xylia

[Aerin]

Barb, I know you were worrying about this page being bad, but it's great!! I love how Charlie tells Dr. Ambrosia that he's a 'figment of his imagination' - if he thinks he's telling his own creation he's not real - he's gotta think he's crazy!!! Even if you don't think the art was at it's best (personaly, I didn't really notice any difference), the dialogue and the whole tone of the page in general was fantastic!

Once again Barb comes out with a truly awesome page for us!!!

[Jerle]

Yar, I hate psychiatrists. Half the time they're just blowin smoke, and their treatment of choice is to medicate you. Looks like ol Charlie boy's had a bit of a rough experience. Maybe he should go eat some cookies and relax a bit.

[Aerin]

cooooooooooookiesssssssssssssssss

[Elle]

I'm rather fond of the work with the book shelf and the background in that first panel. It looks real nice.

I. I keep calling him Claude and the pages keep telling me Charles and AHHHHH.

[Jerle]

I have a bad habit of speed reading through things and generally with comics it'll take a day or so to go back and look at the artwork, but in the first panel, when Charles has his eyes closed, his expression seems to be that he feels guilty for giving in.

[Aerin]

Aww, i know what you mean, but is he feeling guilty for giving in, or guilty coz he really wants it to be real

...i think i just made exactly the same point......i really need to go to bed...

[Strange Ian]

I love the lighting in this page!
I can imagine the sound Livy is making as Charlie leaves, she looks so cute! And, of course, Dr Ambrosia is awesome, as always.

My questions for this page:
What is that thing in the shelve behind Dr Ambrosia? Binoculars?
Is there something special about Dr Ambrosias possible binoculars?
Does Dr Ambrosia have a first name?
How can I learn to be awesome like Dr Ambrosia?
[/Ambrosia rant]
Great page!

[Ceridwen]

I like the sabre-thingy hanging on the wall too. I want one as well. Actually, I have always wanted an office filled with strange and exiting objects and wise dark beetle-eyes like Dr. Ambrosia has.

I really like the mood in this page. It`s sad, serious and kind of feels a lot like the death of a child`s mind.

And the way Livy looks at Dr. Ambrosia as Charles leaves makes me want to go and hug her.

[Hagar]

I bet that when the next page will come up- Livy will be out there with Charlie. & everyone will see her & he'll know that it's not his imagination... I bet that's how he will start hanging out with her!

*goes to hug her dogie*

[hothotpot]

What is that thing in the shelve behind Dr Ambrosia? Binoculars?
Great page!

At first I thought it was a mirror with something being reflected in it, but upon closer inspection I believe it to be a telescope.

Also I love how Claude(/Charles AAAH!) just kind of whispers "I won't be visiting anymore." You can hear it in your head how upset he is and how he doesn't even want to say it. Poor Claudey! It's okay! You're not crazy!

[BarbJacobs]

WOW Y'all! Thank you very muchly for all the nice comments. I am SO happy that you have shared these thoughts with me- you all received the emotional aspect I was trying to relate in this page- somethign I thought I had failed on, but it came through apparently! Guilty- sad- loss of childhood- you guys caught it all. The giving up and giving in to the clinical black and white-labeled- diagnostical-world. Not fun. Not at all.

I think you will like the next page. It's kind of 'cute', really. (Love that word) Then a splashish panel and we are out of this chapter. FINALLY. Then it gets funky.

I hope.

^_^

Thanks for the support, everyone!

~B

[Aerin]

Wow, i didn't even notice Livy...or the binoculars/telescope, though I did catch onto the mood......I really shouldn't check comics whilst I'm half asleep. But you must have done a superb job wiht the emotion of the page barb (as always, duh!) if it cut through my sleepiness. I look forward to 'cute' page!! Yes yes precious!

[Lea]

I personally just want to cry for Charles. Having to deny your own reality because someone else thinks it's wrong is one of the worst kinds of hurt. I'm glad to see that he kept the book (and presumably the watch) at the advice of the "figment of his imagination".

[ZealousKnight]

I like the new banner, Barb. (That is new, right? I'm not just crazy?)

As to the page, I think it's really well done. The dialogue flows very well and I can clearly hear the tone in Doc's voice as he encourages Charlie to keep the journal and watch.

The disappointed look on Livy's face is precious.

[canterrain]

Jerle, look away, here comes a long review. *duck*

This is. A subtly powerful page. And I think that's what bothers Barb. I think she wanted a more visible dramatic conflict with a bang of finality. And that's not here really. Instead, it is. Subtle. Brief. And in the end over a little too soon. Barb's expressed to me, and on the forum, that she thinks it was missing.. something. I'd say if it was, it was a fight. Just a few uttered words. One powerful phrase from the good doctor. And it's over. Ah, the sadness of needing to rush. And the sadness of being ... err.. can't say that here sorry, spoiler thought.

Please don't misread. I like the page very much myself. Those are just my thoughts on =why= Barb herself wasn't happy. And even in that, I think I could have done with two pages of this goodbye.

The First Panel.

Good eyes people! The first thing I looked at was the saber and the telescope. You know what I've been noticing? The -only- thing about the room that seems to truly change is the tree scene. There are two candles, though they've switched positions since Charles was young, but they look brand new... just as when we met the Doctor. Now Ambrosia -could- be replacing them often. But me gets the feeling he doesn't leave to much. As evidenced by other things that don't change in the room. The decorations (though we see ones we haven't before this is a matter of a new view), Livvy.. and the Doctor himself. (Not Dr. Who). These two haven't aged. At all. While Charles has. I'd guess at least five years. Yet Livvy looks the same. And so does Ambrosia. And you'd think some aging would show. Then again, Ambrosia hasn't even changed clothing. The same outfit as when we first met him.

Is this magic? Or is Charles -really- out of his mind?

I like both what we can see and what we can't see. Charles has his eyes closed. HEAD DOWN. He is not proud of what he is doing. Nor can he truly face Dr. Ambrosia. I'd almost say he's looking at his journal and watch. (or at least journal). Something he has... clutched to him. Like a near and dear object that you must give up and want one last moment of having it close.

"Doctor Ambrosia, you're a figment of my imagination."

I think we bothers me about those words is.. they are hollow. It's forced. And maybe that's on purpose. It's not an argument. I can't picture it as being said strong. Further evidenced by his next words. They are smaller print, suggesting his volume has dropped, and there is a stutter. "I w-will.."

That actually feels like a realer moment for me. The stutter. The indecisiveness. Fighting to be strong when he doesn't want to fight. Guilty admitting to a label he desperately doesn't want to believe.

Perhaps the most powerful moment, and one all too short, are the words uttered by the doctor. "Charles, don't wear the mantle of the cynic." It's simple. It's brief. All to brief. But all at once Ambrosia has come out and said his thoughts, and in this moment almost pleaded with the young child. What little we've seen from him before suggests to me that he has never been fully on the level with Charles, never voiced his entire opinion and so forth. Given enough and left blanks to fill in.

The "here are your things panel".

Wow. Ambrosia came right out and said it. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But I don't think Charles caught it at all. He's so wrapped up in, "Fixing himself" and "following the prescription" (cut off all ties and remnants to the fantasy to be 'free' of it) that I think the depth of meaning behind Ambrosia's words are lost upon him.

Perhaps if the emphasis had been placed on the ALWAYS instead of the Yours (The watch and journal are yours. lad. They ALWAYS were) he might have caught.. just what Ambrosia has been trying to tell him all this time. But in moments like these.. we don't hear anything do we?

I find myself wondering how much he wrote in it. And if he ever got an answer out of Ambrosia about the blank pages.

But I do notice this. Charles doesn't fight the idea of keeping the things. He can't -really- let go of it all, can he? He didn't want to give the journal back and given the chance he kept it. I'm more than willing to be he'll even find a way (perhaps with help from those -other- doctors) to reason out how he got ahold of the book in the first place. "I bought it at wal-mart.. got it for christmas.. or something and it's just slipped my mind when and where."

In that panel. Right near the top of the panel, where Charle's hand meets the journal.. there's a slight discoloration. Something different about the background. I wonder if this is a 'wisp of smoke' or something more?

I also wonder if Charles is looking at Ambrosia, or at the journal, or away from it altogether. At what point does he find the courage to finally look him in the eye?

Because he finds it by the third panel.. as he's leaving. This panel is actually much like the first. A side view of someone's face looking at an angle of the other person. Livvy looks... sad. Which is interesting for the dog to do. And.. curious. If I could read her mind I'd almost expect to see, "Aren't you going to say anything more, Ambrosia? Stop him."

But Ambrosia isn't. And won't. And I wonder why there isn't more fight. But it could be that he can't. Or it could be that he sees there is no point.

That Goodbye.. too me feels like a goodbye you say when you don't really mean it. Don't really want to say it. Want to find some excuse, any excuse, to put off leaving if even a moment more. Like an invitation for Ambrosia to fight him, fight his words, make him stay.

But Ambrosia looks deadset. He's not going to fight. It's Charles decision to walk away, and he'll let him make it.

And so we reach the final panel, which is oddly telling. Charles isn't angry. Isn't upset in a lashing fashion, or anything of the sort. No door slam. No hard shut. No 'boom, crack, or bam'. A soft click. That's all we here. Almost like he barely managed to close the door he had such a hard time doing it. And there is a certain amount of finality here. The deed is done. For better or worse. Though the journal and watch is kept.

Do I think it's missing something? Yeah, a little. Maybe a page just before this. Of debate. As Charles and Ambrosia are known to have done in the past. One that could go nowhere as Charles listed the reasons this couldn't be real and Ambrosia countered with his own forms of logic, until Charles finally couldn't debate anymore and thus we would hit this page. Maybe that's what Barb feels she is missing too.

But if we had a page for all the details we want, the prologue would never be complete! And I think this works beautifully as it is.

We see the guilt. The lost feeling. The SHAME. It's there. It connected. And though to Barb this feels like 'filler' I personally think if it's that then it's very full filler that gave us so much insight into the story. And you can't ask for a whole lot more than that, can you?