Vattu (comic)
From Rice Boy Wiki
Vattu is Evan Dahm's third Overside comic, after Rice Boy and Order of Tales. It began in late July 2010. Though the story is still young, it is concerned with the activities of the white-marked tribe of Fluters, who live in the Flutelands of the southern Esterteng, and the encroachment they face from the Sahta Empire. While Vattu is a return to color after Order of Tales, it also incorporates some stylistic changes, including varied gutter size, cross-panel speech bubbles, lack of panel borders (on some pages), and a larger original page size (10"x15", instead of the earlier 8"x12").
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Origin
Dahm first had the idea for Vattu in late 2009, as a possible short story for an anthology project. The story centered on a tribe of Fluters, and a "ritualized" board game that they played. Dahm instead decided to make The Tethered Isle, although the project fell through and he instead published the short story on rice-boy.com. However, Dahm kept the original story idea, and it eventually expanded into its current state.
Structure
See also: List of scenes in Vattu
Unlike Rice Boy or Order of Tales, Vattu is not divided into chapters. Instead, the comic is split into books, which will be roughly one to two hundred pages each. Each book will likely be published separately, considering their length. Dahm has completed Book 1, which covers Vattu's birth and early life with the tribe. He began Book 2 in May 2011.
Published Editions
Vattu: The First Day
Vattu: The First Day is a softcover book containing the first 30 or so pages of Vattu, comprising roughly a quarter of Book 1. Dahm published this book to be sold at conventions, and it debuted at SPX in September 2011.
Pre-Vattu
In the months before Vattu began, Dahm revealed small bits of information about the story and artwork. The most significant reveal happened on 31 March (four months before the comic's beginning), when Dahm shared the design of Vattu and the first line of the comic on Ustream. On 17 June, a month before the beginning of Vattu, Dahm created a placeholder page with an image showing the pattern on Vattu's forehead, which he later used to announce the comic's starting date of 26 July.
On 11 July, Dahm changed the header image on http://rice-boy.com to show a Vattu-themed map of the Esterteng,[1][2] which was adorned with a new writing system. This "Sahta" Script, when decoded, provided information about the setting of Vattu. On 26 July, after the first three pages had been posted, Dahm shared a model sheet on twitter containing the names and appearances of eleven Fluters,[3] expanding on another model sheet he had posted on 15 July.[4]
Future Developments
During Ustreams and in other discussions, Dahm has shared small bits of information about future characters and plot developments in Vattu, as well as clarifying some ambiguities from current pages. As is likely clear, these are not set in stone.
- There will be a painter character in Vattu inspired by Diego Velázquez, a 17th-century Spanish Baroque artist.
- Dahm has been creating a "culture based on Ancient Rome", which may refer to the Sahta Empire.
- When published, Book 1 will likely be titled "The Nomad" or "The Flutelands".
- The description of Vattu from Order of Tales Book III says that Vattu will be "a figure caught in the midst of a massive clash of cultures".
- This phrasing later appeared on rice-boy.com/vattu/, as "a member of a nomadic tribe caught in the midst of a massive clash of cultures".
- The narration on p001 is not from an external omniscient viewpoint, implying that we will learn who spoke or wrote it.
Reviews
- Krypto Dies!: Webcomic Review: "Vattu"!
Links
References
- ↑ http://twitpic.com/23nxc3
- ↑ http://www.rice-boy.com/site/diskvattu.png
- ↑ http://twitpic.com/28qxn1
- ↑ http://twitpic.com/25bcbp
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