*Nickelback voice* IT'S BEEN A WHILE

      Now that "everything grinds to a halt for the holidays" December is over and done with, it's time to stop neglecting this.  I don't have any rambling insane theories to talk about right now, so instead how about this: have you ever tried going to a climbing gym? It's a primally satisfactory kind of exercise, my inner ape does excited backflips over it.

     Anyway, on to my ever eroding efforts.

     There's still lots of sticks and bones here in this second pass, I'm mostly focusing on trying to make everything look normal structurally.  Going to all the trouble to make a character look perfect when there's still the chance of shit getting tossed out would be a silly waste of time, not like drawing a comic about a chubby raider gang.

      AREA

      Still haven't really solidified a way of drawing anyone either.  Faces vary wildly from panel to panel, but I guess I'm starting to get proportions under control.  No wonder so many people just have an asset bank they reuse over and over.

     The three main characters are different types of horrible nerd.  The guy with the cap and huge goggles is a tech nerd, the mohawk guy is a social media nerd, and the cowboy hat guy is a book nerd.  I'm not talking cool, hip nerd either, I'm talking abrasive, socially difficult nerds.  Here the goggle man is jazzed about obscure computer parts.

     Here the mohawk guy is getting excited about being on the cutting edge of memes via this universe's equivalent of the internet, HAMNET.  Look how bad that head is in the top middle.  Getting a face to look right when they're looking upwards is reeeeeal difficult.

     Finally, cowboy nerd is excited about maps and survey data, and what is the equivalent of a Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. 

    The things they all found are going to play major parts in the story of course, otherwise I'd just be wasting time here.  Also, you may have noticed what a sausage festival the story is so far.  There will be women, and they will also be certain types of horrible nerds, I just need to nail down their personalities.  I have lots of time for this, since what you're seeing now is only 2 or 3 pages from the end of the first chapter.  Other characters will be sprinkled around in chapter 2, and they'll play larger roles later.

   Well, goodbye.