Can you believe this is Gennifer's tenth page as a Mysteries of the Arcana artist? She's doing a fantastic job and I'm looking forward to more.

I've recently been reading some classic webcomics. In many ways, I wish I had hopped on the bandwagon back then. I sometimes feel like, with the bar already set, you have to enter the field polished and prepared where those early webcomics, from 'Fans' to 'Its Walky' to 'El Goonish Shiv' had room to grow and develop.

Don't get me wrong, though. I am pleased as punch with my audience. You guys are fantastic. You're active, you comment, and you read every page. I couldn't ask for better.

So, thank you. Without you, this comic wouldn't be anything. It takes two groups of people to make a webcomic: the creators and the readers. I need you much more than you guys need me. :)

Fairportfan (Guest) (2011-09-22)


Okay; it's not just here, it's all over movies, comics, etc.

The horrors were, before they did what they did. basically human, yes.

And the truck looks mostly like a truck in our world.

But why would people in another world entirely have developed a set of driving controls that Theresa could use? I mean, what we have is not the most efficient way of doing things - it's just what has evolved over time.

But that's not the most annoying thing that some authors do - they create a completely alien world, where the people, no matter how human they are, are not gonna be speaking English ...

And then the characters make English-based word play.

An example i just hit yesterday: A somewhat important family in a feudal society is named "Mindrear".

Someone from a house they're not quite feuding with calls one of them "Mind rear".

English play on words - made by someone who could not possibly be speaking English.

JD (Guest) (2011-09-23)


According to the rules of the Stargate universe, everyone on every planet everywhere speaks English, along with a sprinkling of their own native language for spice.

Gillsing (Guest) (2011-09-24)


If this comic had been hard sci-fi with no mysticism or such, I would have agreed with Fairportfan. But as it seems to be a lot more 'playful', I don't really see a point in getting upset or annoyed at such things. Granted, there are some facets of the comic that are a lot more serious, such as Theresa's background, but that doesn't mean that every story has to be dead serious.I'm sure that there might be some kind of explanation for all the similarities between the horrors-to-be and an American 50s society, such as horrors copying humans or the other way around. But I don't really need one.

JD (Guest) (2011-09-24)


And at the end Theresa drops to her knees in the sand and utters "no".  Then pan and we see a broken and tilted Statue of Liberty...

J Gray (2011-09-24)

Important points were made. From a metatextual sense, the truth is having the truck be something Theresa can drive is just easier. It makes for good story. Moreover, they are presented to people from this universe, specifically to people from a mostly western society. The symbolism of the tarot makes more sense when given context. The Tower is about tearing down the old to build the new. The transition from the 50s to the 60s was, in my mind, a perfect "Tower" moment.

The whole 'everyone speaks English' thing always bugs me, too. So, let me say this. While it hasn't been explained yet, only two of the characters that have been introduced in Mysteries of the Arcana have actually been speaking English: Kludge and Theresa. Everyone else is speaking their native language. Chrys? She doesn't actually HAVE a native language.


James Smith (Guest) (2011-09-25)


It's a very common plot device in many media, that everyone speaks the same language despite being an alien creature. Doctor Who's excuse is the Tardis translates for them.

Ayshara (Guest) (2011-09-25)


So how does she make herself understood to Theresa? Her language would be a mixture of other languages and even with magic, that's not easy to use a blanket translator spell on (even if there is such a thing).

Fairportfan (Guest) (2011-09-26)


Oooo - goody for me; i stirred up a bucket of worms. (Speaking of mixed metaphors).

The specific example years ago that started me off on this thought was a book set so far in the future that Earth is virtually forgotten. Galactic Customs Agents work for an agency known by the abbreviation TCC; they are referred to as "Teasers".

The protagonist is a smuggler.

Her ship is named "Firecat".

James Smith (Guest) (2011-09-27)


I just have to say this about the current page.

Skeleton: "Geez, lady, you thrown me down like I some kinda 'dead beat'."

(If anyone laughs, there might be something wrong with both you and me.)

Uhl (Guest) (2011-09-27)


Teresa, for crying out loud, did you think a truck abandoned for years if not decades would still run? Granted the "horrors" may have once been human, but none of them actually maintain anything anymore. They just run around quoting "yuppie" phrases while attacking anything that moves.