Issue 2 - Party Like It's 198X - Page 5 - Lord Hreigh

[Adam Dravian]

We considered using Klingon for the alien language, since the original Klingon dictionary was published in the mid-80s, but decided against it. We also considered using the language invented for Quest For Fire, but that was too limited. (By the way, I hadn't seen Quest For Fire until last week. It was awesome.)

I had written an alternate version of this scene in which Lord Hreigh got his face sliced off instead of getting kicked into the pipe that impales his guts. Then the bounty hunters would have had trouble getting their little device to scan his sliced-off face in order to make a proper ID. However, at that point I only knew Lord Hreigh was some kind of "mutant alien" and I was picturing him having more of a human face. The idea doesn't work so well with him as a kind of dragon/triceratops/human hybrid. But that's fine, because it would've caused the scene to go on longer and we've got a whole lot of stuff to try and fit into this issue.

[Jessica Safron]

My favorite thing about this page is that I somehow managed to (unintentionally) make the background in panel three look like an obvious matte painting. Probably something to do with the low contrast; needs darker shadows and the light sources look oddly dim. Whatever. Better than the effects in Metal Storm, right?

[Ghoul]

Is the name Hreigh from anything in particular?

[Adam Dravian]

I actually don't remember how I came up with Hreigh.

[Jessica Safron]

That'll probably bother me forever that you can't remember where you got that name. Let's just change it.

By the way, my real favorite thing about this page is the pint-sized bounty hunter. I'd love to see action figures of these two someday. Along with pretty much every other character in the comic, of course.

[Rijst]

Poor Hreigh, first his mates were shot down, then he gets round-house kicked in the face and now he's decapitated. He also seems to have stitches in his neck, he's had a tough, tough life..

I'd like a pint-sized bounty hunter pint glass actually..

[Adam Dravian]

Nah, don't feel bad for Lord Hreigh. The dude had it pretty good for awhile before our bounty hunters came along and fucked up his day.

[Rijst]

At least they could've let him finish home improvement project, the place is a mess!

Although I guess these things always take forever. Was the bounty issued by the plumber for not paying him?

[Adam Dravian]

Why fix the place up when Lord Hreigh could make a killing by charging bands to film post-apocalyptic music videos there? Those were pretty hot in the '80s.

Actually, when I wrote the script all I said was that the bounty hunters were killing mutants in some kind of wasteland setting. Jessica's the one who decided to add the vehicle chase and create a skull-entranced lair leading to an ancient spaceship that had long-ago crashed into the side of a mountain. And now that I think about it, that alteration led to us making a pretty significant change to the comic that I can't talk about yet.

[Rijst]

So the story lines are not all set yet?

[Adam Dravian]

I have a big long detailed synopsis of the whole plot (and a bunch of ideas for a sequel, if we decide to continue it after this original story arc is complete in four years or so). However, it's not set in stone. So every once in awhile, if Jessica or I come up with a new idea or a change that we think makes the comic better, then we'll implement it. Then we read-through the synopsis with the change in mind and figure out all the trickle-down effects. So the story is mostly set, but it's malleable. The core components of the story has remained pretty static, however.