and I HAVE A SMALL BUFFER EVEN! (Granted, I’ll likely eat that up next week while I’m in Minnesota, but still…BUFFER!)
Have fun!
~Stretch Longfellow~
