11/01/2015
Thus begins the longest night of our tale. What will happen to Bone China and Delilah? And what will happen if they get caught?
On a slightly happier note, tomorrow marks the seventh year anniversary of the SCAPULA webcomic. On November 2nd, 2008, Scapula made the leap from a handful of zines and ‘test comics’ to brave the waters of the internet; during that time I’ve come to know some truly great readers (and some interesting trolls) who have made every post worth it. While this year’s end will be the finale of the SCAPULA webcomic, it’s been seven years of fun and I’m truly honored to have had you all along for the ride (and if you’re a newbie, go dig through the Archives and then come back and read my nostalgic rambling).
Seeing as you killed Harkin, all bets are off! So I am gonna go ahead and predict one of these two girls are gonna die by the end of this. or, if nothing else, someone is gonna die tonight. Great comic as always man, I always look forward to your colored pages, they are such a treat!
A betting pool, eh? Well, although I can’t condone gambling amongst readers…I sure as hell wont stop you. Whozzit gunna be, folks? Place ya bets, place ya bets!
Glad you enjoy the color pages…just don’t expect anything cheery or psychedelic for a little while.
This has been a great run. I will be looking forward to anything you come up with in the future. Presenting insane situations and characters that feel at the same time realistic and layered is not an easy feat and Scapula did exactly that.
Thank you very much for your support, and rest assured I will be posting news on what comes afterwards when the time comes. It’s also very flattering to know that readers care about these characters, so don’t expect this to be the absolute end of the line!
My only regret for the comic is I didn’t start reading it sooner. I look forward to future ventures.
So, isolated location check. Meeting in the dark, probably a good idea for ducking surveillance. Clothing could be more nondescript, but go with what you have. To the surprise of a lot of people, black sticks out in a crowd and IN THE DARK since it makes you a looming visual blot and is a jarring color. Better options: deep greens, dull greys, middling browns, or blues, depending what is surrounding you. Low ground meeting place is bad: cuts line of sight sure, but it also prevents you locating any pursuers in return. Better to have a cluttered high point you can hide in with open area surrounding it. Always assume those in pursuit have better intelligence gathering abilities, better networks, and are operating off of more accurate information and always leave yourself a quick exit or a good place to hide.
No worries; I sort of expect there will be a number of people who will only discover this webcomic after it ends, but that’s no problem. As long as people enjoy the work it doesn’t matter if they read it now or after my death (which should only be a few weeks away, but why put it off?).
I’ve heard that dark blue is actually much better to wear than black for stealth, and that the traditional ‘ninja catsuit’ was never very practical (mostly because people say true ninjas never wore them; they were costumes designed for plays).
The only helpful advice I’ve previously seen on stealth (before your write-up, of course) is “How Not To Be Seen”, courtesy of Monty Python. Don’t ever stand up from your hiding place (you’ll get shot) or choose a very obvious spot to hide behind (you’ll get blown up).
From what I was taught, ‘true’ ninjas were usually dressed more like peddlers and traveling monks than anything and they certainly didn’t have a uniform. On commenting about ninjas you were never going to hear of one racing up walls or vanishing into shadows in broad daylight, but you would probably hear many curse words and the occasional comment of ‘Why did that farmer just shank that random guy in the market and then run away really fast?’. The ninja suit was made for drama so people (being dumb, apparently) could pick out who was the ninja in a play and also so the actor didn’t get embarrassed playing the roll of what was basically social dog feces in public. This did lead to actual ninja occasionally dressing in the costume because people expected actors to be hanging around theaters, so nobody looked twice at the ‘ninja actor’ wandering around the crowd. So called ‘ninjutsu’ was really just various schools of karate, weapons fighting, being patient enough to wait for an opportunity, and ‘blending into a crowd for dummies’. They were pretty creative at times though (using rakes for ladders and subverting social norms in a tight society like japan took some serious thinking….. I’ve never climbed a wall using a rake!).
What camo works best is entirely dependent on location. Forest camo is useless in a city (it’s mottled, and few places in a city are), but a single-color jogging suit is not much better in the woods (even if it’s a grey or blue in the dark, you’re still an obvious humanoid blob of solid color). The rule is the 5 S’s: Shape (human forms stick out, so stand against things that blur your outline or hide among things not human shaped with some negative space, and for crying out loud don’t stand at attention!), Shadow (position yourself so your shadow is bled into other shadows or so you aren’t casting one at all), Silhouette (also known as ‘sticking out’ which is what blending into your background is all about in the first place…. it doesn’t matter if you’ve contorted yourself into a pretzel if you stand out as a pretzel-shaped oddity, so camo up and make sure you don’t put yourself in a position where you have only negative space around you), Shine (reflective surfaces = no-no. Rub ash or dirt on anything reflective, don’t carry glass or polished metal if you can help it, sheathe or holster weapons where you can, and on a related note exercise trigger discipline, or in other words take your finger off the trigger, of laser sight equipped weapons when you aren’t aiming, or otherwise shut off the laser), and Sound (don’t make any if you can help it, avoid out of place noises, etc). Of course you can apply these anywhere. In a place where talking on a phone, walking calmly in proper posture, staying in lit spaces, wearing jewellery and shiny shoes, and being dressed in a snazzy suit are the norm, do those things.
Ahhhhh…..a veritable cornucopia of knowledge! Lordy Lord, I’ve missed these types of comments!
Remember, kiddies: the best way for a ninja to blend in is to wear no pants and color bandanas and elbow/knee pads (it helps a tad if you’re an anthropomorphic reptile).
Gah, why’d you have to go and remind me the comic’s ending? Now I have to go talk myself into happy delusions all over again! Seriously though, it’s been a great one and I’m glad to have read it. The characters are interesting, the writing is solid, the humor’s classic and the end result has been one of the most worthwhile things on the web for me. If people still wrote actual comics with half the care I’d still be buying them!
Thank you very much for the support and write-ups; seriously, the great compliment I get is when people care about the characters and stories, and I hope that will always be the case with Scapula.
Happy to have expanded the ‘verse a bit! Truth be told, I have enjoyed both Scapula and your original Dadahyena work immensely and re-reading your archives helped me get through some rough times, especially since your comments section is one of literally four places I can still find any writing done by Jenn.
Besides, it’s easy to enjoy a guy’s work when he’s as nutty as you are and his heart is full of comic greats and bad horror and kaiju flicks!