The Daily Davis

Every once in a while, I like to post a work in progress image to show you guys snippets of the process as I move through my pages.

Panel from the comic that is not quite dead yet. Thought you might find this interesting.

A panel I’ve been working on today. Mara looks so tough.

Comics are coming along well, hoping to post the next story in the coming months.

Working on the new version of the website till the wee hours of the morn’, I decided to take a screenshot of the current working version of the main page.

Please remember that pages for the episodes will be custom-fit to the content of that episode. Think of the main page as more of a DVD-menu.

Opinions and suggestions are always welcome. Is it a little plain, or is less more in this case?

Coming together finally. So here is a panel.

That’s it, Dash. You tell them.

Okay, everyone is on-board. Need to ink this, as well as get back to working on the rest of Shmoofyland Robot Rampage. Thoughts are appreciated.

Unfinished sketch of part of the new image for the redesigned Cosmic Dash website. As you can see, Dorian and Blu are missing for now. This will be fixed.

Something that has always confounded me about myself. I am not in any sense religious, at all, and yet, I love Paladins.

It’s a quandary.

As far as it goes in World of Warcraft (the image is of my paladin, Aluia, before the Argent Coliseum was finished), it’s probably a gameplay thing. That being said, I think it goes even deeper then that.

While the paladin is typically associated with the concept of Lawful Good, and championing a deity, I see them as simply the quintessential defender. The paladin has always been, in my interpretation, the first and fiercest in the battle, drawing the fire to defend his or her charge. While many paladin champion a deity, I think that the paladin’s strength is better represented in their convictions. To me, the concept of a paladin is that as long as one has belief in their cause, and seeks to ensure the safety of their charge, they are a paladin in every sense.

This is, of course my own interpretation, and your mileage may vary, but I think I have made a good point.

So, why did I feel like writing about this? Well, based on my concept of a paladin, I came to the realization recently that all of my projects feature a character who I refer to as The Paladin. It seems that in much of my work, The Paladin is often the lead character.

In Cosmic Dash, I would say that Dash, clearly, is the paladin. He is the key character, and takes it upon himself (though it is more often thrust upon him) to defend his charges, his coworkers. Dash’s ideals are very much based on his interpretation of balance, and what is right. Ultimately I hope to explore what those beliefs are. One of Dash’s strengths is his devotion to his friends, and I hope that I communicate that as I continue the comic. As he defends them, constantly, he would have to be particularly devoted to them.

I of course I have other projects and characters who fit this mold, but that is a discussion for another time, when those projects take on a life of their own. That being said, I believe every character in my works has the potential to be a paladin for their perceived good.

Yes, I just implied a paladin could potentially do evil, from someone’s perspective.

I suppose an example is needed. Fortunately for those of us who write such horribly geeky things, Star Wars once again provides the answers we need.

I would like to focus on two characters who I consider paladins. Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader.

Luke Skywalker, you are probably thinking, makes sense. As a jedi, he has a belief in the force, and maintains his ideals. Naturally, in The Empire Strikes back, he puts his friends before his own safety, heading into an obvious trap to defend them.

The interesting one here, however is Darth Vader, a kind of dark paladin. He definitely has the look, huge, imposing, armored. But what of motivation and defending. For this we have to dip into the prequel trilogy, particularly, Revenge of the Sith.

This, of course, is a subject for another time.