I don’t know why the hell I made them different to begin with (probably thought it helped with the look? I dunno). But I’m tired to trying to remember that they’re differnt.

Seriously. Relearning the way to draw the agents in costume has been a bigger pain in the ass than I thought it would be. But I’m nearly there. So hey, cheers.

Also, I’m debating a Tuesday/Friday schedule. Mostly because I still don’t have an effing buffer and one day between them kind of sucks. I don’t know. Depends on this week I guess.

Finally, Hunter is going well. Nearly done with the first chapter of the comic (it’s become four or so chapters of the book). I’m also exploring the minor characters a bit more…I’ll keep everyone updated.

-Peace

Firstly, the new uniforms! Nice, eh? I’m still offering the donation incentive, if you’re interested. But the pot is now sweetened, I’m including ANOTHER wallpaper of the agents in their FINAL designs. Some of them changed significantly (Mark and Pat especially), so if you’re interested go over there and chunk in some change. It’ll make me happy and you’ll get some nice pics…Please?

(And if you’ve already donated, check your Email, I’ve sent off the new wallpaper in your previously specified resolution.)

I’m very happy with them, all things considered…I still feel like I should tweak Pat’s…But it’s so much better than it was. God…she had a @#$%ing half cocked BELT at one point. What the hell was that?! Blargh…

I hope you like them…I spent a fair amount of time agonizing over them. The proverbial slaving over a hot sketch book, much of this occurred that and swearing…Much swearing.

Secondly, if you haven’t been reading Hunter (which is cool, I’m not forcing you ::Hides knife::) I actually started to do this aspect ratio in that comic a few weeks ago, though Hunter is a little smaller. The PKF’s new size clocks in at 750px × 1125px, which translates into 600×900 (Hunter’s size). Which is actually the STANDARD comic book page format. It used to be 846×1110…See? Slight change.

I honestly think that making Hunter pages taller and thinner has made the comic better. I spend more time on each panel, because they are actually larger (and there’s fewer of them), which results in (I think) a better work space. Or at least one that I can fill without draining myself or defaulting to basic backgrounds.

This is really more of an experiment than anything else. If, by the end of this chapter, I don’t like (or you all HATE) the layout I’ll return to my previous way of doing things. But I honestly really think that this will be a fantastic change, it was for Hunter.

But let me know.

If the art looks a little…Well…Off it’s because I didn’t measure my work space before I drew…I just kind of made it a little smaller and drew. So I had to futz with the dimensions of my script sketch to get it to look right…Which still made it look @#$%ed up. Sorry, but it’s better then it was when I started…haha.

Anyway, tell me what you think. I thrive off comments (and baked lays…but that’s another story) and love to hear from you.

-Peace

(PS: Don’t worry, The PKF will always be in color…Hunter is just better suited for Black and White.)

(PPS: Yes, I realize that I forgot Shale’s effing beard in the last two comics. Sorry, I’ll fix it soon. I promise…)

That…and it saved me a whole comic. I had originally had Pat getting smacked in the face, but I decided that that would have had the same effect AND it would have added another page to an already elongated arc.

So there you go.

Also, this is the first application of the speed lines that I’m actually totally happy with. They look good don’t they? Damn right they do.

And yes, Pat’s the first to get the gem…go figure.

And in the news that you really don’t like to hear, there won’t be any updates next week. I know, I know, sorry, sorry. But I’ve been working down to the wire for the last…well…this whole arc. So I’m going to try and use next week to get ahead…since it’s spring break (and I’ll have finished all my school work)…I think I can get ahead a fair bit…

Maybe not a lot, but enough to make sure I don’t have to work right down to the update day, which results in sloppy comics. Something I don’t like.

Oddly enough today’s comic looks awesome, but I had all day to work on the whole thing…sometimes free time is nice. But next week promises to be a horrible, horrible week for free time.

Two papers due soon.

Anyhow, enjoy the comic.

-Peace

Hehe, Mark has a pink laptop. He also has a pink wallet. Yes, he owns more crap in pink than Hana does.

His stickers (left to right, up to down) are: Bat Symbol, ‘Captian Awesome’, ‘Your facebook profile is my bitch’ and ‘What would alien do?’. Can you tell I like Mark? Because I do.

Oh, and don’t try decifering the binary in The Creator’s eyes…it’s likely only one letter in the whole little thing I typed out…I guess feel free, but don’t worry about it.

Be here Wednesday for more Pat action.

ALSO, have you checked out Hunter lately? Not just because I’ve been enjoying it, but because I’ve been using a differnt method of comicery one it…IE: Multiple Pages, fewer panels to a page. I’ve really liked it the last few weeks…I’m half tempted to start using the same method for The PKF…but I hate doing it mid chapter. There’s a spot in a little while that would let me do some major changes and it would feel right. But I’d like some input.

So go and check out Hunter and tell me if you’d like to see a similar setup on The PKF.

Enjoy.

-Peace

So I hope you’ll all forgive me for a little suspense and pacing here and there. I’ve already eliminated half-a-dozen comics that I thought I had to do (Condensed the opening and Fluffles sequence). BUT Things are moving along very quickly…so sit back and enjoy the show.

And yes. I’m leaving you hanging on what Mark sees for a few days. But don’t worry. Wednesday you’ll get Sam…and what may be my favorite new character of this arc. Seriously, he’s so much fun to draw…I was dreading him…but he looks so good. But more on him when he shows up.

Other than that, I’m happy with how Pat’s part played out…though you can’t see the stars I put together…but it’s blizzarding snow so I guess it works…the high-res I have you can see the stars very clearly…But I think this comic really illustrates what makes Pat and Mark who they are.

Pat’s starting to panic, but is willing to press on.
Mark’s annoyed that the solution isn’t staring him in the face…but I guess it kind of is.

Heh.

Oh…and for anyone wondering, Mark’s in the Bermuda Triangle, I didn’t want to come right out with it because that would be too…I don’t know…obvious. But he’s there…if it’s important to the story later on I’m not telling.

Enjoy, and see you Wednesday.

-Peace

Second, I have a confession to make. I’ve been cheating this comic the last few months. No, I haven’t been stealing art or plot lines (I’m too honest for that crap) but I’ve been…half assing my art. A while ago I started to SKIP a step in the comic process. The layout. The layout involves me drawing blue guiding lines so the characters are more fleshed out before I try to ink them.

I’ve been drawing a basic, loose, design of the charaters. That’s why the art has been fluctuating so much from panel to panel. I’m basically trying to INK without any lines. Now, with my tablet this isn’t a HUGE deal, but it DOES leave things looking both a little flat and slightly ‘off’ every panel. This comic, mid way though, I started using those guides again. The last three panels particularly.

I’ve already done one comic (Friday’s) that’s totally done the RIGHT way and I’m much happier for it. It adds a little more time, but it’s worth it. I mean, why would I spend ANY time on this comic if I’m not spending ENOUGH time on it. Right?

So I’m sorry. Art will start to improve again, because all I’ve been doing is playing it safe…and I can’t get better if I’m playing it safe.

Finally, I was being serious with the title of this one. I really did start to carry gum in High School because people ALWAYS asked me for it. It drove me NUTS so it only made more sense to me to just tote the damn crap around.

I’m glad we’ve got our two new characters finally, they’ve been poking around in my head for ages…if I think about I’ll try to dig up some OLD (early Book One) pictures of Mark and Pat…they’ve changed quite a bit, but not as much as you’d think.

Enjoy the comic and expect Fridays to look even better.

-Peace

ABOUT THE SHIRT: If you’re interested I’d be willing to look into making shirts that will allow you to proclaim yourself the ‘King of No Pants’…but only if a few of you would be interested. I’ve got some other ‘Merch’ things to talk about, but that can wait for Wednesday. But I could make the shirt a donation incentive or something…you know…donate $15 to keep your favorite comic-artist fed and you’d get a shirt. What do you think? Email me or hit me up on the shout box./ABOUT THE SHIRT

I should say that I’m ecstatic with this whole comic…I think that this may illustrate what makes Mark ‘Mark’ better than all the words in the English language…his whole room and house is totally wired. TOTALLY. No, he’s not rich, he’s just a very talented scavenger…he finds all sorts of old, busted, parts and rebuilds them. In fact all the little monitors in his house are dumpster riches. I think I should mention the various little doodads and toys in Marks Room (and on his person):

The Bug-Lookin doll in Panel One is from Star-Slip Crisis, it’s a Jinxlet plushie.

The massive freakin rock monster is Paddington Rumble Bottom (the third), who’s from Dreamland Chronicles.

Both of which are on my ‘must read’ list of web comics…but I don’t link them. Ask me to explain my logic someday when this post isn’t running so long.

The poster in the center of the first and second panel is from one of my other stories called ‘Saviors’ which has been mentioned several times in the comic as well as pictured from time to time. In the context of the comic ‘Saviors’ is a popular TV show that Tom (and by proxy the others) watch, I’ll rarely go into detail (I’d like to do something with it eventually) but it’s a story of Angels, Demons and it’s nothing like Hunter…It’s very gritty and realistic (I know, angels and realistic don’t go hand in hand).

Then he’s go a ‘Hang in There Baby’ poster. You know, the cat hanging from the tree? That one.

Finally he’s got a RIAA poster…you’ve probably seen it:

It’s really more Ironic than anything else…He’s a hell of a little hacker and his computers are probably chock full of warez and other programs that he shouldn’t have…I just thought that the picture fit. It’s so full of ‘bull shit’ I’m surprised it doesn’t stink up the boy’s room.

That’s why Mark has it…it makes him laugh (as it does me). Mark lives with his Mother, Father, and two little siblings (Sister and Brother). He’s been hard pressed to convince his parents to let him rig the house the way he has…but he finally won out. The house has a semi-intelligent computer program running the show…it’s not quite AI but it’s damned smart.

Mark is a Dork’s Dork…he’s got a pair of ‘Don’t Panic’ Boxers for gods sake. If you don’t know where ‘Don’t Panic’ comes from…SHAME ON YOU!! It’s from ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’. I’m fairly certain I’ve referenced that book before, but I can’t remember when…but it’s easily one of my favorite books…ever.

He’s also got a little crush on Hana. Which makes for some awkward moments…which is always nice.

FINALLY!! His shirt, it’s my own design, it proclaims him ‘KING OF NO PANTS!’…he tends to…lose his pants on a regular basis. Not in a sexual way mind you, but in a simple ‘Shit…I was JUST wearing them…’ capacity. If you’re interested I’d be willing to look into making a few shirts like this. Maybe donation incentives? Donate $15 and you get a shirt (or…you know…pay $15 for it). It’s just something goofy I came up with when I was doing sketches of the character. I always knew he’d tend to lose his pants…but the shirt kind of screams ‘I don’t care’.

I think that’s about it for this comic…Be here on Wednesday for more ‘Mark’ action…also, Tom and Pat. Which will make the group whole again! Well…almost.

-Peace