As a fairly successful screenwriter in the erotic fantasy genre ("Electra", "Sisters of Sin", "Dark Queen"), I for one cheer your dark spin on Snowflake. First, you were artist enough to give a foreboding of it a few episodes back when Dr. Paragon first presented Snowflake with the new power suit and referred to her tainted predecessor. Second, the entire purpose of this entertainment IS the seduction and corruption of good and its transformation into sensuous evil. To me, evil Snowflake is a much sexier, more interesting, and, yes, more powerful character than the girlish bimbo of previous adventures. She made the decision out of fear and desire - two very human traits - and now will face the consequences of it, a la Darth Vader, much to our enjoyment and stimulation. So I say "bravo", Sir Willoughby, for your twist on the character, and I'll look forward to Trishbot's continuation of her along her new diabolically seductive lines.

The only question I have to ask is, 'why was Snowflake ever a superheroine?' To me, the events that unfold here in this act have revealed something that I don't have enough info on to explain to the entertainment center of my brain and the logic and reason I use to help me put things into place. This seems to deep seeded.

With any Darth Vadar themed, tragic hero scenario, the hero has some deep seeded fate that is revealed and hinted at through out the story. Snowflake doesn't seem to be the tragic hero of this story, unless that is being done right now here in this act. If that is the case, I need to know the anagnorisis.

Looks like I hit a sensitive spot with the latest Act of The Platinum Earth.



She was in a high pressure situation and she buckled.



More to come in the next Act!



Well, you can't please everybody.



You never know what a person is capable of until they really have the screws turned upon them.



Let's look at the context:
We know Snowflake's bubbly and a bit of an airhead, so what happens to her when she is in a high pressure situation? She is in a strange world, fearful she may never get home, was just defeated by a powerful villainess she tried her best to beat and it looked as though her only hope of ever seeing her friends and family again was lost when Dr Paragon was enslaved by a mask. Then, a suave talking villain offers you a lifeline, promising he can get you home.

Snowflake is a heroine, but she's still one in training and has a lot to learn. If the same situation happened to Ms Metrobay or Omega Woman, their reactions would probably be very different but for Snowflake, she was scared. I think a lot of readers assume that when a young woman dons on a costume, they all automatically get the strength and integrity of a Wonder Woman. Snowflake is still in shoes she's not big enough to fill (yet) and she's going to make mistakes, or give in to moments of weakness and doubt. She's not evil at heart of course, but when placed into the situation she was in, she broke under the pressure.




Absolutely. Stay tuned for the fallout.



I'm not sure I would know how I would act in a similar situation...



Snowflake is not a superheroine. She is a superheroine in training.
Just because you can fly or shoot fire from your hands, doesn't mean you also get an infallible heart of gold to go along with that. Snowflake is still young, impressionable and has a lot to learn. Don't condemn her too harshly and reserve your judgment for the end of the storyline. What is coming down the line I'm sure you will not expect.

And I was hoping that you would all be excited to see the introduction of Optima, the Mistress of Atomica.
Shows how much I know....

Yeah, Optima looks neat, but I was a bit more intrigued by the orange catgirl. A bit of a Tigra fan myself.

Concerning Snowflake, I was in agreement with most of those points... until the end. Snowflake has been an honest-to-God "superheroine" for years now. Maybe not the best or brightest, but she's been a heroine since her teenage years and according to the wiki was one of the first Grrl Power recruits. She's taken on mentorship roles with Spellweaver and Crissy Tanner, the latter of whom held her in high esteem. Hypnotica was very familiar with her. Despite her misfortunates, she has proven capable of saving the day and keeping her cool (pardon the pun) under fire, such as the time she selflessly stayed behind in a burning building to ensure everyone escaped unharmed. She's got more or equal experience I think than almost half the Squad and has until now been one of the more selfless heroines. Her breaking down didn't bother me that much... but her jumping into bed with terrorists of her own volition pushed my sense of disbelief a bit. Snowflake's been shown to have endured far worse torment while keeping a sunny disposition.

Jade Lightning, however, HAS been shown to crack under pressure. In her fight against Sentius, she totally dropped the ball and panicked when her powers were negated. Not even Brown Sugar could help her get her calm back. I find it interesting she's now in the role Brown Sugar was in as a mentor-figure when I don't think she herself is any more competent then Snowflake is when the tide is turned against her. I don't know if she's developed any more confidence in herself since then, but perhaps if she breaks as well then Snowflake's weakness could be put into perspective.

I am excited to see the fallout and I hope the end result is extreme. Snowflake was fearful of being kicked off the Squad after a simple screw up (and still saved the day), but this wasn't her being misguided, naive, of gullible. Stylet spelled it out for her, and either her true colors are cowardly, selfish, and weak, or she's more than just a bit ditzy and is truly an idiot. Either way, neither is becoming of a superheroine and even the "dark heroine" Enchantress hasn't stooped so low. I want to see dire consquences for this and I'd be a bit disappointed if by the end of the story she's still just as loved, sweet, and friendly as she aways was. She's not evil, no, but she did an extremely evil thing for her own benefit. If I were a fellow heroine, I certainly would think twice about ever putting my faith in her again.

It's great to talk about and discuss, especially to speculate on what the future will bring not just for Snowflake but everyone else, from Stylet to Doctor Paragon to Jade Lightning to alien mutant Brown Sugar. It's a bizarre set of circumstances.

I'm really enjoying where you're taking the story and how you are utilizing the Metrobay characters, working them into your own well-developed universe. Like everyone else, it seems, I was a bit thrown by Snowflake's betrayal, but you explain it quite well here and, if nothing else, this should lead to some of the long term consequences I feel are usually missing in so many superhero stories. _If_ the others ever find out what she did (after all, only Stylet amongst the good guys knows about it, and it's not like she's in a position to talk right now) then it would seem like she's finished as a heroine - mistakes can be forgiven, betrayal cannot.

About the only thing that bothers me about this is something already mentioned - Snowflake literally jumping into bed with Ultimo's ladies. Seemingly five seconds after insisting she's not a bad person, she's half naked and thinking about Skullcrusher's "pretty eyes", and it doesn't take long before it goes a lot further than that. Not a lot of remorse there.

Anyway, I keep looking forward tot he next installment wondering what twist you'll throw at us next. Keep up the great work!

[quote] Snowflake is not a superheroine. She is a superheroine in training.
Just because you can fly or shoot fire from your hands, doesn't mean you also get an infallible heart of gold to go along with that. Snowflake is still young, impressionable and has a lot to learn. Don't condemn her too harshly and reserve your judgment for the end of the storyline. What is coming down the line I'm sure you will not expect.

And I was hoping that you would all be excited to see the introduction of Optima, the Mistress of Atomica.
Shows how much I know.... [/quote]

My question wasn't ment to be an attack or offensive in anyway. I hope you didn't take it that way. It's more along the lines as if you were to see a cop do something with the same degrading value that was portrayed by Snowflake in the latest act and you asked, 'why did they ever become a cop?' I'm just trying to figure out how the flaw matches the downfall and if that info has been revealed or has yet to be.

Optima did catch my interest as I'm very intrigued by her abilities, but she was overshadaowed by the story twist. I'm looking forward to seeing how she uses them. To be able to render someone unconscious by changing the air they breathe is awesome.

Hi Sir Willoughby

I must begin with an apology: in my last message, when I mentioned that I "I would like to, but unfortunately, I cannot" I was trying to make a joke with the next phrase: "You had me at the giants robots (Act 10)". I was trying to express that you've already won my approval with the giant robots part. I'm sorry if my post sounded like an attack or offensive in anyway. Please forgive my faint domain of the english language (It's not my native language).

And about Snowflake, I think that you foreshadowed a lot how uneasy and afraid she is in this new universe in earlier chapters, but I think that for a lot of us Snowflake is a bubbly, sunny heroine (in training). And just your characterization was that make her more admirable in Act 25.

But now that I'm thinking about this... This out of character moment happened while she has that new custome... mmmhhh...

Well, To make that clear, I really love all the effort you put on your work, and I'm waiting to see more!

The Curator

She was in a form of shock.
What Snowflake did hit her hard mentally and in a sense, she was numb and detached from herself and what she did.
That's the explanation for that.

Anyway, all of you that are concerned about the current development, just keep up with the next few issues to see what happens. I am aiming not to disappoint.

Dear Reader,

Act 36 of The Platinum Earth is now released and available for viewing in my section of the member's area.

http://memberslogin.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=124220

Again, this issue comes in at 34 pages. I would say that is value for money in anybody's book. Considering the hours I toil over the current arc, I should certainly hope it was worth it. I think from now until the conclusion of this arc, 30+ pages are going to be the rule rather than the exception.

Probably better to read the story before continuing on with reading this post if you want nothing spoiled.

I noticed that Briana, our lovely Hive leader tends to do most of the talking. She loves exposition. I imagine that she's like the managing director of the Hive, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and the enslavements occur on schedule. I hope you enjoyed the latest members of the Hive and the process that they went through. It seems as though being a cybernetic sexbomb is sometimes a disadvantage!

Poor Snowflake...she's torn. Her yin and yang just aren't in harmony the way they should be. This story still has a little way to play out, so keep an eye out for that since some of you seem to be concerned about the cliff I have run this character off of.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby

Hi!

I found the latest chapter rather delicious.

I am greatly enjoying the ambitious story line (s) and the fact that no one is safe from corruption.

High marks.

I hope the trend of exploring new territory and depths will continue and that the close of the storylines will not be too tempted to reset everything, being an alternate Universe, it's quite all right to have the herioines get and stay a little bit dirty.

All the better from a storytelling standpoint.

As for poor Snowflake, I was a little bit concerned as to her fall being very quick and somewhat hard to swallow, however the turn of events is quite intriguing since the best corruption scenes happen when those pure souls who have the farthest to fall are tapped by the dark side.

I look forward to more.

FBH

I am loving the "Final Crisis"-ish feel to this series. (Though I hated the DC version, yours is awesome.) Really fun and creative.

Well, I love the Jade / Shrike team, those gals are cute but dangerous! I loved the action, but I fear that now all the Metrobay Heroines are in real danger by the aparently unstoppable power of the hive! and Snowflake and her bad makeup rules!

But then, I want to talk about Master Ultimo. He seems to me like a outgoing Dr. Doom to the "Global Team" of the Aegis Fundation. A person who is has a genius so great to create the inhibitor device and so petty to attack his twin brother, who not only is another great genius, but he DID get the girl! Instead of Doom's megalomany, we have an affable and evil individual who likes to corrupt, twist and manipulate but and the only decent thing he has left is his sense of humor.

Dear Reader,

Act 37 is now out, you can read it here:

http://memberslogin.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=124978

These 30+ issues every two weeks is killing me but, I am determined to get this arc finished without cutting any planned material, so I won't let you, the reader, down.

I'm very happy with the way Alexis Wellington (aka. Solaria) turned out in my renders. She's a real beauty! And, she's back with Daizen Ashikaga. I wonder if any of you cared where he went after he sacrificed himself to ensure the entire Aegis Foundation wasn't engulfed by the Chronosphere...
Well, I think I can safely say no one brandishes a rusty metal pipe as well as he does!

Big things are coming, in case you couldn't figure it out, so I request that you all stay on board.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby



Thank you for the compliments.
The characters of Metrobay grace the pages of The Platinum Earth with the kind permission of Doctor Robo and Finister Foul. What many seem to believe is that this is somehow a "different" Metrobay than the one in the stories here at HIPComix and MCComix. Well, it isn't! It's canon! Don't believe me? Check out the Metrobay Encyclopedia and look up any of the Metrobay heroines that have appeared so far!

http://metrobay.wetpaint.com/

But to be clear, only two nights have passed in Metrobay since Jade Lightning and Snowflake went missing!



Big things coming for Snowflake, guaranteed.



Final Crisis? So does that mean you want a major character to die at the end?
Done!



Not if Solaria and Daizen Ashikaga have anything to say about it.



If you wish to really know, Master Ultimo is not based on Doctor Doom of Marvel comics.
He is actually based on the Joker!
I think that was not an answer anyone expected!

Rememberm there are always paths to return one back to a storyline.

Please don't be too quick about returning all of those enslaved heroines.

I kinda like the reptile girl look, Solaria would look good in scales ;)

My big worry is the "reset" factor many superheroine story lines end with.

It's quite all right if things aren't returned all the way back to "normal" I like things that build on one another, which is why I personally liked the ending(s) for the "Unity" series. In each there is an aspect of long term impact from the events within.

I like what you've got going here and look forward to more :)

FBH

Dear Reader,

The Platinum Earth Act 38 is now released to the member's area of HIPComix.
Click on this link if you are a paying member:

http://memberslogin.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=125539

Well, this had to be one of the more draining issues for me to make, both mentally and physically. This particular issue had a large amount of composite images. In general, Poser 7 (which I use) on my 4 Gig Quad Core can render about 4 people at once, maybe 3 with a background. To get some of those larger group shots, you need to make several images with transparent backgrounds and then merge them together.

I must say I'm not very happy with this issue.
You want to know a funny thing about Poser? Before I create an Act of this comic, I have all these ideas swimming in my head about what the scenes and situations should look like. If this were a professional comic or animation studio, this would absolutely mean creating storyboards. But for me, the storyboards are in my head.

When you make these mental storyboard images into actual Poser images, they never ever look how you imagined. However, this is not to say they look like crap. Usually, they just look different to what you imagined. Sort of like the computer reinterpreted your imagination and made an image that captured everything you wanted to convey, but made it different than your mind's eye. On almost all Platinum Earth stories that I make, this is what happens.

Not this week.
This week all the images for this story look different than my mind's eye, but they look WORSE different. Nothing seemed to gel in this issue to me and I think you can see that in the images produced. However, the storyline is still the story I wanted to tell at this point.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby




The Metrobay characters are on loan to me, so I can't go crazy with them and have Alpha Woman lose an eye, for example.
However, there will be certain things that happen here that will carry on into the Metrobay universe. Plans have been in motion for months now both here and at MCcomix.com

was waiting with baited breath for the next installment of platinum earth was a little disappointed I have to say I hope that there is Karma on this earth because if it's going to be thump the good guys all the time I'll go to a different site a story needs balance ultimo should have his nuts handed to him a few times and for all he's done in the past few episodes he is way past due.
Pretty soon metrobay will be deserted with all the characters either getting stepford wifed or running over to platinum where they are promptly borged.

did I miss something did armand meet with a tragic end ( I hope so) ?
still waiting for the karma to show up may have to take a "leap of faith" on that one
like the art tho

It is an alternate universe. I think the good guys can be defeated and the remainder of the universes can go on happily. Brown Sugar and Silver Satin are already staring in other books so what is the worst thing that could happen if the bad guys win? I mean after all the idea that the objective universe has any concept of good or evil. It is just making sure the flows of mater and energy are in the proper ballance.

so, your saying that platinum earth is the counter to all that is happening in the rest of the universes wonder how they'd feel knowing that all the bad things can happen to them also metrobay seems to have more than there fair share of badness going on that never really gets set right.
Also, your a villain according to your description ,so, you'd agree that the goodies get a thumping on a daily basis.
We all have an opinion just saying that karma had better make a cameo in this story arc

on the last part of your post about matter flowing to set all things right I hope it comes back to platinum earth