Since a few people I chat to over AIM/MSN lately have been asking a few questions based on the comic (And the fact I'm currently not working on the comic this month), I decided at their advice to offer a Q+A section here for any questions relating towards the comic.

The questions can be anything about the comic, ranging from questions about producing the pages to ideas to plot and character questions.
Any questions go and I will answer any that come my way here on the condition they aren't spoiler related. I will avoid anything spoiler related but will do my best to answer the query avoiding spoilers.

So if you have any questions about any aspect of the comic, please feel free to ask away here and I'll add it to a list here.




Q: About what time period would you say the comic begins at since in Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, it begins in the 30th Century. Is Okura and Tiare's time closer to ours or back or forward?

A: Well, the first point to address here, is the fact Rings of Time started as an Ecco fancomic (hence the glyph-like crystal), but soon after that page, the idea was abandoned and I decided to elimate any other reference to Ecco in the comic (the trilobite joke nonwithstanding).
The story of Rings of Time starts in the present. Okura and Tiare are approximately from our own timeframe so therefore, the present for them is the present for us effectively.


Q: If Tiare were real, would you want to slap her across the face?

A: Heh, not really. Tiare may annoy her brother to the point he explodes on her, but to a human, Tiare would probably come across as just a cute and playful orca.
And in reality, it's just her personality. Tiare looks up to and idolizes her brother, but her short attention span, young age and scatter-brained antics sometimes make her do things that a more mature person wouldn't.


Q: Are there any distinct remnants of Atlantis besides the tiny bits we've already heard about?

A: Bit of a tricky one to answer without going into spoilers. All I'll say is that it seems Kroniros' tale of Atlantis was obviously a lie, so there is a possibilty...


Q: When did you get the idea to do this comic?

A: Well, it sorta came on a whim. I watched a video of the final battle of Sonic and the Secret Rings and really liked the concept of the battle. From that, my own concept of a battle came from it. And from that, evolved a plot...
On a side note, the plot of Rings of Time is actually quite similar to Sonic and the Secret Rings. This was a total coincidence. I had scribbled down most of the plot outline of Rings of Time by the end of June 07. I didn't obtain a Wii and the game until later August 07.
Nonetheless, I started the comic while I was finishing a few bugs out of the plot about three weeks later. I had the climax most mapped out and several other important scenes, when I started up. The rest I continued to work on as I went along.


Q: What paper do you usually use when drawing your comics?

A: You may remember there was a small issue in regards to this late last year. I only use Jasart Visual Diary paper to draw stuff on.
I may sound picky, but I find it some of the smoothest and easier to shade paper than several other visual diary brands I have tried out.


Q: Type of pencils used?

A: I use five pencils of three different types, one for each phase of drawing the page.

Sketching: Full to half size Faber-Castell 2 1/2HB pencil.
Lining: Faber-Castell 2B.
Blocking: A blunt Staedtler 6B.
Finer Blocking: A sharpened Staedtler 6B.
Shading: The sharpened 6B and also the less than half Faber-Castell 2 1/2HB.


Q: Those alien crabs from the first part of the comic... any particular inspiration for them, or were they crabs so that Tiare could inadvertently cause the Cretaceous extinction?

A: Well, solely for the laughs really. I had decided for a laugh I wanted to have Tiare cause the extinction of the dinosaurs, but besides something that really wasn't that exciting (a virus or such), I couldn't think of anything interesting.
Then as a laugh, someone suggested aliens and I remembered a storyline in Animorphs with alien crab like creatures already on Earth. The inspiration came sorta from that, but only very loosely, in the idea for aliens causing the extinction.
The crab idea came from an RP where I had Tiare develop a fascination for the crustaceans. I just combined the two ideas together.


Q: Did you already have the idea of the comic and it's characters before you joined DeviantART?

A: Nope. I joined dA a looong time ago. In fact if you take a look here...



Okura was originally a girl and a Crash Bandicoot villian...
No. Tiare was only created in Feburary last year and the comic grew from there. So no. The comic and characters mostly evolved early last year.


Q: If there was one thing you could change throughout the duration of the comic, what would it be?

A: There are two things probably. One based on art, the other the story.
Artwise, I would want to remove the 'lip-beak' and 'thin chin' problems I had early on. That's two issues I really have trouble going back and looking at these days.
Storywise, the pacing. There has been a few things that have been rushed and had to be trimmed down for pacing reasons. One example, is the captive arc. Because I started getting complaints it was too long and dragging, I ended up cutting the fight between Puck and Okura, Helki grilling Okura and Tiare more and a little more to the show. I think the fact all the previous arcs were so short, that this caused some issues and people felt it was too long. If the previous arcs were a little more balanced, I think I may have been able to do that fully.


Q: What is your favorite thing about your comic?

A: Certainly having people enjoy the comic. I enjoy drawing it, and it's even better to know people are enjoying it...




Keep them coming...