An Apple A Day... #75 and 76

Robot
Parts XXXIX and XL

 

Thus, Act Three, and with it, the story of Robot, has come to an end.

Act Three moved into production April 25, 2012 and progressed, steadily, until May 4, 2012. My original plan was to finish writing and roughing the comic by May 21st - a year after I began, but school work got the better of me and it had to put back on hold until July. July 10th, I began to write and draw again, eventually finishing on July 20th. Upon the completion of the rough story pages, I moved back into clean up, finishing that process August 30, 2012.

The conclusion of Robot leaves Apple and Edward in a weird spot.  Previous AAaD comics dealt with the trials and tribulations of romance, however, this is the first time I've played with the concept of mortality in any serious fashion. (Apple died and awful lot in the beginning but those deaths were always handled the same way as Kenny's in South Park - as a punchline.) Now that Edward has basically killed an entire city's worth of people, I'm left with only two options for moving forward. Option One is to just ignore it altogether and move onto another story with the characters having learned nothing from this experience. It would be in keeping with the general flow of AAaD so far, but then, why bother having the dramatic build up throughout the last half of Robot? If I were to ignore the outcome and consequences of the story, why didn't I just wrap this up with a hearty dose of deus ex machina around Part XX? It certainly would have allowed me to move on from this story sooner.

No. Everything about Robot was intentional (it's the major reason why it took so long to complete). It's ending sets up the circumstances for the stories to come. Therefore, I have no choice but to address the consequences and fallout of Edward's actions in the coming comics (aka Option Two). I can say, with certainty, that the next comics to come will be a return to weekly one-off's. They will act as an epilogue to Robot, however, they will not be grouped together as a story.

They will, however, lead us directly into Story #4.

Just a few notes to wrap up Robot:

• The loss of color in Edward's hair represents the fact that he is no longer under the influence of Zordon's psychosis. (However, it is important to note that he retains control of the Dragonzord.)


• Robot is dead. I don't want to cheapen his sacrifice by bringing him back to life.


• The gray shadows that slowly creep into Part XL serve two purposes. First, it helps convey just how dark the woods are at night in the area Robot called home. Second, and most importantly, they gradually shift the visual tone of the page so that it is more in keeping with the emotional tone of the story. Since Robot ends on a fairly somber note, I wanted Part XL to visually reflect that.

An Apple a Day... #73 and 74

Robot
Parts XXXVII and XXXVIII
  Some notes on Parts XXXVII and XXXVIII:

• Part XXXVII went through a few story restructures before it was finalized. Initially, Edward was supposed to get angry at Apple's death and blame the robot for his own actions. This avenue would have added a heftier page/part count to the story, which is something I didn't want to do. 


• I decided that Part XXXVII would be the proper time for Edward to fully snap out of his psychosis. By having the Dragonzord act on its own, it allowed me to subtly allude to the the coming reveal of the true villain of the story - which occurs in the last panel of Part XXXVIII.


• I decided early on in the production of this story that Robot was never going to be the true villain of the tale, instead shifting that role Edward. However, while checking out Power Rangers episodes for content reference, I began to see that Zordon always seemed to be more in control of events than he ever let on. This lead me to pontificate on whether or not he was as benign and helpless as the show's creators would have you believe. (It also was strange that he would entrust the total control of these gigantic, transforming, destructive robots to random teenagers that dont even have driver's licenses. Therefore, it stands to reason that someone as smart as Zordon would have a backdoor access to these machines.)

An Apple a Day... #71 and 72

Robot
Parts XXXV and XXXVI

  Some notes on Parts XXXV and XXXVI:

• When I began writing Robot, I didn't have any intentions of killing Apple. However, as the story progressed, and Edward became more unhinged, I figured it was a good way to try and snap him back to reality.
  


• Part XXXVI is the first time Apple has been mortally harmed since An Apple a Day... #18


• I feel like the blood splatter on Robot's face was an overall improvement to his character design.


• These two Parts in particular really punch up the drama for the story. Initially, I didn't want the tone of the story to get so heavy, but it didn't feel right to arbitrarily wrap things up without any consequence or meaning. Besides, this opens up an avenue for me to explore slightly deeper themes in the forthcoming stories.

An Apple a Day... #69 and 70

Robot
Parts XXXIII and XXXIV

  Some notes on Parts XXXIII and XXXIV:

• The growth scene in Part XXXIII was a bit of a challenge for me to portray within a single panel. The growth scenes in the Power Rangers show were elaborate affairs, complete with smoke, earthquakes, and general catastrophe. Apple, on the other hand, is being presented as the "peace negotiator" in this situation, therefore his growth scene shouldn't be destructive (besides, Edward had already proven quite adept at that). Therefore, I approached Apple's growth the same way I would approach it in animation: by keyframing the entire thing out, ending with Apple fully grown and facing off against the Dragonzord.


• Part XXXIV is really supposed to read at a very slow pace, picking up the tension again at the end panel. The fourth panel is supposed to be almost tranquil by juxtaposing the calm discussion/reprimand Apple and Edward are having against the crumbling, smoldering city in the background.

An Apple a Day... #67 and 68

Robot
Parts XXXI and XXXII
   Some notes on Parts XXXI and XXXII:

• By this point, Edward has clearly gone off the deep end, fulfilling his role as the main antagonist of the story.


• I really like the panel of the Dragonzord and Robot looking at each other in Part XXXI. It really helps bring a bit of calm to all the action that was happening over the course of the past few parts.


• By the time I got to Part XXXII, I had the end of the story planned and was at the point where I needed to start wrapping things up. Hence, the use of, my favorite literary tool, deus ex machina.


• Seriously, there is no reason whatsoever for Apple to assume Robot has a growth ray outside of "I just know you do." (Lazy writing sure, but it's not like I'm planning on winning any awards with this stuff.) Apple probably just saw some crummy Sci-Fi movie on tv and assumes all robots have growth rays.


• Lazy writing aside, the growth ray bit was a way for me to avoid introducing Rita Repulsa and further convoluting the character relationships already present up to this point.


• There's some real nice depictions of dead yogurt people here. One of my favorite things to do during the production of these two parts was finding ways to scatter the yogurty remains around the panels. My favorite is the one with his face smashed into the rubble in the foreground of the standoff panels.


• Part XXXII reenforces my belief that ANYONE who knew the Power Rangers in their personal lives (unbeknownst to them, of course) should had been able to figure out the Rangers' identities based on their, surprisingly, unmuffled voices and body language alone. Apple, is clearly a good, attentive friend (unlike everyone in Angel Grove).

An Apple a Day... #65 and 66

Robot
Parts XXIX and XXX

  Some notes on Parts XXIX and XXX:

• Part XXIX solidifies Edward as this story's main antagonist. (Clearly, the robot is not thrilled.)


• Part XXX features some of the last visual killing of yogurt people for the story.


• I really, really liked killing the yogurt people.


• The splash of red orange in Part XXX was thrown in so that the last panel would be easier to read (without it, the line work began to blend together).

An Apple a Day... #63 and 64

Robot
Parts XXVII and XXVIII
  Some notes on Parts XXVII and XXVIII:

• Since these two parts feature Apple's return, it was a logical place to begin Act III, The Consequences. Originally, they were the last two parts of Act II, but I felt that Act II was already running too long.


• Part XXVII is the first comic to not feature any color in quite some time (since AAAD... 18 I believe).


• It was incredibly fun killing the yogurt people in Part XXVIII. I'm not sure how this will play to District's content guidelines, so I hid most of the death in the explosions.


• The news anchor is a different banana from earlier. There's a bit of backstory that links the two bananas as the only news anchors in the area, who also happen to be twins. (I haven't explored that yet, however.)


• Apple's final line in Part XXVIII will most certainly have to be edited for the District release. I think that it sums up exactly what Apple is feeling at that moment, after seeing Edward making a huge mess of things.


• The fact that Apple could guess that the Green Ranger was Edward so quickly is more do to his voice, not his actions. I never understood why NO ONE knew who the Power Rangers were when they spoke to their friends when in costume. It's like, c'mon people, don't you know the sound of your friends' voices?