Something doth lurk round yonder formations.
Security Agent Captain Cassandra Quinn is on assignment to the mining outpost Luna Seven amid rumors of pirates near the outpost. On her approach to the complex, she saw something moving around on the surface of the moon that shouldn’t have been. During her attempts to verify her visual sighting, a mysterious ship blasted her out of the sky. Her story starts HERE.
Meanwhile, on miner Simon Tripline’s morning commute to work, he sees something strange through a porthole. Shortly thereafter, Simon’s suspicions are aroused concerning Vin Sinclair, who became separated from the mining party. Simon took off to find him, but found Cassandra instead. He rescued her, but she woke up confused, angry and armed.
For a run-down on all the characters, see the NEW READERS page.
Ooooh, Aliens!
The Invasion of the Moonsquids.
Looks like Cassandra and Simon will be otherwise occupied soon.
Wow. That would be a terrifying site to see in your headlights.
Sweet – man I totally missed the alien the first read through. Sneaky!
Oh my! I can’t have people missing that alien… is it too dark, or were you just pushed for time to get a decent look at it?
I’m probably the only one who missed it. I was just looking at the text and the truck – but I did see it later, just not at first. I think it’s kind of neat that way though.
Also, keep in mind I’m interested in what’s going on here with you and comic, so I tend to quickly glance down at the comments and see what people are saying, and then go back up and look at the strip again – it’s probably just as much a function of that too. (Forgot to mention that in my email).
Your strip never ceases to amaze me. Great artwork! I especially love the negative lighting on the alien.
ooooooo, awesome!
I missed it at first, but only because i read too fast. When I really took time to look at the panel I saw it (with no help from the comments!) Looks great, Og!
Charles – glad you liked the effect. Eddie – Hmm. That’s two of you. I wonder if he’s blended in too much with the rock formation? I want him hidden, but this isn’t Where’s Waldo, either… Hmm.
I think it’s fine. The point of interest and “flow” is leading the readers eye away from the alien which is where I think the issue is happening, but it also makes the alien that much more sneaky and scary.
I wouldn’t change it. If you’re going to reveal more of it soon, it will read just fine when taken in context with everything else.
Beautiful work!
Loved the panel, really unexpected- don’t change it!
That monster looks cool, particularly the lighting aand the tentacle curl….
Beautiful work as usual. I’m in the habit of scouring each page for your little surprises now. Funny though, That creature doesn’t look much like the first “alien” Simon saw…
Pish! Probably just the camera angle.
i like how the eyes scan the panel, read the text and then eventualy recognize that there is something to worry about in the lower right corner…
Nixon – that was the plan. I only worried maybe I’d hid it *too* well… Looks like it’s about right, thank goodness. I’m going to try it out on the wife and kids tonight, see what they think. OK, back to it!
How come Cassandra didn’t notice IT IS A MINING RIG WHICH LOOKS LIKE MODERN MINING TRUCK!
I just started reading the comic. Good stuff! I’m looking forward to more.
As for the Alien, I saw a little guy in a few panels, but this panel… I didn’t notice it until I read the comments. Not sure how I missed it, since it was quite obvious once I knew to look for it.
Thanks for weighing in, WC. I think I need to adjust the art a little. It shouldn’t be this easy to miss. Thanks!
I thought the alien was easy to spot.
The tentacle just below the digger contrasts a lot with everything else and leads the eye to the alien.
The alien also has a big, glowing yellow eye. It’s very obvious when squinting or focusing on your nose.
And I’m hoping there will be rock lobbing. *crosses fingers*
Great art in this one. I love the perspective with the mining rig deep in a crater, the ship nearby and only a small portion of sky visible. Really gives scale to the size of hole they are in now.
Thanks, Sardtok. Chris – yeah, they’re down deep. There are things down there that don’t show up on any NASA charts, I’ll tell you.
I agree with Sardtok. When first looking at the page my eye was immediately drawn to the lighting of the digger, then, “Tentacle?”, “Yaaagh!”, “Monster!” pretty much in that order. Well done . . .
It’s perfect as is. Great work. Beautiful. I really like the tentacle curled around the stalagmite.
If your work were a democracy I would vote no changes on creature color/lighting.
Awesomeness. I’m in the “keep it as is” camp. Right now the alien is secondary, any more obvious and it would be primary. I love how the composition and lighting lead the reader to discover the monster.
new reader, quite enjoying it thoroughly so far
first occasion that forced me to make a comment, as I noticed the alien straightaway, without reading the comment – so have you “adjusted the art” or is it as it was from the start? if you’ve changed it – could you post the original as well? i am really curious how it looked like before, when people didn’t see it in an instant 
kind regards from Poland
Hi, Dave
I’m glad one of the comics forced you out of Lurker Mode! heh heh…
The version you’re seeing there is the adjusted one. It’s been adjusted for a bit now. I brightened up the colors to direct the eye back over to the alien. I don’t have the original I’m afraid, but I’ll have a look later tonight.
The plot thickens . . .
Steve,
Thanks for the reply! Alas, I gather you haven’t found the original.
Oh, yeah Dave. I just had a look – no dice. I overwrote the original, and when I did my backup, overwrote the original backup as well. This is the definitive and only version.