Previously: Click here for the beginning of the series. Click here for the beginning of this issue. The musical villain The Troubadour is making trouble, and it seems his motivation is to goad Ace of Diamonds into a confrontation . . . an epic showdown . . .
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COMMENTS:
Here's a couple of mine: writer's block articles from my blog Myth-Understanding.
Still, I like the insidiousness of an artist being so willing to feed his inner muse that he will kill and harm other people. But it's no different, really, than any other villain's motivation. Art is just another way people seek to achieve what many of the great villains seek: immortality!
With Ace knocked out, two things will be happening next that I am excited about:
1. The horse fight.
2. The dream sequence.
Will Ace learn more about his past? Tune in next time!
~ Ben
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2010. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
Previously: Click here for the beginning of the series. Click here for the beginning of this issue. The musical villain The Troubadour is making trouble, so Ace sets a trap for The Troubadour and his gang. The trap works, but only in that the Troubadour gave up his as an invitation to Ace . . . an invitation to a showdown . . .
COMMENTS:
Yes, they surrendered THAT quickly. Seems like the old "dress up as women to throw the bad guys off guard" trick really works!
Of course, since I'm rewriting things here, I chose to make it more of a "pretend the 'dress up as women to throw the bad guys off guard' actually worked so that the GOOD GUYS can be thrown off guard" kind of thing . . . so that their boss can write a song about it!
I like this character, The Troubadour. He creates excitement and trouble so he can write music! Crime is his muse! This is where this exercise in comic book creation has been a lot of fun.
~ Ben
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2010. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
Previously: Click here for the beginning of the series. Click here for the beginning of this issue. The musical villain The Troubadour is making trouble. There's really only one person for the job . . .
COMMENTS:
Yes, they surrendered THAT quickly. Seems like the old "dress up as women to throw the bad guys off guard" trick really works!
Of course, since I'm rewriting things here, I chose to make it more of a "pretend the 'dress up as women to throw the bad guys off guard' actually worked so that the GOOD GUYS can be thrown off guard" kind of thing . . . so that their boss can write a song about it!
I like this character, The Troubadour. He creates excitement and trouble so he can write music! Crime is his muse! This is where this exercise in comic book creation has been a lot of fun.
~ Ben
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2010. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
Previously: Click here for the beginning of the series. Click here for the beginning of this issue. The musical villain The Troubadour is making trouble. There's really only one person for the job . . .
COMMENTS:
Ah, yes! The classic "dress up as women to throw the bad guys off guard" trick! If nothing else, it's good for a laugh to see our big burly cowboy man heroes in drag, right?
They actually used this ploy on Firefly. I love Firefly. I love Joss Whedon (mostly). But really? Using the old "dress up as women to throw the bad guys off guard" trick the 21st century? I expect it in a 1950s Western comic book . . . or maybe Little House on the Prairie.
~ Ben
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2010. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
Previously: Click here for the beginning of the series. Click here for the beginning of this issue. The musical villain The Troubadour is making trouble. There's really only one person for the job . . .
COMMENTS:
Finally . . . some action is about to happen!
~ Ben
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2010. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
Previously: Click here for the beginning of the series. Click here for the beginning of this issue. The Troubadour is making trouble. There's really only one person for the job . . .
COMMENTS:
Lots of exposition here.
That's one talent we've lost. I was reading a couple collections of old Marvel comics and in each issue, one or two pages were dedicated to just explaining who the book was about how how that got that way. In old X-Men comics, it could be a little humorous, trying to show in a natural setting the usage of each character's power. So maybe Angel would knock over a tea cup with his wings, and Marvel Girl would use her telekinesis to make sure the tea didn't get all over the carpet (I made that example up, but it's almost -- ALMOST -- humorous how in those old comics Marvel Girl and Invisible woman would use their powers, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, for domestic-related duties).
These days, it's possible to open a comic and not even know the names of the characters you're about to read about, let alone their powers. It seems that modern comics are, more and more, not just being written for the ultimate collection, but being written for readers who are already familiar with the characters.
Sorry, my rant is over. At least those old Marvel comics tried to show, not tell. Here? Lots of wordy exposition. I tried to "show, not tell" . . . but it just became "showing people telling" in my dialogue. :)
~ Ben
Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Last issue, Ace confronted the ruthless and deadly Faro Kid. Now, a new threat is making itself known . . .
COMMENTS:
I went back and forth with The Troubadour's "music". Do I write songs for him? Or do I find songs for him? At one point, I was going to use public doman hymns, make him some sort of religious singing bandit, which could have been cool. Or have him sing renaissance era love songs. If I wrote songs for him, would it be intentionally funny songs? Serious songs? In the end, I went with "earnest" songs. I think he makes these songs up on the spot, to suit the situation. He does compose real songs as well, but I kind of view him as a cowboy version of a freestyle rapper.
~ Ben
Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Last issue, Ace confronted the ruthless and deadly Faro Kid. A dream (in which Ace's hat told him the story of how Ace murdered Faro Kid in cold blood) caused Ace to believe that Faro Kid may have had some clues to Ace's past. It was a dead end. After besting Faro Kid in a shoot out, Ace found some comfort in the fact that he may not have learned about his past, but he had done some good. Meanwhile, Strongarm, Ace's sidekick, shared a secret with the mysterious Athena. A secret meant to be kept from Ace . . .
COMMENTS:
I've said it before, gentle reader, I love the splash page that sets up the story at the beginning of old comics. It's like a second cover, in many ways. If I could get away with it in my own stories, I'd try it. Sadly, like thought balloons, it's a trope of the past.
I love thought balloons as well, I have to say, and wish they were used more often in modern comics. They've been entirely replaced by the first person caption box, which is useful and makes for dramatic storytelling.
But sometimes, the old ways are good.
The art in this Black Diamond Western story is by William Overgard. With no writer listed, it is possible he wrote the thing as well, although I'm not convinced of that. I love his line work, and wish I were an artist because I believe there is much that could be learned from his artwork here. Some later issues of Black Diamond Western are pretty terrible.
~ Ben
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Last issue, Ace confronted the ruthless and deadly Faro Kid. A dream (in which Ace's hat told him the story of how Ace murdered Faro Kid in cold blood) caused Ace to believe that Faro Kid may have had some clues to Ace's past. It was a dead end. After besting Faro Kid in a shoot out, Ace found some comfort in the fact that he may not have learned about his past, but he had done some good. Meanwhile, Strongarm, Ace's sidekick, shared a secret with the mysterious Athena. A secret meant to be kept from Ace . . .
COMMENTS:
Lev Gleason proudly announced on the cover of this issue of Black Diamond Western "In this issue: THE BEST STORY WE EVER PUBLISHED IN ANY MAGAZINE!" I'm not going to make the same proclamation, gentle reader, although I am excited about this story.
The artwork for this story comics from Black Diamond Western #16. You can see the cover here. Technically, the seventh issue of the series (Black Diamond Western started with issue #9; before that it was called Desperado), by now they had hit their stride. Also, in this issue they had two Black Diamond stories and fewer unrelated stories. (By the end of the series, they had three Black Diamond stories in each issue.)
This is issue #2 for me, though. I will be using almost all of the artwork from BDW #16, although I may dip into another issue for Ace's dream. Actually, the structure of this story allows for a couple dream sequences.
I hope you enjoy "Six Shooters and Six Strings", gentle reader.
~ Ben
PS -- I'm sorry, I couldn't resist using the "No animals were harmed . . ." line. It's my answer, in a way, to Lev's assurance that this was the best story they had ever published. Let's face it, this story features a man with a "gun-tar", but it also centers around a horse fight! It's fairly brutal!
PPS -- The sidebar with the poem like wording comes from a "theme song" I've written about Ace. I haven't set it to music. It just sort of accidentally happened as I was trying to come up with a quick way to set up his story, and the wording started to rhyme. When I did it, I was reminded of Joss Whedon, and how he wrote the theme song to Firefly and when he suddenly understood what he was creating. Something similar happened to me. It didn't change much of what I was already planning, but it just kind of hung a sign on it. Made it more clear. It was almost like a "Hollywood logline", where you distill the essence of your story into a single sentence.
Lev Gleason proudly announced on the cover of this issue of Black Diamond Western "In this issue: THE BEST STORY WE EVER PUBLISHED IN ANY MAGAZINE!" I'm not going to make the same proclamation, gentle reader, although I am excited about this story.
The artwork for this story comics from Black Diamond Western #16. You can see the cover here. Technically, the seventh issue of the series (Black Diamond Western started with issue #9; before that it was called Desperado), by now they had hit their stride. Also, in this issue they had two Black Diamond stories and fewer unrelated stories. (By the end of the series, they had three Black Diamond stories in each issue.)
This is issue #2 for me, though. I will be using almost all of the artwork from BDW #16, although I may dip into another issue for Ace's dream. Actually, the structure of this story allows for a couple dream sequences.
I hope you enjoy "Six Shooters and Six Strings", gentle reader.
~ Ben
PS -- I'm sorry, I couldn't resist using the "No animals were harmed . . ." line. It's my answer, in a way, to Lev's assurance that this was the best story they had ever published. Let's face it, this story features a man with a "gun-tar", but it also centers around a horse fight! It's fairly brutal!
PPS -- The sidebar with the poem like wording comes from a "theme song" I've written about Ace. I haven't set it to music. It just sort of accidentally happened as I was trying to come up with a quick way to set up his story, and the wording started to rhyme. When I did it, I was reminded of Joss Whedon, and how he wrote the theme song to Firefly and when he suddenly understood what he was creating. Something similar happened to me. It didn't change much of what I was already planning, but it just kind of hung a sign on it. Made it more clear. It was almost like a "Hollywood logline", where you distill the essence of your story into a single sentence.
“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.
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