Hi everyone,

Check out the first strip of the new Trollbabe story, written by me, pencilled by Rod Anderson, inked by James V. West, at the Trollbabe comics page. It's the first one to feature Retta and Tha in the same story!

No, they do not get naked.

This is also the last story I've done for quite a while. For those of you who don't know, I wrote "Sex and Death, With Music" through "Avatar is Plenty" in one big rush, with minor revisions during production. Then as that set of stories rolled along, I wrote "Dusty Musty Wisdom" through "Tea and Sympathy" in the same way.

I have not yet written a third cycle of stories, let alone set up schedules with artists, so this might be it for the Trollbabe comics for a while - unless I get all inspired at some point soon. I'm actually very tempted to write a number of stories without the gals in them for a while, focusing on some of the characters who've stepped up with "lives" of their own.

In the interim, if anyone has any suggestions for nifty artists they know or have worked with, let me know.

Best,
Ron

P.S. You can also see the full "We All Have Issues" story at Jonathan's website, linked at the comics page.

Hey, Ron.

I'd be interested in doing a story about Vanth--like a Trollbabe Noir story. Could be cool...

--Andrew

Hey folks,

The first half of this six-strip story is now viewable here. Any thoughts so far?

I promise not to snap at anyone ... much.

Best,
Ron

Don't snap, but: remind us where we can read up on Retta and Oskar's past interactions?

The Goo Feud, was it?

-Vincent

Hi Vincent,

That's the one!

As it happens, the original intended order for the strips' release was to start with "The Green Goo Feud," with "Sex and Death, with Music" being the second strip. Just worked out differently.

Best,
Ron

So far, this is my favorite strip ever. I love comic stories where nothing happens and the characters just hang around talking. Characterization, baby! And Retta and Tha are just priceless. Priceless!

I appreciate that, Jonathan.

From the Trollbabe comic news thread a year and a half ago, replying to some comments of Jesse Burneko's ...

Retta's a wanderer and a free spirit - she sees things without judging them much, but when circumstances get too extreme, she simply weighs into the situation based on a very personal connection. The "greater good" isn't an issue to her, but she's sensitive to personal needs. I think her stories will be more entertaining to you insofar as they contribute to a larger story, over the long haul, because the little vignettes just set up material for the consequences of her actions rather than focusing on the crisis of her decisions (as you point out, there's not much crisis there).

Tha lives in a city and has lots of authority and social connections there. She deals with everyone else's notions of the "greater good" all the time, and takes a lot of responsibility for other people's problems that get put onto her. Shit, she even dies for the ghost-wolves at one point. The whole baby-thing is the only thing that's really hers.

Two different sorts of loneliness.

Anyway, there's a peek into the head of the author. I like both gals and think of them with a little sadness, actually, as well as admiration for their boundless energy.

Okay, a little help here, please. What the hell is the most recent strip (T&S#4) referring to? It's obviously referring to a previous story, but the one line ("Don't be disgusting!") and Tha's shocked look, then then "Of course she tells her" is all dancing around it. I can't remember what story this is referring to, or what Tha would be telling Retta.

I'm guessing Retta's quoting the vegetarian troll Aiga from "A Day at the Circus" (see strip 9 of that story). Knowing that let's you fill in Tha's "!" comment.

Editing in to add that you'd also want to re-read "Holy Trollers".

Julie

Yeah, I've found this one a bit confusing too.

I'd forgotten Oskar appeared in the Green Goo Feud until just now.

I'm assuming that the "one really great guy and I should have done something" refers to Aiga (though one might have thought it was Oskar considering he shows up in the next panel), but I'm not clear on how from that, Tha realized he's the "rogue troll" she killed. Unless she just got it from the timing and description of the scene of carnage during Aiga's escape -- that carnage being what provoked the hunt for the Rogue Troll? I wasn't clear on that. No, it can't be; Aiga must have gone on a killing spree later on, after he and Retta parted ways (though presumably he kept his modus operandi of carrying around heads he'd ripped off people).

I never thought Ron's elliptical storytelling style would be able to render nearly incomprehensible a simple conversation over tea... but in Trollbabe Comics, nothing is ever simple, I guess. :)

Not me! I got it at once. I got a pleasant little "uh oh..." too.

This is a very funny chapter so far. I like it a lot.

-Vincent

Oh, I like it, I just got confused this week. Also, in my kvetching I neglected to mention that I am *really* taken with this penciling/inking collaboration. It definitely is a great look, as unique as each artist's own vision but different from both.

The "great guy" has to be Oskar or else the headsmack when he enters the room doesn't make much sense.

But what I found confusing in the last strip was Tha's "!" response. Combined with Retta's (look Ron, no "H") abbreviated opening it left me having no idea what was going on at all. I actually thought Retta's "You what?" in the last panel was supposed to be "You're what?" in reference to Tha's announced pregnancy...the point being it took a few moments for her to process what Tha said in the midst of her own rambling.

But having it pointed out that Retta was talking about Aiga in the first panel, the rest does make more sense as her confronting Tha about having killed him.

Question...why the "!" in the middle panel? If Tha instead had said something like "Oh, no...I think I may have killed that troll" then the strip would have been much clearer.

I went back and read "A Day at the Circus"--yeah, that was a reference to Aiga. Got that now. And it was Aiga that Tha killed in "Holy Trollers," right? (I reread that one, too, and no, it isn't blindingly obvious that Aiga is the rogue troll--but I seem to remember a thread at the time in which Ron verified that yes, the rogue troll is Aiga.) So, the last panel of the current strip is Retta's reaction to Tha explaining that she killed Aiga. Okay, got it.

Hello,

As I see it, the role of Aiga in the comic so far requires looking across three of the stories, not including the present one: A Day at the Circus, Holy Trollers, and Vengeance is Mine, Saith the Worm.

The present story clues in the two heroines about it.

Aiga's actual, personal story (note Tha's thought balloon in Holy Trollers) remains untold and therefore the Aiga-story, which is to say, our heroines' decisions about it, is not yet complete.

I'm irked that a few people have passed judgment on the current story while blithely stating that they can't remember or haven't bothered to re-read the previous ones. Given the remaining two strips in this one, I can tell you now that reading the full saga-til-now is absolutely necessary to understand anything about Tea & Sympathy.

Best,
Ron

Ooohhhh -- are we to learn that Aiga was Huurch's son?

Julie

I think that's already clear -- at least in retrospect.

After all, Tha hasn't killed *that* many trolls recently, I don't think....

Holy fuck.

-Vincent
who just read the 11-22-04 installment.

See, I was more like, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But "Holy fuck" works too.

Yeah.

Hello,

So, the story's over now. It's six strips long, and I'll ask Clinton to post it in full.

When it's up, the entire Trollbabe story as written so far will be available. As I mentioned before, I may write another cycle of stories (52 strips worth, as with each of the two so far). I already have some notes for it, but none of them are done and I haven't spoken with any artists yet. Andrew, you're definitely in mind if I decide to do it.

Best,
Ron

I'm still seeing the "wait..." strip. Did I lose count and that's the last one?

-Vincent

Hi there,

The final story has six strips:

1 Tha & Retta in the street

2 Tea talk - "about men" "pregnant"

3 Tea talk - ends with Oskar

4 Tea talk - ends with Aiga connection

5 Listening to the music

6 Retta leaves ("wait ...")

Best,
Ron

It confused me that you posted "it's done!" on a Monday; I thought you were announcing the final strip.

So that's it, huh?

Tha's like, who ARE my people? Wait...

Retta's like, this lifestyle has its downsides.

Kind of a sober end.

-Vincent

Oddly enough, out of all the Trollbabe comics I find this one the least satisfying. I like the Tea and Sympathy strips individually, but they do not hang together as a whole. In particular, strip #4 seems out of place. Now that the story is done, I'm left wondering (and not in a good way) why exactly Retta is leaving-- Is it because Tha and Oskar are together, or because Tha killed Aiga, or because Retta considers the music Tha hums ominous (historically, music does not bode well for Retta), all of the above, or is it simply that Retta always leaves and here is no exception.

I also consider the title disturbingly ironic since I see little to no sympathy between the two main characters.

I look forward to the whole being available to revist the earlier strips rather than rely solely on my memory.

Julie

Edited to correct name confusion. jrs

Hello,

I suggest taking a peek at music, in general, across the stories.

A couple of musical notes sneaked into the strips due to artistic whim, specifically anything Retta hums or whistles. Those are not actually scripted in.

Other music plays a more concrete role in the story, beginning from the very first strip all the way through to the second-to-last one. In addition to the first story, of course, I recommend the reader investigate the final panel of "Dusty Musty Wisdom" (it's Tha, not Retta; that musical note was scripted), Tha's ritual in "Life and Death," and Retta's mushroom trip in "Mystic Crystal Revelations."

Retta's reaction in the final two strips of the final story will, I hope, become a little clearer.

Best,
Ron

Yeah, Ron, I know about the music; I even mentioned it in my post. I guess I wasn't clear. What bothers me about T&S is that I don't know to give the music issue more weight than any of the other possibilities.

Julie

Hello,

There's more to the music than being ominous. Anyone care to venture an idea? (Not one of the artists, thank you, who have been privy to back-stage discussion)

Best,
Ron

Hi Ron,

What Julie may be getting at is that, as this use of music was the key turning point of the ending, the meaning of it should click for the reader by the time he gets there. I think it's okay to keep people guessing and culling previous strips to understand some things as the story unfolds, but a different approach is needed for communicating a satisfying ending.

Many writers do succeed in writing an ending that both clicks immediately _and_ leave readers thinking. I think T&S (as much of your writing) tends to fall in the latter zone rather than the former.

Hello,

I'm clearly not communicating ...

Let me start over.

My entire response to all posts so far is: Thanks for the input! That's very interesting!

Best,
Ron

Ron Edwards wrote: There's more to the music than being ominous. Anyone care to venture an idea?

Solomon's nailed it.

Best,
Ron

Wow,

Hats off to you Solomon.

I could have read the entire Trollbabe comic history a million times and NEVER even come close to making that connection.

I guess I just don't understand the aesthetic perspective that says simply inserting that information into a Retta thought balloon is undesireable.

Hi Ralph and Solomon,

To give Ron credit, I was able to figure it out _after_ I got the simple hint that the music was significant. However, in my first reading, lacking any referent in the last few months, or any distinctive presentation of the musical notes, that association was not triggered. An author must work within the limits of his medium - in this case a line-art comic that appears in isolated weekly strips.

Now, that criticism aside, the elliptical presentation of this turning point does add style and impact. It reproduces the "click" experience we all get when seeing a connection.

I suspect that some of the disconnect between readers' understanding and Ron's expectations regarding the strip is just a result of the strip being *so* long-running. Some of these things are comparatively obvious if you look at things in a rapid and holistic manner so they build up in your head, but if you've seen them tiny piece by tiny piece over a long period of time they're not. (Having gone back and forth with Ron several times over trying to make sure the eyes of the ancient enemy were sufficiently terrifying in the music scene in Mystic Crystal Revelations, where Retta says "THAT music! So the Ancient Enemy is REAL!" I didn't have a lot of problems making that connection.)

No blame to anyone involved -- it's not Ron's fault that the schedule was weekly and sometimes hit-or-miss due to circumstances outside people's control, and it's not the readers' fault that details got lost over the course of over a year of story in small pieces. It's easy to think you remember a story completely but when you go back and read it there are bits that didn't stick in your memory that turn out to be crucial, cause they weren't crucial to *that* story.

I think the only solution is to switch to *daily* trollbabe comics, starting immediately. Cough up those scripts, Ron!