Still working out the look for the comic going forward. I decided that, even though it saves a lot of time, I really dislike the comics where I used computer-generated backgrounds in the final art. They’re good for working out interesting perspective and the like, but it always comes across as disjointed in the final product.
I also hate overly-complicated shading as I don’t think it lends itself well to my more animation cell inking style which I love.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it has taken me close to two decades of drawing this comic to get to the point where I finally think I understand my preferred way to draw it.
I can’t promise that the comic going forward will be any less confusing, because I’m still the one writing down what the characters tell me to, but I will try to keep the storyline a little more reined in once we begin the next arc.
Anyway, we’ve still got a lot of threads to tie up in the coming weeks, but thank you all for your support over the years, and I hope y’all stick around for the next few decades of this ride!
So they are all dead? That’s weird, TBH.
And I agree: you’ve experimented with lots of different styles and probably reached your kind of “perfection”. That’s good, other artists barely seem to evolve.
“Ghostbusters” reference?
Oh yeah.
They’re dead…-ish so yeah, who you gonna call?
Beetlejuice?
He-Man.
OK, I’m lost. Who is Jen?
Not sure why that question is showing up on today’s comic – I mean, she’s in it, but not mentioned by that name.
Jen is one half of the primary protagonist of the comic – her other half was named Bree.
Jen was a grey sider who was dating Brian and in a roleplaying game he was DMing – she left the game because she was leaving town, and apparently (to everyone on the grey side) then died in a car crash. Meanwhile she also merged with her other self in the comic (it was a whole thing).
Jen’s first appearance AS Jen is here: https://delvecomic.com/comic/ooc/
Right – missed trhe very large leters of Brian calling her Jen instead of Bree (because that’s what he knows her as)… I need my glasses checked again or somthing.
Well, I’m still kinda lost, but it’s probably because I never played role playing games like D&D and I don’t understand all the referrences, such as “grey side” and “DM”. I guess that’s why I’m always confused about what’s going on. Thanks for trying though.
Grey side isn’t a D&D reference, it’s a major running plot item from the comic – you really should follow doublegee2022’s advice and go back and read from the start. It’s a good story, and you appear to be jumping in at the end, and expecting to understand every detail of a story that took 16 years to tell.
Actually, I did start reading it from the start and if I remember, have followed it since it’s very beginning or very near it. The problem is that I usually don’t understand some of the references and get lost, but move on anyway. I’ll try to ask less questions from now on. Sorry.
Don’t need to apologize for getting confuzzled, certainly not for asking questions: the only way to get less confuzzled is by asking questions
Nah, don’t stop asking questions and nothing to apologise for! It gives us the opportunity to test our knowledge or just go back and reread the older episodes 😀
This, 1000% 🙂
Specially good if someone manages to post a link 🙂
To answer your terminology questions, DM, or “Dungeon Master”, in D&D(“Dungeons and Dragons”, hence the DM name) is the person running the game, the person who’s make-believe everyone else is playing in(in this comic, it also means “DracoMage”, who appears to be basically equivalent to the DM’s self-insert character, but normally it doesn’t mean that).
Greysider, as some others have noted, is the author’s name for those living in the world of the players, perhaps both to highlight the difference between the “worlds” and to highlight how the characters feel about the world. The D&D world, despite having many horrible aspects, is full of life and color, while the real world is grim and grey, and the D&D world loses color and cheer when life outside it bleeds in. Greysiders are basically people who live(d) in both worlds, like Bree/Jen, DM/Brian, Imugi, Sark and the “gods” Bree encountered a while back(which hints to Brian not being the first DM, because the time when they transitioned fully to this world would’ve been long in the past).
Grey Side seems to be our reality as far as I can tell. When they jump to it thats what it looks like. DM is dungeon master, the one who creates and runs the story of the role playing game others participate in.
You have to go back a long, long way to how Jen (Jennifer Balfour) went from being a D&D player sometime probably in the 1990s, to became merged with her character, the blue-haired, former rogue wood-elf Bree, now (reluctantly) elevated to Queen of the Wood-elves. But worth going back, just for the crazy story and characters! Make the journey!
I don’t think their chastising you for asking questions, nothing wrong with it. Nor is forgetting or not understanding literally sixteen years worth of plot points. I think we’ve all been there with other reoccuring long form comics. I think their just suggesting you reread the book for enjoyments sake. I’ve reread delve several times myself personally. Hopefully you stick around and talk more. Even if it’s just questions.
Worry not. The plot is extremely convoluted and has been dynamically evolving for what is more than a decade already.
At some point Jen (who is the real life or “grey zone” alter-ego of Bree, we know that much) was presented as voting incentive art as a character that may appear or not later in the comic. Soon Jen showed up in one of the first “grey zone” pages (not sure which because the archive was destroyed and never rebuilt after a webpage disaster many years ago) playing D&D with Brian and some other male friends. Jen and Brian had an argument, not clear why but it seemed to me that they were a couple till that moment and that something going on in the tabletop scenario (paralleled by the Draco Mage trying to seduce Bree to his “dark side”, I believe) caused the argument. She stomped out and last thing we knew of her is that she was driving a car still angry and there were hints that she might have suffered an accident and be at the ICU (orc tribe and dragonette story).
What I don’t know is where Imugi comes from or what she represents at all.
The first hint of Jen in the graysiders world was in episode 261, although Jen had appeared in several Incent Art illustrations without a full explanation (I asked, was Jen based on a real person? Apparently not one specific person, no.) The episode number you want is 305, the D&D game, when Brian as DM seemingly has her Bree character defeated by the Devourer, and he counter accuses her by asking why did she take the job, that (we presume) means moving away (when Paige finds herself in the Found replica of Jen’s apartment, everything is packed up, as if ready to move out). It was at that point Jen gets up from the D&D game and walks out, presumably subsequently, driving home, to have the apparently fatal car crash. Again, Brian’s call on the answer-phone asking did she get home OK, and why, next time we see Brian, he is near suicidal until the Dracomage (his alter ego?) intervenes….
Thanks for the extra details.
Nothing wrong with leaving the readers confused: we shouldn’t know everything before it is revealed, and it lets the readers ask questions (case in point: the current business with Cap and Seph)
Meh. Great ending of the coming of brian arc, but i’m not really in tune with the last bubble, while i would be flattered to be mistaken for a god, i would NEVER EVER say yes , i’m one 😳. Ok for the new dracomage, it could be discussed, but still !
“Ray, when someone asks if you are a god you say YES!”
-Winston
It depends: if you are in a position to be mistaken for a god, then go for it
What’s the worst that will happen? They call your bluff and kill you? High chance they were gonna do that anyway, but at least this way you have given yourself breathing space if not stopped them completely
No, no, no. If you DON’T say you ARE a god, you risk being zapped by some prehistoric bitch
Wait, Breen is officially with Sark? Or Bety? Or both?
I think she’s with Sark.
Whoa, a jump from the last episode to this one! However, while it might be a bit of a disappointment not to get to eavesdrop on the final revelation between Brian and Jen/Bree, a good story-teller knows what to leave in and what to leave out. In retrospect, it probably makes more sense to spare the reader a lot of meandering explanatory dialogue. Plus we get to see Bree/Jen in another outfit (as befits her regal status, the warrior costume didn’t last long), and with emphasis very much on her frontal assets. Eyes up, Brian!
It is apparent we have joined them quite some way into a long conversation (or conversations), in that when Brian eludes to Jen/Bree “finding someone else”, he presumably means Sark, the known other avatar from the graysider world. Imugi’s elevation to being Brian’s “new girlfriend” (even in jest) comes as a bit of a surprise, but hopefully might help curb her homicidal tendences. Not sure how Teal might feel about that sudden change of events! But there are opportunities for some amusing character interaction to be had here, and perhaps we will soon get to see Imugi in a new outfit!
Yes, loose ends to tie up from this arc, not least Teal and Capria, if she survived, but lots of interesting new possibilities to explore, if and when Bree returns to the Wood-elf Kingdom – for instance, “Paige, meet Brian. Brian, meet my sister Paige.” Perhaps the next quest on behalf of Betrys, but also unfinished business with the sword-girls, Warmheart, perhaps Markho.
Wherever we go from here, we will follow! Bring it on! I’m sure it won’t before long before the ‘sword fight and naked elves’ fan-base get their wishes granted again!
Well, Bet’s quest would involve at least one of the sword-girls, which means all three
And yes, where you lead we will follow 🙂
When the Hell did he die?
maybe, maybe not. Dying seems to be the most common way of becoming an avatar, but on the other hand, there’s a strong case for Brian having become one by KILLING the Devourer and taking himself the door it wanted to take, with no need for the “dying” part. Not that it matters – he’s in the Delve world now.
It’s possible he never made it out of the hospital, specially with the manifestations of his fears
Maybe. Maybe not. The Dracomage and Teal are “real” enough (quoting Conan) and they manifested in the grayside world way before he went to the hospital. Would be a considerable plot hole, and Wormius is not known for large plot holes.
Gotta say, that’s a very cute face on Jen/Bree in the third panel.
Hah, hah, you were looking at her face!!? But, no, agreed. The faces were always good. Now they are another level.
Joe’s question above: Jen, we guess died in the car crash, but Brian? Was the whole DM thing another dream? Seems unlikely.
I’ve been reading this comic from the start. How did I miss that Jen died in a car crash. Doesn’t mention it in her bio.
It’s implied in story
Remember the car that exploded out of Drax? That’s the car crash she died in
Can you tell me what episode that was? I don’t remember it.
Not the number, no, but it was shortly before Breen entered the surface world, if you search for Miko’s first appearance and then go back should work
Found it: https://delvecomic.com/comic/t-birded/
Wow! … and you surmised everything from that? Having read the strip from the beginning, I keep wondering how I could have missed so much, and I finally figured it out. With a storyline as complex as this, it’s not possible to put every detail in a once-a-week strip. Some things must be figured out by reading between the lines. I think people do that by getting together and discussing it in the comments and I don’t always have time to follow that. That’s why people know so much more than I do. Now that I know why I don’t know, I’ll shut up and just enjoy the strip. Thanks so much for your help!
Not just for that. A couple pages before Jen was seen driving under very heavy stress. On later strips we learn that Brian had ben trying to contact her with so success. Also Brian is in a very depressed state and considerably older-looking than in his previous appeareance (Jen time). Plus, all the interactions betwen Sephni and Bree point strongly to Jen having… crashed her face before (comics 346, darkfall, and 347, get-up). Then we get the shift from 90’s tech in Jen’ house to 2020’s tech in Brian’s house implying a lot of time has happened in the grayworld – and then, finally, Mandy telling Brian to fucking stop felling guilty about “what happened to Jen”. Lots of things.
Replying to my own comment 😀
Brian with young-looking face – comic 305, ooc
Brian suddendly looking middle-aged – comic 353, ferrytales
(Both comics happen in a VERY short narrative time despite being 50 numbers apart)
Jen is seen driving under huge stress in comic 321, holy-need – just two comics before t-birded and narratively right after ooc
Brian leaves messages in Jen’s 90’s answering machine in comic 433, movin-on-up-2
Brian mentions Babylon 5 (which ended in 1998) in a way that implies it to be an old and revered fandom “holy scripture” in comic 5527, alone-in-the-night
Brian’s car is revealed to be a rather recent-looking model in comic 639, movin-right-along
(To be fair, the Dracomage is seen holding what seems a CD player (nowadays outmoded) in comic 502, streetwise. Then again, this happened WAY before the reveal, in-comic, that Jen was from the 90s but the grayside world is “decades” later in comic 681, time-travelers – likely Womius threw us a curveball here to avoid spoilers, and in-universe Brian was unwilling to lend his smartphone to the DM to hear music on it)
Brian implies he went into a very serious depression in comic 26, the-bottom
Mandy scolds him for feelingfor a long time that he has killed Jen in comic 674, farewell-mandy
Thanks so much! I’ll go back and revisit those episodes, but by “greyworld”, do you mean reality? Please remember that I never got the chance to play roleplaying games growing up and am not familiar with all the jargon.
I think we all agree the final D&D game was sometime in the 1990s, from the car, Jen’s old-fashioned answer-phone (rather than the 2000s cell phone/mobile phone world), but I’m not completely convinced we have then gone decades into the 21st century, except perhaps Brian’s original car he set out in. Do you recognise the make? I’m not much into cars, and especially if American. However, I see no evidence of Brian having, say, 2010s, certainly not 2020s, technology (eg, cell-phone) when the DM and Teal visit him. Would he still be feeling guilt and grief over Jen’s (again we agree) death in the car crash, say 20 years later? So, I agree the basic prognosis, just question the time-line. To me the DM had something like a Walkman when they bumped into Draxx (what else can we call him) in the street.
And, yes, Poydras, the ‘graysider’ (US spelling!) world is pretty much our world reality. At the time he coined it, Wormius didn’t know just how right he was. Like you, I’ve never been into the D&D-type games culture, which still remains a bit of a mystery to me – wrong generation, and I like my own fantasy and rules, not having to follow that of someone else’s – so I’ve often had to Google-search things or listen to the guys who know about this stuff!
Is this a record for the number of comments?
On re-reading, I noticed with some amusement that Brian’s owned tech is actually pretty carefully NOT shown. He only shows or mentions outdated tech. (Yet he specifically mentions having to “fire up” the CD player- that’s a hint he doesn’t have it ready. More on this later.) I guess that’s because it would spoil the fact that Jen/Bree has been DECADES in the Delve.
But we know that Imugi is from that time, and Imugi appeared in the tale when Brian was still in the grayworld – so Brian most deifinitely lives in (at LEAST) MMORPG time (Imugi’s time). 2010’s onwards. Likely later. Likely 2025. (Which means he likely needs to “fire up” the CD player for the same reason I’d have to fire up my VHS player, despite I still having one. Hey, you’ll take my original Aeon Flux full series and bonuses from my cold dead hands.)
Also, Brian’s face (and actually everything about him) in the second story arc (post-Jen’s death) screams “midle-aged man in his 40s” – while his face, appeareance and attire in the end of the first arch (the one ending in Jen’s death) screams “late teenager / young adult”, maybe early 20s. (Remember, his childhood was in the early 80’s or late 70’s based upon that car) Which also goes well with the dates we’re working with.
Yep, Wormius is GOOD at subtlety, thank you for noticing.
I forgot
Doublegee, I specifically mentioned the walkman. With how long the post was, I don’t criticise you for not noticing.
In that post I put forward the theory that maybe it’s in-universe a piece of outdated tech that Brian doesn’t mind the DM f….ing around with, and in actuality, a deliberate bit of misinformation that Wormius threw at us in order not to spoil the timeskip.
He can tell us if I’m wrong – I guess we’re WELL past spoilers now in that regards!
Even with everyone’s help, I still have trouble piecing all this together like everyone here can do. I don’t even understand who the guy with horns and no face in the black robe is. I thought it was some D&D reference. Anyway, I’ve taken up too much of everyone time, so I’m just going to try to figure out the rest on my own, or just enjoy the strip in ignorance. Thanks everyone!
The guy in the horns and no face was the original DracoMage, that’s why Brian looks like him except still having his own face
And, like said earlier, don’t feel you can’t or shouldn’t ask questions if something comes up you don’t know, most of the information the readers have has been slowly pieced together of years (and most of it started out as just speculation without a grain of truth)
… and that is the problem. I’m always so lost that explanations don’t help much. I’m not even sure what a DracoMage is. Is Brian that person? or not? … and who or what is that overweight guy with the wierd smile?
If you mean the original DracoMage, not sure anyone knows who they were, but Brian is the new DM
As for what a DracoMage is, seems to have something to do with dragons (hence the name)
Others usually know a way more than me
Wait, the overweight guy Brian ‘met’ just before ending up in Delve-world? That was probably an avatar of Draxx
Wormius, asking specifically YOU something that is buried deep into a LONG chain of answers.
When the DM is listening to what seems to be a diskman in comic 502, streetwise… was that you deliberately trying NOT to spoil the timeskip? Or was it something else?
You can tell us, we’re well PAST spoilers in that regard!
Brian had owned that Discman for a while by the time the Dracomage showed up in his narrative, and Brian was sitting there, listening to some old tunes and trying to feel something again when the DM showed up. The Dracomage was interested in the technology, as nothing like that existed the last time he’d heard a rock and roll band, and Brian let him borrow it, along with the CD full of old MP3s he’d pirated off Newsgroups back in the day. But, if you really want to pin down timelines, Jen checked out back in the 90s, Brian was still plodding along through the early 2000s, and Imugi is a very recent addition to the Delve world. Given the Narnian disconnect between the timelines of the Grayside and the Delve world, they all seemed to arrive at nearly the same time with Imugi somehow making the transition there before Brian was quite ready to do so.
Kids these days… always in a hurry.
Been following this long, don’t see why I’d stop now.
It’s actually not really confusing if you go back and re-read all the way through. It’s only confusing because we’ve had time to forget things.
This comic *is* the point where I decided I needed to go back and archive-dive, though.