April 29, 2025
Author's Commentary
I have outdone myself by 100% with today's page, by introducing not only one new character, but in fact two new characters! I was about to point out that some of the frustration at not knowing more might be alleviated by getting to know one of their names, but then I read the script again and it turns out we don't even know who the robot is yet. Oopsie! "All good things take their time" - Unknown.
Eagle eyed readers will note that today's spritecomic is 4 pixels shorter than every previous "double length" page. This is due to a malicious error in my printing techniques, affecting the 3rd row of panels (typically the 5th and 6th panels) and making them be, shockingly, 4 pixels taller than every other panel. I'm not going to retroactively update previous pages, since I believe art should (usually) be left alone once it is out in nature, so I hope this flawful mistake will not be a burden upon my readers conscience. Also, if you have such sharp eyes, why didn't ya tell me about it sooner?
Finally, most people should be able to notice that I've - for now - replaced the authorial credit with a link to the page you are currently reading this spritecomic on. Seems redundant, right? Well, consider it like this, as a wise friend once told me: If you copied this image to your harddrive disk to read later, or, perhaps, uploaded it to another host, you might forget where it came from! Worry not, my pal, for all you need do is enter the displayed url into your internet architecture of choice and you will be whisked to the entrance of my very own domain. However, if you are annoyed at this "self-advertising", I probably won't be doing this for every page.
Toodles!
Transcript
#12: Mike In Trouble
arkbitegames.neocities.org/comic/
Panel 1: Filling the frame is the green jail cell, last seen in page #10. Mike is still laying on the ground inside, with a computer sitting on his chest.
Mike: "Ugh, my head... Where the heck am I? When the heck am I?"
Panel 2: A very faint blue glow appears over the computer. Nothing else changes.
Mike: "The last thing I remember is the laser grid about to fry me like a lobster at a restaurant that uses energy beams for cooking, and then... I'm here?"
Panel 3: The blue glow becomes brighter, creating a sort of bubble around the computer.
Mike: "Okay, inventory check: I'm in pain all over my body, I'm trapped in a cell, and I have a new computer. Doing pretty well! Hey, what is-"
Panel 4: As the blue glow reaches the peak of intensity, the computer vanishes. A smaller, similar glow appears in the upper left visible corner of the cell.
Mike: "What?! Aw man, now I have no relief from pain, no freedom, and no computer!"
Panel 5: Now the smaller glow intensifies in turn, and, barely visible through it, is something green, mostly covered by the framing of the cell bars.
Mike: "I'm living life at a mile a minute! Straight in my line of sight is a green square forming in the air!"
Panel 6: The mysterious object from the previous panel is revealed to be a green data chip, and it falls straight down, hitting Mike in the head with a loud "bonk". Once again, the blue glow responsible for this is disappearing into nothingness.
Mike: "Ow! How can something so small carry such an impactful force?"
Panel 7: A zoomed out view of the jail cell, with a road in front of it. A robot is standing in the middle of the road, speaking with the same voice as the unknown narrator in page #10.
Robot: "Oh dear, oh dear, the intruder has somehow stolen the boss's data chip!"
Mike (distantly): "Hey, what? Who's out there? Hello?"
Panel 8: A completely new location is shown, what looks to be a hallway in a dreary place. There's a wooden door with a window in it. Above the door is a name plate reading "The Boss". Through the door's window, the silhouette of an unknown figure is visible. The robot, off-panel, speaks over the scene.
Robot: "The boss won't be happy about this, certainly not, oh dear..."