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portfolio maarialaurinen.com
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e-mail maaria.laurinen@gmail.com
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Posts tagged phantomland
I am very sorry but I just had a dream about Phantomland last night and I feel an obligation to let you know. you had just drawn a panel where Chie was fighting a bunch of ninjas on top of some vaguely East Asian building. however, you as the author sought to make this arc a more interactive and 3D experience and you stabbed me (the reader) with a samurai sword. the experiment was successful as I swear I felt actual pain in the dream but I bear you no ill will and still love your comic.
Oh man…
This is 100% what I meant when I said the comic is gonna get upsetting. I’ll fucking stab you when you read it
(thanks for sharing that was delightful)
Character from my webcomic!
I’ve actually hated the blackcoat uniform for a good while now because I designed it 10+ years ago and it’s… it’s just bad. The coat is supposed to be a symbol of violent oppression to the point where most people freeze or panic when they see it. It has to look better than this
We should see the new coat in the next chapter! I might be able to write it in pretty smoothly
👌
Next arc’s “token human” is a detective lady
who teams up with our heroes to solve a murder case. She’s disgusted by virus carriers but does her best to keep things professional!
Not sure if I’ll end up going with this design but it’s not a bad start
🤔
I joke about this and everyone jokes about it, but honestly their plan was pretty solid. When you kill for revenge you’ll want to prioritize on style anyway.
- Plan A: lure and trap target inside a closed space, attack with swords
- Plan B: if that fails, torture with ultrasound device & execute with gun
- Plan C: if that fails, retreat and blow up the building
The only reason they didn’t succeed was because Jon had astronomically good luck. I guess you shouldn’t write characters out of trouble by luck, but… naah, I don’t feel too bad about it :D
(God I’m glad this arc is ending, it went on way way WAY longer than I originally planned)
So I race-swapped Elias into a black guy recently. Nobody opposed to the idea at the time but I still kinda worry that he doesn’t “look right”… there’s so many things to consider and not many answers at hand. But with this rendering I guess I’m pulling it off? I hope??? God damn that is a handsome dude though.
Character from my webcomic
Chillin’ at their cribs
I was supposed to do one quick doodle but ended up with a whole set. No refs or vanishing points used so stuff may look wonky
Damn these are so old (2012) but I like them! And they’re still pretty accurate :O I can’t wait to show more of their homes in canon
I feel like I don’t say this enough but thank you for your support, webcomic readers! I read all of your comments and replies and they never fail to make my day.
I keep repeating the mantra that Phantomland is a low-stakes hobby project that I only make for my own amusement (i.e. I don’t advertise it or aim for any kind of success) but it’s always such a fun bonus to realize other people enjoy it too. And your reactions to each page are actually useful! I don’t have anything like an editor to oversee my work so it’s sometimes hard to gauge whether I’m communicating the right nuances in my writing/drawings or not. But the comments give me some valuable perspective!
(For example a few readers noticed the difference in how Jon treats Amber compared to Chie; it’s a pretty important detail but I’m glad I won’t have to spell it out later)
In any case, yay! Thanks for sticking around! I wish I could upload two pages each week but it’s not a realistic goal just yet. I’m working a pretty tight deadline at my dayjob for the next 6 months or so, but after that I hope I’ll be able to take a break to marathon some comics. Fingers crossed!
I just got caught up. Is the story going in a beauty and the beast direction? Or is Chie going to put Jon out of his misery like a dog the next time he freaks out?? I honestly can't tell with how dramatic things have been. Also why does Amber care about Jon (since she was upset and crying)???
It’s actually a direct homage to b&b. Amber is the candle and Elias is the clock. Jon will slowly turn into a possum
(I can’t answer but I’m glad that you ARE asking all the right questions, thanks anon!)
Characters from my webcomic!
I doubt most of these guys will have actual roles in the story (hell I can’t even come up with names) but I need to design them anyway. Might end up changing some later, I’m still not 100% satisfied
The blackcoats have the most demanding jobs and highest pay; the rank is given only to a handful of people with special talents/merits so that’s my excuse for the wacky descriptions. They shouldn’t be too boring in case I end up having some use for them!
Uuuhh idk who’s your favorite?
Ooooohhhh I'm really excited for the darker and "upsetting" content! With your drawing style and storytelling, I'm sure it will be Good. Also Jon lost part of his BRAIN wtf??? Were you joking at that part or serious :o
In recent years I’ve been into some wild comics…. like not the gratuitously gory/porny stuff necessarily, I just like to be shocked and intrigued. Maybe because I’m dead inside and it’s hard to get a reaction out of me :D So I want to take Phantomland to that direction. Lots of hurtin’ ahead for many characters but I draw the line at sexual violence, that’s too dark even by my standards
Don’t worry, it’s a hopeful story! There will be heartwarming moments too! ;;;
In any case I’m grateful for all the replies I got for this topic, thanks for your inputs and encouragement guys. You’re the best!!! Look forward to future chapters!
Yeah Jon has lost/damaged a part of his brain. I was inspired by those stories about people who bust their heads and it changes their personalities (like… some serial killers…). It explains some of his behavior but it won’t be used as an excuse for the evil shit, I promise it’s more complicated/interesting than that.
Jon’s attitude toward Chie is definitely getting exhausting, but I have high hopes for how things will start to develop as the story continues!
Oh no! Exhausting? :D Damn I kinda worry about that… especially since in the next story arc Chie is genuinely starting to feel afraid around Jon. He has no intention to hurt her (and he never does), but she won’t know that until later. There’s a lot of tension about it and could probably be too upsetting for some readers?? But then again I really don’t want to pull any punches when trying to drive home the point that men are fucking scary.
Also maybe there’s the problem of webcomic pacing where a single page with bad feels will hang in the air for a full week rather than the five seconds you’d spend with it in a book?
Ehhh maybe I’ll put a content warning for chapter 6 :D;;;; My comic will definitely turn off some readers in the future but at least it’s not watered down…
Will there be a point somewhere in the development where the relationship between Jon and Chie become less tense? I know this is kinda the beginning of the story, but it looks like Jon doesn’t have any intentions of being in good terms with the poor rookie. I’m sorry if my English sucks btw.
I’m sorry anon he’s not nearly done scaring the shit outta her :-D but I think the dynamic will evolve in a pretty satisfying way, I’ve put a lot of thought into it. Oh man it’s gonna be a wild ride
Are you making anymore paper copies of Phantomland for people to buy? The last one i think I saw was 3?
I explained this on twitter recently:
To all the people who have bought my paper comics previously: thanks for your support and I’m sorry that your collection will remain incomplete ;;
Have you ever drawn a younger Jon? What does he look like?
Is this a trick question because I literally just posted him :D
He’s oldschool Hollywood handsome I guess.Why he changed so much - it’s damage
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ some shit happened where he lost an eye and part of his brain, there was no going back after that
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