Hi! I said this’d be coming eventually, haha, but I’ll be real, this is less commentary and more me just losing my mind going “and THIS and THIS and also THIS”, lmao, but here you go regardless!
Before I mention anything else, I really cannot ever thank you enough for this work. You were the very first artist to reach out to me about drawing fan art, which left me absolutely giddy with excitement at just the THOUGHT of both one, fan art for MY fic, and two, fan art from YOU of all people, because your art is so impossibly gorgeous and detailed. That you then went on to deliver not just one single piece, but SIX whole PAGES of a comic that puts professional comics to SHAME just - Cary, it blows my mind in every conceivable way. Not even in my wildest fandom dreams would I have ever predicted I’d be lucky enough to receive a gift like this: THANK YOU.
Now!! Onto the comic itself!…Oh god where to begin okay, PAGE ONE. I’m realizing now that commentary is actually going to be very difficult, because mostly I just want to go HHRRRRGHGH BEAUTIFUL AAAUUUGH HEARTBREAKING, lmao. Everything is drawn so crisply, the shading and screentones are absolutely Next Level, the lineart is FLAWLESS, I’m so flabbergasted everytime I look at this, like. HOW.
But anyway page one!!! Right away what a killer opening to the comic, to focus in instantly on Rumi. I love your attention to detail on including the clawmarks on her shoulder and the blood on her temple and her little tiny fangs! Exactly as I pictured them! Even in this first panel, I love that you can see the difference too between Rumi’s eyes, that one has the more demon-y slit vs the other human one. There’s this sense of raw panic and desperation already settling into Rumi’s gaze, her hand held open, the immediate attempt at pleading, at explaining, only to cut to the next panel of Rumi staring up at Mira in fear. God, the framing of this too, of not showing us Mira’s face but instead having her legs frame Rumi like they’re trapping her, of Rumi being desperately backed against the wall and looking up in fear. I love Rumi’s mouth being open in disbelief, I love how she just looks so utterly scared, and I love that even though we can’t see Mira, we can just feel the sheer confidence and determination in her stance. That right now, Mira has the power, and she knows it, and she’ll point her gok-do in a moment but she’s giving instructions to Zoey, and Rumi has to look up at her and realize “Oh. Mira’s not going to listen to me is she”
And then to page 2, where you put us, the viewers, on the other end of Mira’s gok-do just like Rumi is (and WHAT a use of perspective, wowowow, I’m not an artist but even I know that is not easy to pull off). Mira’s face is unwavering; she’s so deadset on finding Rumi, and this demon is just in her way, and Mira’s angry at it but also confident in her ability to take it down; she just also needs answers. Mira’s cold expression is also just. such a heartbreaking contrast to the pain in Rumi’s own. You captured Rumi’s despair so well here, it’s gutwrenching. I see the clawed hand coming into play now that wasn’t there in page 1, she’s got those fangs and that demon eye a little more prominent now, and she’s so hurt and scared. Paired with the speech bubbles and the layout of her being at the end of Mira’s blade, it just - MAXIMUM DAMAGE. GOOD JOB.
Page 3 is just killer action, I cannot believe how dynamically you captured the fight and movements of the characters. The action lines are so clear and fluid, they sell the fast-paced nature of the scene and really give us this sense of how frantic Rumi is, trying to dodge these attacks. Mira and Zoey both have these expressions of anger and focus, and their arms are outstretched as they wield their weapons; and then on the flipside, you don’t have Rumi’s arms up at all, because Rumi’s not fighting back, she’s just dodging and dodging. And then the close-ups at the bottom, to show us not just Zoey’s and Mira’s anger but the full force of their hatred, because this demon insists on trying to trick them, insists on wearing their lover’s face, insists on this disguise that’s clearly meant to hurt them, to be cruel. And it’s a good thing Mira and Zoey know better, that they know it’s just another demon they have to take down, one they’re pissed at and ready to be done with. Their expressions are downright harrowing here, so insanely well-done.
God, and then page 4. The way you curve the edges of the scene to give us a more detailed, horrifying look at what Mira’s done, and the sheer force behind her blow. I love the way you cracked the actual wall itself, because of course, if Mira’s blow was hard enough to spear Rumi directly and pin her into the wall, it’s hard enough to leave massive cracks. Again, this is just so fluid and dynamic, and Mira’s expression is phenomenal and AGGGHHH. And then the close-up, the close-up is just. You captured the terror and shock in Rumi’s eyes so well, the disbelief at what’s just happened, her mind trying to catch up to her body because this can’t be happening, can it? Also, the detail of Rumi having the cut on her cheek from Zoey’s shin-kal!! I love that you can see it in page 3 and more detailed here.
Page 5. This page. You not showing us Rumi’s full expression at all on this page just. It’s such a clever move, to keep us focused on the gravity of what’s just happened without letting us see how Rumi feels about it yet. The first panel feels so disturbingly still in comparison to the dynamic movement and action of the previous pages. There’s this sense of weighted tension, the rubber band being pulled tight right before it snaps. Rumi looks so forlorn and resigned just in her body language alone; her gentle clutching of the gok-do’s blade and the way her head falls just. UGH. And then Mira’s casual expression of “okay that’s done let’s go” is such a great contrast to Zoey’s eyes narrowed in confusion as she puzzles out that something’s not right; then Zoey’s eyes widening in disbelief, because wait, this doesn’t make sense, this can’t be real, Zoey has to ask though. Putting the “why isn’t it disappearing?” bubble next to Rumi’s tragically still body, her head and hair hanging limply against this backdrop of cracked rubble behind her. (And I see the emphasis on “it” by the way) I actually. don’t think I can express my thoughts on this last panel of Rumi, I really can’t pin down what exactly about it has me gripped so tightly in horror, but just like. IT’S GOOD. REALLY GOOD.
And the final page. Zoey’s and Mira’s expressions mirror their subsequent reactions perfectly: Zoey’s already moved on to horror and denial, versus Mira’s quiet “wait. no. no” realization. Your expression work throughout this whole comic has me absolutely floored, I truly don’t know how you capture these emotions so well. I love that this page is segmented a little more, it helps give the dialogue that extra oomf - the “why isn’t she disappearing?” in its own section is such a fantastic design choice, I’m obsessed.
These last three panels are where I lose it every time though. I want to figure out where you learned to read minds (and across such a distance) because this, these three panels of Rumi: this is exactly how I imagined her. From the exhaustion and her head hanging, to her managing against all odds to lift her face up just enough so she can look at them and smile, to her face falling once more and her eyes going dim (the “…” speech bubble is MEAN), to the “…I love you.” as text only on a black background. I think my favorite panel of the whole comic is the middle one of Rumi smiling. The way she’s looking at Mira and Zoey so softly, so gently, the way her smile is lopsided with the tiny fang peeking out exactly as I described and pictured, like. I’m stunned.
The way you took this scene and adapted it, made it flow into six pages of manga with art so good that if I saw it on a store’s shelf, I’d buy the volume instantly; I’m gonna keep repeating myself over and over again, but I’m blown away in every sense of the phrase. I cannot believe you’ve never done a comic before either, that is INSANE to me. I think I could’ve paid thousands of dollars to commission a professional for this, and still not have gotten something with half the quality of what you created here. I cannot believe you drew this for something I wrote, and I’m so humbled and in awe by it.
Cary, thank you. This is something I’m going to treasure for many, many years. I’m humbled by it every time I see it, and I’m just always and will forever be honored that you chose to draw this for me and my writing. Thank you.
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