Skip to content

Obverse & Reverse Ch4 Page 20

Obverse & Reverse Ch4 Page 20 published on 27 Comments on Obverse & Reverse Ch4 Page 20

Oops, sorry about the late update on this one! I had it scheduled to go up on time, but it didn’t go up!

This is the last page of the chapter! I have ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Skin Deep is going on an extended hiatus, sorry about that! I really want to make sure the script is solid for the next chapter before I start drawing it, and it needs a little TLC! Usually I work on scripts while I’m drawing the comic, but well, the Right Now is happening, and it’s been harder to multitask lately. I hope you all understand! I’ll keep y’all up to date on what’s happening with the comic, and I might start some Reader Questions in a week or two to tide y’all over. I’m really just kind of playing it by ear right now, but don’t worry! Skin Deep will be back soon!

Thank you all for reading!

27 Comments

Can’t help but be relieved this chapter’s finally over. Because, honestly? This little adventure featuring Jim and co. has been nothing short of absolutely frustrating.

This comic started 14 YEARS ago, and only now, only just now, have we *finally* met the Big Bad. We are finally on the path to getting real concrete answers to what’s going on. We are finally getting to the heart of the main plot of this comic. Which is, you know, Michelle vs. the dragons, in case anyone forgot with all the side-comics.

But those answers are put on hold as we suffer through Jim being an absolute jerk of a little kid.

On its own, in its own separate chapter, this trip through Wonderland might be cute and fun, but it’s interrupting the true meat of the comic, the confrontation between Michelle and The Father. We want to know about THAT, we want to know about the dragons, what The Father is planning, what’s going on with the demons. And I’m sure this whole side-quest is going *somewhere* but my god is it so unbearably frustrating to have those answers interrupted because we just *have* to see Jim in his insufferable bratty toddler years. I’m sure the payoff is coming, but you have to give us *something* to show this adventure is even remotely RELEVANT.

I’m not even slightly invested in what’s going on here, we know Jim and Rupert and Lorne get out ok, we know they’ll be fine, all I’m feeling is annoyed that I have to wait twenty+ weeks to find out what’s going on with Michelle.

I love this comic, but man, is it aggravating.

no no I am sure they will be getting back to the main story… but with respect you can’t get a full background on Avalon without knowing all the characters involved… Have to have your character sheets filled out before you play AD&D right?

Which also adds to the aggravation when you realize we spent 3+ years in the Liverpool Avalon learning basically nothing plot relevant. I mean, it’s fantastic world building and we learn a whole bunch about the characters, but at the same time, we learn almost nothing relevant to the main conflict at hand. Maybe a hint here and there that the caves are a thing, but that’s literally it.

We can learn about our characters and their backstories while still uncovering plot-relevant stuff.

Whether or not learning about the characters is “plot relevant” really depends on what the plot is. As it happens, I think the story is more about the characters than it is about the conflict, which is why we spend so much time learning about Gabriel and Jocasta and Blanche. Michelle might be a central character, but she’s not the “main” character, and it’s okay if we focus on other people for a while. I’d say that’s doubly so since, even if Michelle is at the center of the conflict you’re interested in, she’s not the only one involved. Wonderlanders, guardian gryphons, and nemian lions might have more to do with it than we know right now, and that’s perfectly okay.

Each to their own, but at least until the start of Obverse & Reverse, I thought that the main plot with Michelle and the Dragons was an aggravating distraction from the side-comics. Talking about Phineas and the old Sphinxes (which looks like a band name, now that I type it) just doesn’t compare to talking about whether or not it’s called the White Album, or bugging Michelle and Greg about what happened in the cabin.

I might be in the minority here, though.

Am I in the minority here, in that I’m enjoying the whole thing and am not aggravated by any of the story arcs? Like, the only reason I’m still reading this comic after all these years is that the writing and art is so good that I’m willing to keep track of it despite it not having an RSS feed. This is literally the only comic I still follow that doesn’t have a feed to help me keep track of it.

This comes off like something immature and entitled from the old days of webcomics, lol. It’s the opposite of constructive to have someone say the entire storyline you just published was nothing but a pain in the ass to them, especially when you’re already having trouble working. Have you really been around the entire 14 years, or is that your age?

Don’t worry about the hiatus, take all the time you need. What ever you come up with it will be worth whatever wait there is.

Though for the reader questions, I’m not sure if this has been asked before but is the Jersey Devil a thing?

awesome keep it up and no Rupert did not die! he would not be there playing a card game with a Bandersnatch to see our deer and Harpy walk by if he where dead…. the thing I am wondering about is how did fin’s brother lose his wings and Tail?? that’s a back story I want to see and I hope we see Mechelle again… I just simply love this comic been following since the beginning…

I’ll also say – take your time to do what needs to be done for the next chapter. I’m really interested to see how the past and the present will be connected with each other (aside from the people involved in the form of Jim).

Also, I already have some questions… Namely – are their kakapo Gryphons, Harpies, or Totems? I HAFTA KNOW KOREY.

‘Twas not here, that frabjous day,
“Callooh! Callay!” no more,
the Jabberwock with claws that catch
Had snatched whom we adore.

Through tulgey wood and Tumtum tree
Did tumble all but one,
For looking back from whence they came,
The Jubjub bird had gone.

Btw, as for the hiatus, take your time dude. I can hardly imagine uploading pages of this quality on any schedule, let alone a weekly basis. If you need time, take it. Especially with all that’s going on now.

I’ve been reading this since I was in 8th grade and I can’t wait for it to update. I love this comic so much, it’s so wonderfully unique and fun to read. I always keep it open in one of my tabs on my phone and check to see if it’s updated every week. Thank you for all your hard work throughout the years!

I know this page and the comment that aggravates me here are nearly 4 years old now, but doing an archive reread binge and whew I’ve just got some things to say.

I think it’s been fairly obvious since early on that this comic was never JUST supposed to be about the Orientations cast, or even Michelle and the sphinxes vs dragons. And I love that, and I always have! The worldbuilding is phenomenal, and there are so many nuances of the story and its lore that we just wouldn’t *get* without delving into the side characters and backstories that aren’t strictly relevant to the “main” conflict of the comic.

Sometimes people don’t vibe with certain characters or stories, and that’s okay! But I’ve seen a lot of straight-up insulting comments during this reread that’s just so sad. First and foremost, this is Kory’s comic, and she wants to share it with us. She gets to tell it the way she wants to. On that note, Skin Deep–and most other webcomics–are a passion project (sometimes turned fulltime job) by ONE person. Art takes time, so things will move slow. But that’s why rereading in a binge years later is so much fun.

Also seeing so much vitriol thrown at certain characters (especially Ravi or the literal children) without taking 5 seconds to even think about why they act the way they do is frustrating. People aren’t perfect, and even if it takes a while since webcomic time is what it is, these things do generally get addressed and show how these characters grow or have grown.

anyway this was probably an unnecessary ramble but, much kudos to you Kory, can’t wait to see where things go!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar