I hope you all like the Splash page. =) I felt guilty for being an entire morning late, so I took the time to spruce it up with some grayscale (which I really wish were tones, but I have no access to those...) I think I'm going to use this technique for all future splash pages. It's effective, plus now you can tell more easily that the main fabric is denim.

Artist Comments on This Page: This costume was really a random design, a spur-of-the-moment thing. I liked it - note all the frills! - so I kept it. The background was an afterthought. Ooh, it's another round of Guess What This Splash Page Is! Look back in the first and second Old News to see which three you have to decide between.

Yeah, I think I'm done with the frames layout. Update your bookmarks! It's a lot easier to navigate now, I hope. I'll be adding more links soon. Oh, and if you know me and want to be an Affy, send me an e-mail! Also: vote!! ^-^

M.Hansen

This is the end of Chapter 1 everybody!

The Splash Page will be up on Monday, I hope. I've finished inking it and everything, I just don't know if I'll have time to upload it and all. I'm working on a frame-run site design, if you want a peek go to http://saioh.keenspace.com/main.htm =)

Artist Comments on This Page: I hope you read all those headlines! It took me a long time to draw all those straight lines and individual newspapers, not to mention doing the fonts by hand.

In other news: vote!! ^-^

M.Hansen

Okay, okay, so I should have told all of you that I was taking a one-month vacation!

To make up for that, I'm having THREE updates this entire week! If we get any higher than 350 on Buzzcomix by the end of the month, I may decide to continue this schedule until school starts. Or then again, you could suggest to me to instead put those extra pages in a cache to prevent cancelled uploads. It all depends on you guys, really.

Artist Comments on This Page: I can draw cars. Wow! O_o I didn't know that.

My little sister's at camp, but she returns tommorrow, so you'll be sure she'll keep me on track! Keep voting, everyone, I really need the readership to boost my interest in the manga. =3

M.Hansen

And the plot thickens...

Artist Comments on This Page: I actually do have an excuse on why this was late. My cat sat on it while I was working on it and I was discouraged from finishing it earlier than now. Why? Well, she has a nasty cut on the base of her tail that bleeds. She bled on a part of the page! I fixed it digitally, but... eww.

We've taken her to the vet, she's getting another consultation with Dr. Sosa on Monday. Hopefully she'll be okay.

M.Hansen

Oooo, the tension!

Saioh's a natural scaredy cat; her mood transitions are abrupt and sometimes spontaneous, as is shown here. ;) This time, though, she has a good cause to be scared...

Artist Comments on This Page: Do you see the PERSPECTIVE? Huh huh doyou?! I used it in TWO PANELS, and there was an incredible amount of referencing involved! And D'YOU SEE THAT TREE?? I am one very happy person, yes I am. n_n And where the heck is that tree, you ask? It's right in front of her, that's where! This house she's standing at is one of the few with a yard, and the tree is its main feature.

The foreshadowing on past pages SHOULD tell you who that stepping-on-twig person is, but in case you haven't figured it out, come back Friday for the answer!

M.Hansen


UPDATED 05/28/2004

Wow! Heheh... it's been two weeks since my last news post. O_O Yes I've been lazy. I have no excuse! Hit me with mallets! >_<

I finished this page just a couple of minutes ago. I'm quite proud with it all (except maybe the last panel, but that's just because I can't draw backgrounds). Oh, and an interesting note for all of you readers: Sam actually IS better at games than Saioh. This explains Saioh's sudden chickening out, of course, as well as the reason why they were playing team games instead of some battle multiplayer like Saioh said they would. (She kept losing to Sam and Sam got bored.)

Artist Comments on This Page: I tried a new inking-thing on the third and fifth panel! Action lines and hatching... phew, the action lines bored me! And I was trusting my instincts to the hatching, so I'm quite glad I didn't ruin the piece with it.

The action actually starts in the next page, so be sure to tune in! =D

M.Hansen

Phew, I fixed all those update problems. Were you upset that you couldn't see Friday's comic? I was, too! You can see it now, though. =D And check ye Olde News for the commentary on that day as well. We're all back to normal!

This is now just a transitory page. I was experimenting with fonts... and chibis! And hey, you FINALLY get to see Sam. =) What do you think?

Artist Comments on This Page: I was quite proud of Panel 1, and of Saioh's mom. Doesn't her character design just suit her personality? It took me a while to get it right. The clock also gave me some trouble. Stubborn clock! ;D New site design to come soon, probably using some kind of pre-made template... (I'm not good with tables).

M.Hansen

Okay, Keenspace had a couple of weird things going on this week. It's changing site layouts, so it's hard to update. Please be patient!

Doesn't our Saioh look unphased by the news? I would be, too, it happens all the time. But this is the first time it happens to the citizens of Saioh's city... and yes, you will find out where she lives... eventually. ;)

Artist Comments on This Page: I know it looks a little sloppy in certain areas... I couldn't avoid it, unfortunately. It gets far better in more recent pages. I am, however, very proud of the last panel. Most of it got cut off, but I'm still proud of it. The angle was hard to do!

Keep coming back, and don't forget to vote!

M.Hansen

Happy Mother's Day, CSC fans! What a coincidence that this is Saioh's mother's first appearance in the comic, don't you agree? It wasn't planned.

The next page will contain much more dialog than this. I am, however, very proud of the layout and everything. Saioh and her family came out just the way I wanted!

Artist Comments on This Page: I LOVE CHIBIS! Yes, I had to get that off my chest. Oh, and in case anyone was interested, Saioh's backpack and shoes are based off of mine. AND LOOK! A background with PERSPECTIVE IN IT! *gasp* ;D You can tell I'm happy.

Mewhaha.

M.Hansen

Welcome back to your bi-weekly dose of Conspiracy. (I myself call it CSC).

This time, it's indirect characterization's turn to show itself. No more of that dictation stuff, now you get to see Saioh as she really is, all by herself so you don't get any of that hipocricy either.

Artist Comments on This Page: If you get the joke on her pajamas I will love you forever. No, seriously, I don't expect anyone to get it. And I would also like to note that, with me living in Mexico and all, I have no access to tones, so all those so-called 'shades' you see are done by hand. I haven't tried using the computer for it yet -- I won't until I figure out how to work the GIMP.

I hope you like this comic. Don't forget the existence of Old News until I have the buttons and layout finished so you can go there without my reminding you. Saint Jeebus, I'm swamped with work at the moment, so it's likely I won't finish this weekend. Monday's page will still be up, though - I have it automated. =D No worries there.

M.Hansen

And so we begin our normal update schedule. From now on, it'll be Mondays and Fridays only.

Hooray for the first page! I'm so happy! Anyway, this being an introduction and all, you probably got a lot of information from just this first page. There's even a little bit of foreshadowing involved, you can discuss it at the forums if you feel inclined to. :D I must say I'm not the best at hiding clues and hints, though...

Artist Comments on This Page: This was quite a hard page to draw, once you get down to it. Not only are there details I have to take care of, such as the style of Saioh's journal and the look of her desk, but there are also the speech bubbles to worry about. This is actually the second version of them (the first got erased because of a glitch in my program). From then on I decided to do everything but the text by hand. You may find this page slightly sloppy, as it was my first try.

But anyway! =D I added in a BuzzComix vote button so you can raise our ranks (300+ isn't exactly a satisfying rank, you know). And behold the buttons and calendar when you click 'previous'! ^-^ Soon I will reformat the error pages as well. For now, you can look at this new page: Old News. Happy clicking!

M.Hansen

*Throws Confetti*

Welcome to our Grand Opening! Everyone have cookies! ^-^ *throws cookies around*

Let us repeat the background info: Basically, it stars our young heroine Saioh up there. She's not exactly smart, but she's hyperactive and really nice to everyone, so it's all O.K. She ends up getting caught up in a huge scandal involving terrorists, and discovers several things about herself (and her family) that she never knew. And yes, there's fighting and bishounen and a plotline. And skirts. =D

Artist Comments on This Page: Basically this is your near-typical Manga splash page. We have the heroine with a dragon-thing and some sort of half-transparent wrapping on her left hand... I really should explain this. You see, there's three kinds of splash pages I draw: the Pin-Up ones, which are basically just pretty pictures of the hero(es); the Past Events ones, which are exactly that: depictions of past events, battles or costumes, etc; and the Future Events ones, which will portray teasers of things to happen later. You, as the readers, will have to decide what category each splash page belongs to! ;)

Please don't forget to visit the forums and post your comments! n_n" We're all quite friendly!

M.Hansen

Woohoo! Updates are on the way.

Webcomic scheduled for launch May 1st 2004. I already have the first 5 updates uploaded.

You may or may not want some background on this story. Basically, it stars our young heroine Saioh up there. She's not exactly smart, but she's hyperactive and really nice to everyone, so it's all O.K. She ends up getting caught up in a huge scandal involving terrorists, and discovers several things about herself (and her family) that she never knew. And yes, there's fighting and bishounen and a plotline. And skirts. =D

Please visit the forums and post your comments! n_n" We're all quite friendly!