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CO-Comics Presents: The Lonesome Halloween
tigerofcachtice
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Although Takofanes strikes me as more of a Phantom of the Opera guy.
(And sadly, true...
Really nice comic, the Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe are a really nice Detail! :biggrin:
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Proud member of the OMNIGUARD Hero Group
DISCLAIMER: This comic strip was in no way a criticism of the event, which I love. I just thought it was such a true depiction of what it was like that it'd be funny. Cryptic North did great things for Halloween, they did a charity, introduced new auras, and the addition of the PAIN TRAIN, which is so cool I want to make a comic about THAT.
--- now on to YOUR comments ---
I think Liaden did a great read of Takofanes's personality from the Lore, there is something theatrical about him. Remember how he appears in-game; he lounges on his Ivory Throne dramatically, like it takes effort to look as lazy as that.
When working with a character, even for someone as incompetent as me, I realise all sorts of new things that I wanted to share with you here. And in this case, Takofanes was an absolute sweetie, he's such a joy to work with, real cool guy.
It's like how Thor talks, right? I always wondered about that, why does a Scandinavian God a.) speak English and b.) does so specifically with the 16th century English of Shakespeare and the King James Bible? Takofanes showed me why.
It's because he'd totally sound even weirder without it.
From the lore, Takofanes was in power 70,000 years ago. They probably spoke in grunts. To give you perspective, those ancient cave paintings you see on National Geographic are only 40,000 years ago. So any speech from him is weird.
But the effect is, when he speaks, he does so with this echo of antiquity, which is cool.
Biff is the real artist here. I found Takofanes' proportions emphasises his body language. He talks like a Power Ranger, lots of power poses. His longer arms and hands exaggerate that. He is such a fun character to work with.
The dejected look due to his long arms just make him look extra deflated, he's great.
Very clever! Unfortunately, I am not as clever as that.
I actually took Takofanes's costume pieces that he dropped, the Crown, the Mantle, the Bracers, the Belt, and recreated him as a character for this. That's how I could do some of the poses to show his state of mind.
For fun, check his wiki picture and this comic side-by-side to find what I couldn't reproduce!
I really came to appreciate his design. Not only does Takofanes look cool with his eerie combination of soft colours, but how he works with the Blood Moon red haze filter. He wears the event's look like it's part of his costume, it's so cool.
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As described in the lore, Takofanes considers himself above all other beings, which is why he typically lets his minions do his fighting for him. If he lifts a finger to destroy you directly, he's actually doing you the honor of considering you worth the effort.
The convention that Marvel Comics generally goes with is that Thor and other gods speak their own languages, which the listener hears magically translated into his own speech. They've toned down the archaic phrasing in recent years, but I agree that it adds a sense of antiquity. Also a sense of class, even a tinge of arrogance, like you're speaking to someone from a higher social level.
Tak's "identifying quote" from Champions Villains really sets that tone for him: "Thou and thy apish kin will grovel at my feet, or be destroyed. So saith the Lord of the Throne and Crown, and so shall it be done."
As an aside, the Turakian Age was an era of millennia of sophisticated civilizations, but apart from some Empyreans almost no-one on Champs Earth today knows anything about it. The repeated global geologic catastrophes since then nearly eradicated any tangible artifacts from the period. Even by the era of Atlantis there were barely any legends about it.
Some of the liberties Cryptic took with the visuals of the characters from the source material seriously grate on me, but with Takofanes I feel they not only captured the essence, they made it even more dramatic.