If you missed Part One, feel free to go back and read up! We last saw Shaka in October, putting on the crown of the Zulu and proclaiming himself Chief of Chiefs.
For the month of January, we'll be finishing this story up. Today's page introduces two new characters who we'll be seeing a lot of this month. Guess what family they're part of?
They're native Brits now, this cursed family. Which makes me a little nervous. There are at least two Brits reading this comic that I know about, and I don't want to have these guys come off as stereotypical--which is difficult to do when writing Brits in the 1800s. Well, at least if you grew up watching Monty Python like I did. If you can find the skit of them fighting the Zulus, definitely watch it. It's hilarious.
Anyway, the British in the 1800s were colonizing (or, rather, "colonising") South Africa and the rest of the world like mad--which made it easy for this Cursed Family to travel all over the world looking for the 4K Spirits. And we've already seen a member of the Destroyer Cult living as a British Native: Marianne de Chapillion, who we last saw waaaay back in Casanova/Starchild Part 2, from July of last year. She's the one who poisoned poor Casanova. What a bitch.
I'll let you in on a little secret: the guy in panel four is her grandson. But we don't find that out for another couple of pages, so you keep that to yourself. We don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone else reading. ;)
EDIT: The nice people over at Secret Identity Podcast did an interview with me that they've posted here: http://www.secretidentitypodcast.com/interviews.html
Just so you know: I'm not normally that brusque-sounding. Sometimes I type that way, though. And I was pretty shameless in plugging some of you guys here. ;)
the first three panels on this page are the reason i LOVE your work, man. just when i think i've got you nailed, you do something like that and blow me away. and then, of course, there are things like the handle on the coffee cup. familiar? hmmm....
DAJB: Thanks, man! If you see anything glaringly wrong, don't hesitate to point it out.
Harry: Thanks, bro! That's real nice. And thanks to everyone else who like today's page.
As for the art and colors: I found an old inking book I haven't read in years, and spent the last month or so re-reading it. It's definitely having an impact on the art, hopefully for the better. As for the colors, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. Publishing in PNG format certainly is helping. Trying to color it for JPG compression was just confusing me, I think.
You seem to be using a simpler, more relaxed style this time.
