NOT QUITE TERRESTRIAL #6
Writer's Commentary

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I have to admit, it took way too long with this issue. Origjnally, we were supposed to take a small break after the first arc was completed. However, it took a bit longer after it would seem due to other commitments and our busy schedules.

Issue #6 is a strange one for me, as I wrote it well over a year ago. {dixey} was in fact still with us when I finished the script (issue #6 was the only reason, in fact, she even considered maybe staying because at the time she was hooked on Kindle). But it was also written before September 11, which is significant in considering certain events of the issue.

Cover
Usually we have a fairly good idea what to do for a cover, but for this issue, I didn't know what should be drawn. I knew that I wanted the Space Needle on it, because, in my mind, it's an even more important character in the story than Kindle is. But at the same time, this was going to be the issue that would kick off a series of Kindle stories, which meant we needed her on it too. So Tigrr threw together this great cover, which I think is absoulutely beautiful. Props go to Ruyi for the idea of flooding the cover's colors with flames, which I think make the cover look sorta like the poster for Die Hard.

Putting a date on this page was something I really didn't want to do but knew had to be done. I don't like putting in narration of any kind in these stories unless they're coming from the characters themselves, as in the case of Sierra's diary in issue #1 and the newspaper clippings in issue #3. However, it was too small of a thing to have narration be used, so I figured I'd just break my standard rule for this. I'll probably do it again when we hit arc 3.

Page 1
This page, along with page 3, were originally drawn by Netlady. However, she never did pages 2 or 4 due to time restraints and I really didn't want to have an alternating artist for the first four pages, so I had Ruyi redraw the pages. This page, Ruyi will tell you, she did really quick, but I think it looks great. The door all by it's lonesome seems sorta surreal, but neat. The apartment number was sort of important to me, as it's a slight Biblical reference to John 3:16. NQT isn't Biblical as I'm not a strongly religious person, but I've been trying hard to put philosophical and religious allusions (and not just Christian, I'll note) thoughout the series as we're slowly building up to something big in the final arc.

Page 2
NQT #6 takes place in May of 2001 rather than July of 2000, like NQT #1-5. Although this may seem strange, dates are important, as arc 3 will take place in 2012. Because Sierra and Matt have now been finished with high school for well over a year and have no plans of going to college, it was important to me to give them careers that might represent who they are as people, but at the same time wouldn't pay great. Sierra I gave the job as a telephone psychic. And for those of you who wonder if psychics really work from home, they do; they simply plug into a network (it's similar to what Neve Cambpell's character does in Scream 3, except she's working for a different type of hotline). Matt's job, although not displayed in this issue, has changed to being a carpenter.

Page 3
It was Ruyi's idea from the beginning that the montage would be done using old scenes from other issues rather than the artist drawing the scenes. Netlady drew her version that way too, but it was at Ruyi's suggestion, and she carried it on in her page. In the script, I had written a lot of new scenes, like a burnt dog and stuff. However, it was thought that it would be best to give only a little bit of new stuff; thus, the pic of the abusive father. I would love to dive into her character eventually, do a story about her childhood. I think that would be awesome.

Page 4
On the tv is a scene from the movie Amelie. In the movie, she dressed up like Zorro at one point to help someone. That's sort of what Sierra does in this issue.

It was important to me that Sierra and Matt not have shirts on in this page. In theory, they're about to have sex, and I just wanted to confirm for the reader how far their relationship had reached since issue #5.

Page 5
Jacob Bond has been a good friend of mine for a while. In fact, for a time he was supposed to be the sole artist on issue #1. So when {dixey} left the series, I asked him to join the group and he jumped at the chance.

This page was done twice by Jacob. He was disappoined quite a bit with the initial page as he felt it didn't represent his natural style. So he redid it. The same goes for page 6.

Page 6
This is the same suit Sierra stole from Shawn's guard in issue #4. This is also the last time you will see Sierra in that suit as she will decide in the end that being a super-hero in nonsense and doesn't work.

Page 7
Not much to say here. Jacob had to redraw Kindle's smile as I felt the initial one seemed joyful and not sinister. But otherwise, no big story goes with this page.

Page 8
I absolutely love it when an artist's rendition of a page completely surprises me, and this page is such a page. I had imagined a shot of Sierra flying from far away, then a close up of a person being thrown out the window. But Jacob came up with something that I feel plays way better emotionally. It's very cool.

Page 9
I had forgotten to tell Tigrr that Matt drives a truck since he's a carpenter, so she had to redraw this page. I had to grovel for forgiveness. Also, enjoy the license plate. Tigrr gets a kick out of doing stuff on those, it would seem.

Page 10
I know this sounds egotistical, but I just love the dialogue I did in this page. I know it's not great dialouge, but I think it plays nicely.

Page 11
Great page. Not much to say other than the fact that I struggled over what sound Sierra should make when she pukes. I actually thought it would be great for her to throw up. Sierra isn't a hero yet. She's not ready for something like this and especially not ready to see something like that.

Page 12
This page was supposed to have lots more dialouge. Lots. But I think it's one of Tigrr's best pages yet for the series, so I really tried hard not to contaminate it. It was also supposed to be the point, in theory, where everyone would run for the elevator. However, I miscommunicated this in the script, so neither Tigrr nor Glock have anyone escaping.

Page 13
Glock's pages. It's sorta interesting in her pages, watching Sierra. Since Glock didn't show her eyes, most of her emotions are conveyed by her hands and mouth instead. I dunno, it's sort of interesting to me. I love the last panel in this, too. I think Glock does a good job showing that, if Sierra did fight, Kindle would probably still win.

Page 14
This page caused me problems. Like I said, I hadn't conveyed well enough that everyone should have escaped. So when Glock turned in the original version of this page, everyone was there and Sierra was escaping out of a window, leaving them there to die. I couldn't get ahold of Glock at the time to fix it and for a while I didn't know what to do. I then realized that if I blew up the last panel just a bit, cropping out the window opening, it would look instead like Sierra was running. So... problem solved. At least temporarily. I'm hoping Glock might evenually have the time to redraw the last panel properly.

Page 15
This page caused me problems an an obviously different level. I'd actually had this page in mind since first deciding NQT should be in Seattle. I had no clue what it's purpose should be, but it made sense to me action wise. I had read an intereview with I believe Erik Larsen but I could be mistaken in which he noted that the reason his comics seem so much more real in some sense is because in his comics, real monuments are destroyed, and that connects to people. So when we decided Kindle should hold people hostage, I figured this would be a great way to end it.

Then September 11 came. I won't go into my emotions about that day, cause I think everyone in America felt the same way. A week or two later, though, I became concerned over whether this page would be considered inappropriate. I asked the crew what they thought, whether it should be cut or not. And although everyone thought it good to give thought about the topic, everyone agreed that, since our readership is low and since we would not be out for a while anyway, that it would be fine. Still... the page does send an entirely different tingle down one's spine than I had intended. But it's still a nice looking page.

Page 16
Oh my God, she's alive! Alive! Yeah, I know, the chances of her surviving... are almost non-existent. But who cares. She'll return. The arc continues.

This is Glockgal's last issue, saddly. It's really a shame she's leaving, because she had such a huge hand in the development of the series. It's going to be a shame to not be working with her any longer.

Pin-Up
Ruyi (and, in case you haven't caught on, Ruyi is Marie Yuen. Marie's not her real name) drew this on a whim when summer began cause, as she put it, every comic needs a swimsuit special. Definately great coloring.

Well, that's all for now. Come back for next issue!