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Post by bellerophon on Dec 17, 2010 9:48:43 GMT
I think Annie looks a little too young for that. It's really hard to tell what with the changing art, but it's possible that this isn't that long before chapter one, if you go back and try to imagine her less severe in manner and... rounder.
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Post by Alexandragon on Dec 17, 2010 10:15:15 GMT
Wow! Looks like we will see next how Anthony loves Surma and "loves" Antimony.
Great page.
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Post by kalechibki on Dec 17, 2010 10:25:31 GMT
My first thought when I saw the comic was that Anthony didn't know, and this is when Surma broke the news to him as to WHY she was sick. I know supposedly everyone knew, but all's and every's tend to not be as exhaustive or complete as those who are in the know think they are.
My second thought, because of Tom's twitter comment, is that Annie is essentially filtering memories back through and seeing them in a totally different light than she did before. Obviously she was there before, but Surma and Anthony obviously didn't say anything about Annie's life being linked to Surma's death to come at this point. Annie's reprocessing this memory as having to do with the inevitability of her mother's death rather than whatever she thought it had to deal with before.
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Post by Alexandragon on Dec 17, 2010 10:37:06 GMT
Little crazy: A: I can't heal you! I don't understand what is this! S: Ahaha I win betting!
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Post by Afalstein on Dec 17, 2010 10:37:10 GMT
Annie's books imply she's studying, or preparing to. Though I don't think this is the 'final' goodbye (there's no sign of Annie having to guide her mother yet), it's definitely approaching the end. So...Surma's the one who's dying, and Anthony's the one who needs comforting? Not the first time I've seen sort of thing. Indeed. It always seems easier for the one who goes first. No wonder Annie is so defensive of her father. This single picture confirms that Anthony is not the eternal icy fish everyone believes him to be, and shows that he did indeed love Surma. Very nice. Very evocative. Wonder if they'll notice Annie, or if she'll just slowly back away.
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Post by edzepp on Dec 17, 2010 10:55:53 GMT
Yeah, I like that I can see a side of him here that would have caused Surma to fall in love with him.
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Post by digikitty on Dec 17, 2010 11:41:26 GMT
Finally, a glimpse of Anthony! I love how much emotion this scene depicts, without words of any kind.
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Post by todd on Dec 17, 2010 11:44:15 GMT
Given the length of Annie's hair in the flashback, this must be a few years before Surma died.
I do think that one of the chief points of this page is to show that Anthony wasn't so cold and remote after all. Our only close look at him before today was in Chapter Twenty-two when he walks off saying that he has other matters to attend to - in an overly-formal speech style for a boy who's only twelve or thirteen, definitely supporting the claims of his being cold and unemotional. Seeing him grieving over a dying wife shows that he did have feelings.
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Post by Rex on Dec 17, 2010 12:37:51 GMT
Wow.
Some of the best pages in this comic have no words whatsoever. Well done, Tom.
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Post by Alexandragon on Dec 17, 2010 12:40:48 GMT
Yeah, I like that I can see a side of him here that would have caused Surma to fall in love with him. Me too, but it's so sad... It was the end... of beginning the new life...
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Post by dismalscientist on Dec 17, 2010 12:41:46 GMT
Little crazy:A: I can't heal you! I don't understand what is this! S: Ahaha I win betting! Ten bucks on Surma pulling Anthony toward her and kneeing him in the face. And then shedding tears -- of laughter.
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Spike
Junior Member
Posts: 67
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Post by Spike on Dec 17, 2010 12:54:16 GMT
Oh God this page. Annie looks absolutely adorable and I think I'm gonna use that one picture as my av-- dammit kalechibki. Anthony is full of grief and apology. You can see that in his posture. Surma is, well, being a nice gal and seems to be trying to comfort Anthony, actually.
Yeah, Anthony failed at saving her, apparently, and is breaking the news.
...;_____;
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Post by lemmingatk on Dec 17, 2010 13:06:51 GMT
The reflection on the floor in panel six looks much more like Surma than Annie, in my opinion. It could be another hint at Annie having taken a part of her mother.
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yhbc
Junior Member
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Post by yhbc on Dec 17, 2010 13:48:45 GMT
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Post by aaroncampbell on Dec 17, 2010 13:57:08 GMT
Ah yes lil' Annie is just so adorable And yet in panel 4 I can't but think of how Stoned she looks Also surma's dead and Anthony's there... ah the things we kind of overlook when we have something really cute on the same page Monte, Surma's not dead on this page. (She's only mostly dead. See, mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, there's only one thing you can do: go through their pockets and look for loose change. )
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Miri
Full Member
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Post by Miri on Dec 17, 2010 14:09:08 GMT
I don't think so - Annie's hair needs to grow a bit more. But I don't think it's terribly long 'til then. THIS PAAAAAGE. This page has rewritten my entire perception of Anthony Carver. Next in-comic year needs to get here faster. (She's only mostly dead. See, mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, there's only one thing you can do: go through their pockets and look for loose change. ) You win, sir.
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lero
New Member
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Post by lero on Dec 17, 2010 14:10:51 GMT
Based on Tom's Twitter comment and the fact that Annie was falling asleep on the last page, I think this is just a dream. It didn't actually happen.
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Tanya
Junior Member
work in progress
Posts: 63
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Post by Tanya on Dec 17, 2010 14:11:43 GMT
Crawling out of my cave to say what a brilliant artist Tom is, to capture all this love and pain in one frame. Also, my theory from a million light years ago, that Anthony is not a Jerk:
I want Monday here....
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Post by dismalscientist on Dec 17, 2010 14:18:45 GMT
Based on Tom's Twitter comment and the fact that Annie was falling asleep on the last page, I think this is just a dream. It didn't actually happen. That's an interesting (and valid) theory -- "Annie sees something she's never really seen before" -- but I'd be surprised if it were the case; I think it'd be quite the subterfuge on Tom's part. A scene like this explains perfectly Annie's irritation and anger at the suggestion that her father was emotionless, that he couldn't love, that her mother didn't love him. So I interpret the tweet as "Annie, at the time of the scene depicted in today's comic, sees something that she had not heretofore seen." Then again ... I've been wrong before, today, heck, multiple times already. And it's early.
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Post by legion on Dec 17, 2010 14:31:47 GMT
ANTHONY CARVER! SHOWING EMOTIONS AND CARING!
TRULY *THIS* IS THE MOST SHOCKING REVELATION OF THIS CHAPTER!
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Post by jayne on Dec 17, 2010 14:33:13 GMT
Ah yes lil' Annie is just so adorable And yet in panel 4 I can't but think of how Stoned she looks Also surma's dead and Anthony's there... ah the things we kind of overlook when we have something really cute on the same page Yes, Annie is adorable but dead people rarely sit up in bed with tears in their eyes while comforting their grieving spouse. I mean, there was this one time.... no...that was something else... Anyway, its darn rare.
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Post by jayne on Dec 17, 2010 14:36:40 GMT
Based on Tom's Twitter comment and the fact that Annie was falling asleep on the last page, I think this is just a dream. It didn't actually happen. I believe what Annie has never seen before was her father broken down by grief. He's crying!
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Post by dismalscientist on Dec 17, 2010 15:42:08 GMT
Yes, Annie is adorable but dead people rarely sit up in bed with tears in their eyes while comforting their grieving spouse. At least not without trying to eat the spouse's brains immediately afterward. Come to think of it, the way Surma's drawing Anthony toward her -- well -- I've seen enough George Romero movies to know how this'll play out ...
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Spike
Junior Member
Posts: 67
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Post by Spike on Dec 17, 2010 16:43:13 GMT
(She's only mostly dead. See, mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, there's only one thing you can do: go through their pockets and look for loose change. ) This could be Douglas Adams worthy.
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Post by nikita on Dec 17, 2010 16:49:21 GMT
So...Surma's the one who's dying, and Anthony's the one who needs comforting? Not the first time I've seen sort of thing. Dying is always easier than seeing your loved ones die.
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Post by fronzel on Dec 17, 2010 16:50:38 GMT
A mother is out (forever).
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Post by jayne on Dec 17, 2010 16:58:10 GMT
(She's only mostly dead. See, mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, there's only one thing you can do: go through their pockets and look for loose change. ) This could be Douglas Adams worthy.
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Post by spacemilk on Dec 17, 2010 17:04:08 GMT
So...Surma's the one who's dying, and Anthony's the one who needs comforting? Not the first time I've seen sort of thing. Dying is always easier than seeing your loved ones die. I suppose you have died many times, to know this?
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Post by jtpetro on Dec 17, 2010 17:40:38 GMT
Surma's expression makes sense. On Formspring, it was said that Surma knew that having Annie would kill her, but that she never regretted having Annie for a second.
Surma has already come to an acceptance of her pending death, she has had years to do so at this point, but Anthony hasn't.
It's very likely that this is the first Anthony has heard about her strange "condition" and the connection to their daughter. Maybe she never told Anthony what having a child would do to her, so that she would get to have a child.
Seems she told Eglamore about her condition, and he refused to father her child and they broke up. It makes sense that Surma and Anthony would leave the court after marrying and never speak to their old friends, if Anthony never knew, because Surma didn't want James or Anja around warning Anthony.
If all this is true, what Surma did was both the ultimate act of love AND cruelty. Anthony might both love and hate Surma for this, on top of dealing with crushing grief. He might hate/love Annie as well, and perhaps he skipped out to spare Annie his hatred born of powerlessness and regret. Maybe he figures NO father is better than a grieving, angry father who might lash out at her.
Maybe, once he's had time to grieve, he can come back and be a loving father to Annie without blaming her.
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Post by Snes on Dec 17, 2010 17:48:09 GMT
Great page, but who wants to bet Tom will troll us some more and not show Anthony's face in this chapter?
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