Abt: Sorry for a sad Christmas page T_T - I still hope yours will be happy!
Mirroring what happened to Watchman & Clockwork in HA #1, another sidekick loses her mentor here. I created these two German superheroes especially for this chapter. Here are excerpts from my character descriptions:
Kaleidoskop (sr.): One of the first German superheroes to appear after WWII, he is a regular, if well trained, human being called Karl Leitner. The gadgets in his kevlar-padded suit give him power over light (there are light collectors on his forehead and chest): He can shoot beams out of the projectors on his forearms, and he can manipulate the intensity of the rays. The collectors, projectors and the rays themselves resemble kaleidoscopes.
Kaleidoskop (jr.) has recently become the first Kaleidoskop's sidekick. (To avoid confusion, they will refer to each other as “senior” and “junior”, or “No. 1” and “No. 2”.) She is a 21-year old social worker whose parents immigrated from Turkey to Germany. She can also manipulate light, but doesn't need any gadgets to do it. She also has other “common” superhuman powers, like flight, invulnerabilty and super-strength, but each of these aren't too well developed yet. For her design, I used the colors of the German flag: black/red/gold.
Seb: Last update before the holidays sets in, so Merry Christmanukkwanza to all!
You know, I think this job does a perfect job at representing what it was supposed to: Being awkwardly thrust into suddenly experiencing someone else's grief for someone we didn't personally know.
Al: First off, I agree with what you're saying. But I *also* agree with what Sebastian replied. Getting to know someone is a prerequisite for feeling for them. But that doesn't mean that every death you're portraying in fiction means you have to get to know the character in question. What Hero has managed to convey excellently (IMHO) is the sorrow the 2nd Kaleidoskop feels for her mentor, and that was what I had hoped this page would achieve when I wrote the script.
Also, there has been a bit of controversy over Watchman's death in chapter 1 already, and I feel this discussion is an extension of it. I have made many of my points back then already, as well as [url=http://www.drunkduck.com/community/view_topic.php?tid=54150&cid=4698&comic_id=37740]in the forums[/url].
The relevant point for this story is: The HA team is going into a mission where a hero they don't know has died. I happily acknowledge that this death would have had more emotional impact if you knew the character. It's just not the main focus of this story. To me, it has to do with realism: As Seb said, you don't know every person in the world, yet a lot of them die every day. In an abstract sense, it's the circumstances of death which make you sad. You're not sad when an old person dies a natural death in a faraway country. But I bet you're (more or less) sad about the fact that children die of poverty in faraway countries. And you'd be sad if some superhero would get beaten to death by crazy meta fascists. That's what's expressed here.
@Al: Look, I don't know what Abt is planning to do with this, but there's been a lot of complaining about deaths that doesn't pack quite the impact you want. If I mourned over every death that happened in the world, I'd never have a dry eye, but that's just nature. The important thing is that Kaleidoskop jr feels the sorrow, not the readers. At least that's what I think Abt is aiming for. To us, Kaleidoskop Sr is collateral damage. Tragic, but not gut-wrenching.
I agree on that last part. Some of the best funeral issues takes it one step further even, with the heroes wearing black tuxes as standard. I tend to remember a time where Superman wore a black shield under his normal red S to mourn for a disaster that had happened. Then there is the fact that some heroes are from different cultures, which differ in our view of what is respectful or not, Wonder Woman comes to mind. On Krypton in current continuity, the colour of mourning is white if I remember correctly.
I think what Lem was trying to say is that it would have been a lot more powerful if we had met the senior Kaleido and THEN killed him. Every death is tragic, but there are ways to make it more effective and gut-wrenching for the reader.
I always thought superheroes should have black versions of their costumes for funerals--Superman at someone's funeral looks at the best silly, at the worst, disrespectful, BTW.
Lem: I'm not blaming you for not empathizing with him (as much as you can empathize with a dead person), but thinking that a brutal death is a bad thing doesn't require a lot of empathy :P
You know I know I'm supposed to think that it's a bad thing someone died, but as I had no chance to build an emotional relation to him, I don't care...
Freegurt at 10:42PM, Nov. 17, 2012
I laughed.
irrevenant at 1:16AM, May 23, 2012
You know, I think this job does a perfect job at representing what it was supposed to: Being awkwardly thrust into suddenly experiencing someone else's grief for someone we didn't personally know.
Abt_Nihil at 3:07PM, Dec. 26, 2010
Al: First off, I agree with what you're saying. But I *also* agree with what Sebastian replied. Getting to know someone is a prerequisite for feeling for them. But that doesn't mean that every death you're portraying in fiction means you have to get to know the character in question. What Hero has managed to convey excellently (IMHO) is the sorrow the 2nd Kaleidoskop feels for her mentor, and that was what I had hoped this page would achieve when I wrote the script. Also, there has been a bit of controversy over Watchman's death in chapter 1 already, and I feel this discussion is an extension of it. I have made many of my points back then already, as well as [url=http://www.drunkduck.com/community/view_topic.php?tid=54150&cid=4698&comic_id=37740]in the forums[/url]. The relevant point for this story is: The HA team is going into a mission where a hero they don't know has died. I happily acknowledge that this death would have had more emotional impact if you knew the character. It's just not the main focus of this story. To me, it has to do with realism: As Seb said, you don't know every person in the world, yet a lot of them die every day. In an abstract sense, it's the circumstances of death which make you sad. You're not sad when an old person dies a natural death in a faraway country. But I bet you're (more or less) sad about the fact that children die of poverty in faraway countries. And you'd be sad if some superhero would get beaten to death by crazy meta fascists. That's what's expressed here.
Sebastian_Sandberg at 5:52AM, Dec. 26, 2010
@Al: ... Also, what funeral are you complaining about? We haven't moved an inch from the previous scene.
Sebastian_Sandberg at 5:42AM, Dec. 26, 2010
@Al: Look, I don't know what Abt is planning to do with this, but there's been a lot of complaining about deaths that doesn't pack quite the impact you want. If I mourned over every death that happened in the world, I'd never have a dry eye, but that's just nature. The important thing is that Kaleidoskop jr feels the sorrow, not the readers. At least that's what I think Abt is aiming for. To us, Kaleidoskop Sr is collateral damage. Tragic, but not gut-wrenching. I agree on that last part. Some of the best funeral issues takes it one step further even, with the heroes wearing black tuxes as standard. I tend to remember a time where Superman wore a black shield under his normal red S to mourn for a disaster that had happened. Then there is the fact that some heroes are from different cultures, which differ in our view of what is respectful or not, Wonder Woman comes to mind. On Krypton in current continuity, the colour of mourning is white if I remember correctly.
alschroeder at 5:11AM, Dec. 26, 2010
I think what Lem was trying to say is that it would have been a lot more powerful if we had met the senior Kaleido and THEN killed him. Every death is tragic, but there are ways to make it more effective and gut-wrenching for the reader. I always thought superheroes should have black versions of their costumes for funerals--Superman at someone's funeral looks at the best silly, at the worst, disrespectful, BTW.
DAJB at 1:09AM, Dec. 24, 2010
Happy Christmas to you, Mr Abt. And to all the other hard-working monks in the holy order of HA, obviously!
Hero at 7:19PM, Dec. 23, 2010
Que tragico.
ZananIV at 3:54PM, Dec. 23, 2010
ARGLE. Not Kaleidoskop, he had a cool design. But seriously, it is sad. Nice work on the page.
Abt_Nihil at 3:11PM, Dec. 23, 2010
Lem: I'm not blaming you for not empathizing with him (as much as you can empathize with a dead person), but thinking that a brutal death is a bad thing doesn't require a lot of empathy :P
AzuJOD at 2:23PM, Dec. 23, 2010
Poor Kaleidoskop... (both of them)
Lemniskate at 11:15AM, Dec. 23, 2010
You know I know I'm supposed to think that it's a bad thing someone died, but as I had no chance to build an emotional relation to him, I don't care...
Macattack at 9:51AM, Dec. 23, 2010
:( thirded
Wes_Nero123 at 9:41AM, Dec. 23, 2010
@Sux :( seconded
LuchaCoffee at 10:01PM, Dec. 22, 2010
:(