The Wellington Division - The End
The final scene of the Wellington Division is now up.
It's bittersweet to post this last sequence. I've come to really enjoy posting the Wellington Division week by week. It's been such an interactive, interesting way to tell a story. Thank you to everyone who has been reading along. And thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment or let me know their thoughts about the characters in an e-mail.
So long Tearse, Jase, Elsie and Tyler.
Comments
Thank you very much for telling this fantastic tale! I hope we will see much more of your art. Also, I really liked the fact that there are sketches. They have such a nice feeling to them.
I was pleasantly surprised by the identity of The One. The ending has left me a little misty eyed :')
I've never been into comics or graphic novels, (I'm more a kids picture book kinda gal) but your story really drew me in, eliciting grins, actual audible gasps at times, and now tears. I enjoyed it much more than I expected I could enjoy any graphic novel, and looked forward to each new sequence every week, even when it was sad. But I am so relieved that the ending was happy/hopeful :)
Will Elsie and Tyler ever come back? (sequel please??)
How did Tearse avoid the flames Viperal shot at him at the end? Was that his own powers, or did Kyte help him out?
And how old are Tyler, Elsie, and Kyte? I've been trying to figure it out and I'm still not sure. I was also so sure there would be a love interest for Elsie somewhere in there, but oh well.
Sad to see your story over, but it was a lot of fun to read! Thanks for everything! :)
I know you consider this novel to be unfinished, but for me, the uncolored pages didn't diminish the experience one bit. Your pencil drawings have an energy and expressiveness that's incredibly rare and amazing to look at. I love your painted works too, but your line art is what caught my eye when I first discovered your blog. I hope you'll continue to post both styles!
Like the rest of your readers, I'm very much looking forward to your next story. In the meantime, I'm going to go back and read WD (and all the reader comments) again from the beginning!
I really liked the relationship between Elsie and Tearse. Please make a sequel! There's enough scope!
..It was the thing to look forward to mondays!!
Thanks for posting your unfinished work, too.. It really was great to see your sketches and how you start.. not to mention falling in love with these characters!
Becky - Thank you so much, and there are too many! I have a bunch of stories milling around in my head, I need to settle on one and commit to it. :)
Shannon - Thank you. I hoped the ending would be a little unexpected. I know I set it up to just be one huge battle, but I wanted it to be more than that. :)
Ahtna - Thank you, Ahtna. I too like stories that end with a sense that the world and the characters keep moving forward, have new adventures, etc. I also wanted Tearse's redemption to be something he'd have to commit to in a long-term way.
Thank you also about the sketches. I think near the end there, I ended up spending more time on the drawings. You can tell, probably, as you read through the story, where I was rushing and where I just got lost in the story myself and kind of forgot that these were supposed to be messy roughs. :)
Toria - I'm glad that the identity of the one came as a surprise. It was a definitely a challenge... making it believable in retrospect that it was that character all along, but not giving it away too early in the story. I'm also glad that you saw the ending as happy/hopeful.
I never really was a graphic novel person either, although I've become more interested in them in the recent past. I think for me it just made sense to attempt one, I love to draw and I love write. I had no idea how long it would take, though!
scylla's revenge - I like to think Elsie and Tyler would have a good reason to come back someday. It's just too sad to think that they all never see each other again.
No plans for a sequel at the moment, but I've love to eventually write one. I'd love to know what happens on that ship with Tearse and Jase. I can't imagine that they are the best of friends yet.
And yes, it was Kyte who saved Tearse. I think after healing himself, which couldn't have been easy, he was waiting for an opportunity to safely attack Viperal. It was risky to step in and save Tearse, but Kyte's a good guy, and couldn't watch Tearse die after sacrificing himself in an attempt to give Elsie time to escape.
I'd say Tyler is nine, Elsie is thirteen/fourteen and Kyte is fourteen. I think Kyte would have been a love interest for Elsie had she not been stuck on the island for the whole story, which is hinted at a little in the end. And I'm sure Elsie wished Tearse was her age, before she realized he was lying to her.
...And my kids are now up from their naps! I'll keep responding to everyone later tonight. :)
what a wonderful story - beautifully written and exquisitely drawn. I hope that you will finish it someday and publish, it is a story I would like to share with my toddlers when they are older. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed your talent and artwork. Best of luck with your current projects, I'll check in from time to time to see what's new!
I will very much miss reading the new pages every week. So don't hold back making a new comic I'd say...
I love your created world - the social hierarchy of the Mants & Sprites, the faith based culture with the Priest Elites, and a realm of interesting characters to capture your heart. I wondered if the characters related to people in your own life that were given new names but had similar character traits?
I have made several sketchbooks from my travels to Italy and from architecture school in college, but never written anything like a graphic novel story; in fact, my favorite part of reading The Wellington Division was it was written with sketches, instead of final linked work. Sketching shows so much more emotion and flavor from the artist.
If you do ever publish it, I want to buy an autographed copy from you!
I agree with Ahtna that it somewhat feels like a prologue, although for me it feels more like "Act 1". The ending is strong enough to stand as is, but if you did create a sequel in which the major conflict with Viperal is resolved in some way I would love to read it :)
Jules