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Redridge Express Page 28
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Redridge Express Page 28

on August 10, 2014
Chapter: Book 6: The Redridge Express
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Discussion ¬

  1. Karyl
    Karyl
    August 10, 2014, 9:14 pm | # | Reply

    Every time I think you can’t outdo your previous efforts, you astound me yet again! Can’t wait to see how steamhorse works out in the longer run!!

    • Ben
      Ben
      August 12, 2014, 7:58 pm | # | Reply

      Always appreciated, Karyl.

  2. Annie
    Annie
    August 10, 2014, 9:34 pm | # | Reply

    Absolutely gorgeous page! The leaves in the background throughout are phenomenal. Also, yay Diamonds! (Is there any actual horse under there though?) I rather love his expression. I guess playing god is only okay when you use fire magic to do it…

    • Emanon
      Emanon
      August 11, 2014, 12:39 am | # | Reply

      Don’t think that’s a horse under there as she’s riding /in/ it and it’s a combustion engine of some sort. Just no room… (not to mention there was no horse to convert, just a “lab?” I guess.

      I’m still rooting for John Henry really. I know he’s a scoundrel, but he’s just so damned likable and badass.

      • Matt in TX
        Matt in TX
        August 12, 2014, 5:34 pm | # | Reply

        Diamonds was under the pile of ice in the back of the cave/lab.

      • Ben
        Ben
        August 12, 2014, 8:00 pm | # | Reply

        Steam engine, actually, and Matt is correct re: convertible horse.

    • David M
      David M
      August 11, 2014, 6:37 am | # | Reply

      If there is he can’t be very happy and
      I feel sorry for the beast
      I’m starting to have a little sympathy for Hunter just from her refusal to let the poor tortured animal rest in peace

    • Ben
      Ben
      August 12, 2014, 7:58 pm | # | Reply

      Thanks much!

  3. arnly
    arnly
    August 10, 2014, 10:13 pm | # | Reply

    I hardly know what to say or where to start. This is a gorgeous page. I feel the quiet and late sunlight of these last few pages work as bookends to the early images of this chapter.

    The autumn leaves are beautiful, including the few falling close to us in the last cell. Diamonds is amazing – larger and more impressive than any destrier. We noticed the diamond still on his forehead, and the “Whitefield Boiler Co.” pressure gauge from the engine. John Henry’s expressions are spot on – you can hear the disturbance below in the looks on his face and in his body language in the first inset.

    The composition of the page, the shape of the inset cells, and the NTO trademark detail on the frame of the last inset are all wonderful. The lighting is as beautiful as the early morning sun that began this chapter, but different – purple shadows, warmer high lights. I love the way you gradually passed an entire day with the lighting and color choices. Again, I think one of the chief beauties of this whole chapter is how you handled the lighting, and without overstating it. It’s subtle, realistic, part of the story, but not stealing the scenes. Getting that right could be what impresses me most about this book, now that I reflect on it.

    The dappling on the tree trunk at bottom left sets the magical mood and frames the impressive last image. I also really like the way you blend that tree trunk with the shadows and black smoke rising out of the third cell. That really works. Both the train AND Diamonds live again, but in such a strange, dark way.

    Now both Vane and John Henry are mounted in black, and their horses seem to fully reflect their different powers.

    What a great finish. I hope you enjoy your break. And I can’t wait to see what’s next.

    • Ben
      Ben
      August 12, 2014, 8:02 pm | # | Reply

      Your comments are always very much appreciated, arnly.

      My break is going to be working two comics simultaneously; I’ll try to enjoy it. Hopefully I’m up to it.

  4. Bex
    Bex
    August 11, 2014, 3:03 am | # | Reply

    LOL you gotta love that shocked/fearful look on Hunter’s face.

    • Ben
      Ben
      August 12, 2014, 8:02 pm | # | Reply

      😀

  5. itakru
    itakru
    August 11, 2014, 4:23 am | # | Reply

    I ‘ve been reading this comic for awhile now and haven’t commented before, and I just eanna say I love your work. The art is beautiful, and I love the characters so much–I honestly can’t say whose side I’m on in this. I love how tranquil the sunset and autumn landscape are presented in their soft oranges and golds, and I love how you use other shades of orange as a contrast that enhances the menacing presence of this altered Diamonds. It seems like the more Vane chases her vengeance, Diamonds appearance alters as though to represent how . . . consumed she is. And the look on Hunter’s face, like he doesn’t know to be shocked at her appearance or horrified by what she’s done to his beloved horse. I love every bit of this comic. I want to know more about their past, their motivations, their plans, and I look forward to every new page. The story and the art are both just so gorgeous.

    • Annie
      Annie
      August 12, 2014, 5:14 pm | # | Reply

      Consumed with what, though?

      She’s let Hunter off the hook several times when she could have just shot him point blank in the head. And this last time, derailing the train for scrap metal with which to “fix” Diamonds beat out offing Hunter (not that she couldn’t have done both easily).

      So whatever her motivation is, there has to be more to it.

    • Ben
      Ben
      August 12, 2014, 8:03 pm | # | Reply

      Thanks for finally jumping into the comments, itakru, and double thanks for all the kind words.

  6. Lleyn
    Lleyn
    August 11, 2014, 5:17 am | # | Reply

    So, does anyone else imagine a “VVRRRROOOOMMMM” effect when looking at Diamonds?

    But really, poor, poor horse. Used and reused to within an inch of its life. Because I really do think it’s Diamonds in there, his heart being the machine that powers that apparition (aside from the steam, of course).

    • Red
      Red
      August 19, 2014, 10:59 am | # | Reply

      That horse got a speedometer!

  7. gothold
    gothold
    August 11, 2014, 8:06 am | # | Reply

    God almighty! I believe that Diamonds is in there, And I don’t think he believe he doesn’t mind what has been done to him. If I recall he seems more loyal to Vane than John Henry!

    I gues now he does need a bucket of coal!

    • Ben
      Ben
      August 12, 2014, 8:04 pm | # | Reply

      Good on you remembering Flint’s [now grimly prescient] remark from #3!

    • Korbl
      Korbl
      August 17, 2014, 6:38 pm | # | Reply

      I would imagine that Diamonds’ mind and nervous system are probably still in there, a equindroid, if you will. I would wonder when Diamonds is going to stop pursuing Hunter, but she(?) does seem pretty loyal to Black, so maybe Diamonds just sees her current state as a result of Hunter trying to elude Black, rather than the result of Black *pursuing* Hunter.

  8. Denita TwoDragons
    Denita TwoDragons
    August 11, 2014, 1:22 pm | # | Reply

    …that…that…THAT HORSE!! I want that horse!! Forget cars, forget motorcycles, forget scooters, forget it all. I seriously want that horse for all my transportation needs!!

    And if that’s Diamonds, I don’t think he minds being a steam-powered equine of cast iron and pure badassery at all. In fact, he’s probably ready to stomp a mudhole in John Henry and then walk it dry!

    • Kuro
      Kuro
      August 11, 2014, 5:58 pm | # | Reply

      You might say Diamonds has… a new fire in his belly?

      • Denita TwoDragons
        Denita TwoDragons
        August 12, 2014, 9:57 am | # | Reply

        *rimshot*

        I’d say he’s re-kindled a burning desire for equine vengeance… 😀

      • Ben
        Ben
        August 12, 2014, 8:04 pm | # | Reply

        Gahaw!

  9. XMinusOne
    XMinusOne
    August 11, 2014, 8:07 pm | # | Reply

    Steam locomotives were referred to as ‘Iron Horses’, so here comes a real one. I wonder if he toots rather than whinnies and blows off steam rather than snorts. Vane looks positively demonic in the last panel riding in the horse rather than on it. John Henry looks like he’s freaking out at seeing the steam stallion.

  10. Crowe
    Crowe
    August 12, 2014, 5:23 am | # | Reply

    Now that is impressive. Though how you would sustain a organic component in something like that is beyond me. The jarring alone would shake anything that couldn’t rapid heal into jelly,

  11. arnly
    arnly
    August 12, 2014, 7:10 pm | # | Reply

    I’m imagining the next town that Vane rides into…

  12. StupendousMan88
    StupendousMan88
    August 12, 2014, 11:02 pm | # | Reply

    I’m going to pray for Diamonds.

  13. Madbadger
    Madbadger
    August 13, 2014, 7:25 pm | # | Reply

    That ‘Iron horse’ is gorgeous and the purest essence of steampunk. Well done.

  14. slinkythedrunk
    slinkythedrunk
    August 13, 2014, 10:03 pm | # | Reply

    i love how the header image has changed with each upgrade to diamonds

  15. wr4ith0
    wr4ith0
    August 13, 2014, 10:04 pm | # | Reply

    if this keeps up, the entire back half of this comic will be every notable character trying to stop and survive a rampaging eldritch horse kaiju…

  16. Mastrius0713
    Mastrius0713
    August 15, 2014, 9:02 am | # | Reply

    At least he looks more sturdy and well built then the one that Green Traveler drew up. 😉

  17. WitUnderPressure
    WitUnderPressure
    August 22, 2014, 5:21 pm | # | Reply

    “WHY. WON’T. YOU. DIE!?”

  18. Socrets
    Socrets
    August 22, 2014, 8:54 pm | # | Reply

    “She’s more machine now, than horse.”

  19. aurickandrien
    aurickandrien
    February 6, 2015, 5:54 am | # | Reply

    Reminds me of the story of the Tin Woodman from The Wizard of Oz… Starting off normal but losing limbs and head and torso and having them replaced one after the other until he was totally made from metal.

  20. Zmo
    Zmo
    March 30, 2015, 5:20 am | # | Reply

    Never mind the horse, her hat is back!

  21. Storel
    Storel
    May 3, 2016, 7:27 pm | # | Reply

    Several people along the way have asked why she just doesn’t let Diamonds die, poor thing, instead of repairing him to keep him going. At this point I’m pretty sure that Diamonds can’t die, or he would have by now. She mentions early on that John always said he was a tough horse, after he pretty much ignores a bullet graze on his flank, but tough is hardly the word for it — this horse survived the explosion of a whole cartful of mining explosives at point blank range!

    And after the last time Diamonds got shot, through the neck, the next two things Vane looked at were an axe and a door marked “Ice”. The implication is that she chopped his head off with the axe and kept it preserved with ice while she made plans to run a train off an unfinished trestle so she could get the boiler parts she’d need for this incarnation of him. If his head, all by itself, could survive on ice for however many days or weeks it took for all this to happen, that horse is plainly immortal. So rebuilding him like this is actually doing him a favor, because the alternative would be to abandon him while he’s still alive but trapped in a body that can’t go anywhere (due to all the broken legs and stuff).

    About the only way I think you could kill him at this point might be to cremate his brain, but if John Henry’s fire magic is what’s keeping him alive in the first place then even that might not work. After all, looks like cremating Vane didn’t work…

    Also, aurickandrien, yes! It’s just like the story of the Tin Woodman! Great catch.

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