[ SECRET POSTS #2128 & 2129 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Posts #2128 & 2129 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Time Lincoln]


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03.
[Avatar: the Last Airbender]


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04.
[Once Upon a Time]


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05.
[Repo the Genetic Opera]


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06.
[The Avengers]


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07.
[Homestuck/Touhou]


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08.
[ElfQuest/Wendy Pini]


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09.
[Reservoir Dogs + HBO's Oz]


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10.
[The Walking Dead]


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11.
[Covert Affairs]


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12.
[Ouran Host Club]


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13.
[Jae Joong from DBSK and JYJ]


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14.
[Elementary]


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15.
[The Girls Next Door]


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16.
[Steven Moffat]


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17.
[Star Trek: The Next Generation]


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18.
[Alan Cumming/Son of the Mask]


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19.
[The New Normal]


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20.
[Mass Effect]


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21.
[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle/xxxHolic]


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22.
[Resident Evil 6]


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23.
[Revenge/The Social Network]


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24.
[Cardcaptor Sakura]


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25.
[Glee]


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26.
[Khimeros]


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27.
[Once Upon a Time]


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28.
[Gregory House/Lady Gaga]


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29.
[Glee]


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30.
[The Walking Dead]


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31.
[Madonna "Die Another Day" MV, BEG "Sixth Sense" MV]


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32.
[Doctor Who]


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33.


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34.


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35.


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36.


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37.


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38.


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39.


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40.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 046 secrets from Secret Submission Post #304.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

08. http://i45.tinypic.com/209ps0l.jpg
[ElfQuest/Wendy Pini]

[velvet_mace]

I agree with you, but that's not a very good example of it. I went to a con where she talked a few years back and she said that she was "simplifying" her look. She showed us some panels of her new yaoi comic (that I haven't heard of since) and all I could think at the time was that her line art was as good as ever, but her coloring frankly sucked. It made her art look cheap and garish and frankly, a lot less attractive. Looking at the characters going from line to colored was a huge disappointment -- but she seemed so proud of it, I couldn't say anything.

[(Anonymous)]

The reason you might not have heard more about the Yaoi comic is because it's been exposed as basically a rip off of someone who used to work for her and her husband. So, while I think she's still technically going forward with it [at least, that's what I've heard. I haven't gone looking for it personally], she's gotten very quiet about it.

[dragonimp]

Masque of the Red Death? The first volume came out, and the rest of the story was published as some sort of flash animation sequences on the web. I dunno if it's still up, I couldn't even make it though the first volume :/

[(Anonymous)]

Really? It looks prettier to me now.

[(Anonymous)]

From this example, it looks like it's just a change of style. I wouldn't exactly call either of them "quality" work.

[cherrycoloured.livejournal.com]

I don't know about this artist, but from your examples I prefer the second one, actually. It's much less stiff to me. I do like a more cartoony look though, so it's really all down to taste.

[(Anonymous)]

I never read Elfquest, but the art on the left is FUGLY. The big creepy eyes, weird nose, crazy facial structure. The one on the left isn't super special, but at least it's nicer to look at...

[(Anonymous)]

I take it back-looking more into it, the old art is much better. I compared it to that Masque of the Red Death webcomic the artist did and WOW. Yeah. Odd how that happened.

[twerpwood]

The example pics may not be the best possible ones to illustrate the change, but I agree. Her old art is lush and beautiful, whereas I really can't bring myself to enjoy most of her newer stuff. It's such a shame.

[visp]

Eh, I just keep the original 4 books and pretend nothing else is out there.

[luxshine]

This. In a good day I might agree that books 5 and 6 are an interest elseworld, and I still adore Rayek and Cutter's big fight inked by John Byrne but... it's a What if in my mind canon.

Pini's storytelling skills dissapeared long before her art stopped looking pretty.

[pengychan]

I don't even know what this is, but to be honest I like the second picture a lot better.

[(Anonymous)]

I...tend to agree? That picture isn't a good example, and I suspect part of it really is a shift in style. That does happen, and ten years is more than enough time...but yeah. I think that it's also in part degradation of her skills.

[(Anonymous)]

I tried reading ElfQuest ages ago but could never get into it because I always thought the art was awful. It still is if that right picture is any indication, but it's way better than the one on the left. take off dem nostalgia goggles

[(Anonymous)]

In fairness the left one isn't the best of examples. Plenty of her newer art has awkward body positions that look unnatural, with bad shading.

Not OP, btw.

[omens]

Have to say I prefer the 2nd, by far.

[(Anonymous)]

Are you sure you didn't get those pictures reversed by mistake?

[(Anonymous)]

I agree OP, but you really choose the wrong pictures to show it.

[gethenian]

I agree 1000% with the OP, but also agree these are not the best examples.

I may be back later to GOOD examples of the change, but right now my internet connection is such shit I've literally just spent half an hour trying to get enough google images to load to even find examples.

Still, the point is... what's even more baffling to me than her art going to shit is her complete disappearance from her work for so long. Like, all those books that were seemingly scripted by Richard but they outsourced the art to people who drew the characters like they had never seen them and had basically ZERO artistic capabilities in the first place. Then Wendy reappeared with this simplified anime shit that has none of the beauty or attention to detail that her old style had. It's like the difference between classical Disney animated movies and the TV shows based on them. It's lost all the depth and the soul that it once had.

[gottis]

I have to agree as well. I don't really like her artstyle from the 70-ties - it's cute and all, and you can tell that she's getting the hang of the characters and their looks - but once you hit the final stretches of the original quest and Siege at Blue Mountain, I'd say her art was at its peak. (I do think Dreamtime was beautiful, though.)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not sure it's fair to compare a pinup style image with a "this was done on a one-week deadline" webcomic -- she's operating under entirely different constraints than she was when writing the first books. Sure, I'm used to the old style and prefer it, but I don't think the new is necessarily a sign of some permanent decline, it's just different, and with reasons that are fairly clear. Between the deadlines and the vagaries of colours on the web, I just wouldn't expect it to be the quality of the print books many of us grew up with.

That said, I would *love* to see her try working with a few different colourists. I think someone skilled could bring a lot more to her lineart even with a weekly publishing schedule. I mean, just look at what the Girl Genius colourist manages!

[(Anonymous)]

Wendy's confidence and mental health were pretty much shot when she found out what a cheating piece of shit Richard is. Those old jokes about how he chains her to the drawing board? Not quite true, but the abuse and brain washing he put her through to keep her tied to him, like the goose with the golden eggs, would turn anyone into an escapist plagiarist that can no longer evolve.

Apart from that, she also has some physical issues, and I guess we should be glad she's still drawing on the series at all, instead of that pedophile Barry Blair.

[nursethalia]

My older siblings ended up passing on Elfquest to me back in the 90's. I was pretty young, but I remember loving the art and really enjoying the comics (I even read a couple of the non-illustrated novels).

I was a little surprised when, recently, my younger sister said the comic was still going and discovered that there hadn't really been an improvement art-wise despite over a decade having gone by since I'd read it.

[(Anonymous)]

That looks way better to me... (not a fan, mind)