73: Occupant Sin 4 - liv. A Total Eclipse of the Art (Style)

Page Notes

Episode published on Monday 4th of May, 2015.

Occupant Sin 4, if it's not apparent from the published dates on these pages, took a long time to draw. I rather overestimated the first chapter of Detulux in terms of scope, and rather than condense the essence of the thing this was parodying, Resident Evil 4, I opted for a step-by-step re-tread. I was advised by other webcomic creators to reboot a couple of times and skip this altogether, but I have a stubborn streak.

The idea that I was on the ropes and needed to tag in another artist came in the form of a simple doodle Sam drew. I had her working on another project called the Right Brothers on a first episode that was also dragging its heels due to the sheer amount of dialogue contained within it. In the doodle, the titular Right Bros. were not particularly doing anything interesting at all and then there was a caption of "meanwhile in Detulux Inc" along with a quick sketch of the monster Burdener terrorising the Detulux crew. Sam's feelings were apparent, and I agreed to let her take over art duties.

Originally she got stuck into the pages for the scripts for the subsequent "interlude" chapter and I had intentions of finishing off the Occupant Sin storyline, allowing the art change to take over from the beginning of the next section. However, I'd written myself a battle with lots of crowd scenes and I had just burned out creatively on the storyline altogether. I threw together the quick episode beat of Pain taking Burdener's appendage to the face to allow the art shift, which is why it comes clumsily after Ben makes his presence known - I actually still have the sketch of his triumphant appearance on the back of his new pet. Having Pain take one to the face was very cathartic, and there was a nice transition as I uploaded my half of the page to my DeviantArt account with the title "THE END(ish)" and the following note:

So that's it. Rocks fall, everyone dies. Mr. Pain is killed by a massive penis to the face, such is life. THE END.

At least that's how it ends in this dimension. Meanwhile, in a parallel dimension not too dissimilar from this one...

This was linked to the second half of the page on Sam's account.

I'm very fond of this page, the passing of the baton into caring hands. I'm smugly pleased with that title, too.

Tagged: Ben Nevis, Bono, The Captain, Frank the Henchman, Location - Burdener Island, Location - Spain, Lord Almond Burdener, Max Valerion

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Comments

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Transcript

Title - 73: "Occupant Sin 4"
Subtitle - liv. "A Total Eclipse of the Art (Style)"

(Pain turns around and comes face-to-face with Burdener's giant mutated head and giant eyeball. He screams in a panic.)

Pain: AAAAGH! Open FIRE!

(Burdener gets pelted with eggs again. He doesn't react, still leering at Pain. Pain turns to the henchmen and continues to yell.)

Pain: With GUNS, YOU MORONS!

(We zoom out to see henchmen surrounding Burdener and opening fire with their rifles. Helicopters buzz around. Burdener starts making his way forward on his giant spidery legs, unfazed. The Captain looks scared as he watches the scene unfold.)

Captain: How do you stop it?!

(Henchmen continue to fire thier guns at the Burdener creature, who isn't reacting. He's soaking up bullets and looking none the worse for wear. A silhouette appears on an outcrop of rock overlooking the platform. It looks like a man riding a very misshapen creature. Two panels intersect the main panel, showing Pain and the Captain's reactions to the newcomer. Captain looks optimisticm excited even. Pain is rolling his eyes, clearly annoyed.)

Silhouette: 'ave no fear, laddies! The cavalry is here!
Captain: Is that-
Pain: Oh not again!
Burdener: HRUGH!

(Suddenly, the Lieutenant reacts to something off-panel. He's panicked, grasping at his helmet as he tries to get Pain's attention.)

Lieutenant: Boss! Look out!

(Pain looks over his shoulder, unaware. Burdener is lashing out with his lower tentacle from under his robes, the appendage shooting past a couple of henchman and towards the reader. The next panel is a reaction shot as Pain realises what's about to happen, worried surprise on his face.)

Pain: Meep.

(Pain is struck hard across the face by the big, veiny, purple appendage. It sends him flying backwards.)

SFX: COCK SLAP'D!

(There's a black panel, followed by several panels from Pain's perspective, his eyes barely opening. In the first of these panels, the Captain and the Lieutenant can be seen leaning over him.)

Captain: Boss?

(Pain's eyes begin to close, the image of the other two becoming blurred, along with their dialogue.)

Lieutenant: You okay, Boss?

(Pain's eyes are closed, the panel completely black. The dialogue is blurry and hard to read.)

Lieutenant: Come on Boss, snap out of it!
Captain: Wow, he really took that cock like a pro. Straight to the face!

(Pain begins to open his eyes again. The other two are still leaning over him, the image still blurry. The art style looks different. In the the next panel, Pain's eyes are fully open and the blur has gone. We can now clearly see that the others have been drawn with more detail now. Captain looks worried.)

Captain: You alright, Boss?

(We are no longer seeing from Pain's perspective. Pain sits up, rubbing his head. Henchmen can be seen behind him, still attacking Burdener who is off-panel. Captain and the Lieutenant are watching Pain closely.)

Pain: Owwww. What hit me-

(Pain realises the artstyle has changed as he catches sight of the Captain's face. Behind him, a shotgun wielding henchmen roots around in his jacket for ammo. The Captain and the Lieutenant help Pain to his feet. Pain is staring at the Captain in disbelief.)

Pain: Crikey! I've been hit so hard, I'm seeing extra lines! It's like everything's in high-def now!

(Pain stares at his hands, examining how different they look. Captain and the Lieutenant are both indifferent about their boss' apparent concussion. Behind them, the shotgun henchmen pulls out ammo for an M16 and is understandably confused by Pain's remarks.)

Pain: Er, right. Where were we?

(Everyone is startled as Ben riding a creature the size of a horse lands heavily in front of them unexpectedly.)

SFX: THUMP!

(Ben and the monster Pain and Captain saw him fighting earlier pose in front of them. Ben waves at them, the monster waving its elongated tongue at them as it growls. Both are covered in blood from previous skirmishes with Burdener's forces. The monster is reminiscent of a centaur, the top half being a man with an exposed brain and a tentacle for a left arm. Its body is a brown, bulbous mass. Four limbs with claw-like feet extend from it. Behind them, a couple of henchmen react in surprise at its appearance, the rest continuing to fight Burdener.)

Ben: The calvalry is here!
Monster: GRAAGH...

(Pain glares at Ben in annoyance.)

Pain: Every damn time.

(Pain turns to the Captain as he complains, waving his hands for emphasis. The Captain isn't too sure what to make of this situation.)

Pain: Last time it was a sodding bear, and the time before that he "befriended" a wild tiger, and before that it was a bloody shark!

(Ben pats the monster on the head affectionately. The monster loves the attention. Burdener looms behind them.)

Ben: Go on, boy! Have some fun!
Monster: GRAGH!

(The monster leaps at Burdener, a clawed appendage emerging from its back. The Burdener monster grins at the sight of the monster flying towards his face.)

Monster: GRAAAAGHH!

(In the background, the monster clamps on to Burdener's head with his back appendage and wrestles with Burdener's neck. Burdener glares at the thing climbing on him. In the foreground, Ben claps his hands together as he pleads with Pain, who looks irritated.)

Ben: Well, Chief? Can I keep 'em?" I'll walk 'im, feed 'im, all that!
Pain: Hmm...Ben, mate, a horrific genetic experiment isn't just for Christmas.

(Ben looks upset by Pain's response. Pain's back is to the reader. In the background, the henchmen are still waging war.)

Pain: Besides, if you want a mutant abomination to science there's plenty of them out in the woods back at headquarters.
Ben: Awwww! Ah had a name fur 'im an' everyfin.

(Close up of Pain as he considers Ben's response. He's not making eye contact with Ben.)

Pain: *Sigh* I'll think about it.

(Ben scoops Pain up in a tight hug. Pain's face turns blue as he struggles to breath from the pressure of Ben's grip. He tries to struggle out of it.)

Ben: Aww, cheers mukker!
Pain: Ben...can't...breathe!

Episode tagline: There's nothing odd about this page whatsoever. Nope.