Hi Xyliacs! Apologies for the late page. I will spare you the details, but basically it’s a time and attention issue. Can’t work on the pages unless I have full concentration. I have none. End of story!
A big thank you to everyone for reading and visiting the Xylia site. We have officially crossed the one year anniversary of Xylia going live. ^_^ In this one year we have made a LOT of new friends, joined up with some collectives and achieved a fairly high ranking. (At least for a webcomic that isn’t adult in nature or updating a lot more than I do)! I wish I could update more. I really really wish I knew how to go faster and make more hours appear in the day. But it is what it is, and you have all been so wonderfully patient with me, I can’t thank you enough for your understanding.
We didn’t hit the $800.00 donation mark for July, but that’s okay! Thank you to all who donated this month and every month! To those of you who aren’t able to donate, please know – I understand! This story is for everyone, the donations are there to help me stay floating. That said, since we didn’t hit our goal, I won’t be doing two comic updates in August, but don’t be too upset! Starting Monday, the Xylia site will have a fresh new look, courtesy of our Kez, and one of the changes is that Nigel’s Opus will become a free novella story updating on Thursdays! In fairness to all of those folks who donated to receive the first five chapters, those chapters and illustrations will still only be available through donation, but there will be a synopsis so you know what happened before. We will still be taking donations.
Also coming soon- a Xylia Store! We hope to have tees, collectable character bookmarks, and a calendar available very soon. (Not doing two comic pages is going to help me get this accomplished! ^_^ Next week I will be posting some tee shirt ideas and polling you on which two are your favorite. Then we will be taking pre-orders at the end of the month.
Also coming soon- a contest. How would you like to be an Azloean? Stay tuned to see how!
Thank you for sharing your favorite part of Xylia here on Monday’s question. The art is really what I do- I’m an artist first, a writer WAAAAYYYY second, so anyone who says they enjoy the characters or writing – I thank you very much. I am learning as I go! ^_^
Question for today is kinda for the girls, but guys you can certainly offer your opinion. Should Claude keep the beard or get rid of it? Your answer will effect how he looks in the future. I know some folks dig the scruff, but I want a poll.
Click the button to go to donation land! Also, as always: if you do not receive your donation gift, please email me. We have had trouble with the auto feature for some reason, and some of you aren’t getting your gifts.
Xylia belongs to some groovy collectives: Tomgeeks, Palace in the Sky Publishing, andTall Tale Features.
Pretty please go here to vote TWC!
You can visitThe Xyliacs Club here!
That’s all for now! See you all Monday!
~B
August 1st, 2008 at 6:54 am
REFRESH! REFRESH!!
August 1st, 2008 at 7:14 am
In my opinion, Claudius should keep the beard. It softens his face.
He is soooo cute like this ! If he can’t save Xylia, I could comfort him for the loss… ^^
August 1st, 2008 at 7:37 am
I say no to the beard from a purely aesthetic (sp?) sense. But to fit in with the story better…he should probably keep the beard…
Just please don’t let it get wild man long!
August 1st, 2008 at 7:47 am
great page Barb… keep the scruff, not that it really needs it, but it keeps us reminded that he is far from Civilization as we are use to… But keep it scruffy looking, not the prim and trim beard that has been in some of the previous incentive art, but more of the ragged growth that just comes from not being around a razor for a while.
August 1st, 2008 at 7:52 am
ok and does that mean that Claudious is the daughters older brother? since they are the only children since the Great Curse, does that mean that Claudious was born pre-Great Curse? Looks-wise I would have put Claudius at the same age as Katharos, but that is because I wanted the twist of them being fraternal twins… (they look it)
August 1st, 2008 at 9:07 am
Keep the beard. I really like the twist of having the hero’s family alive and happy to see him. The orphan hero is classic but I appreciate the subverted tropes too. Keep up the good work!
August 1st, 2008 at 9:33 am
Marie- do not go THERE. it’s a bottomless pit… f you don’t know what I mean, just look at Barb’s former works, in particular the guys of ROTE and you’ll know. We do not lust anymore after comic guys- they never call…
About the facial hair- oh keep it. It makes him look more his age and it’s -here I will go against my own wisdom- make him look SO sexy. But it also give a bit of a wiser, manly look. Yesterday he was a confused boy. Today he is a man.
But would trim a bit- keep the parts around the mouth only. Although Josh has a point there… so maybe keep it as is. But keep it!
August 1st, 2008 at 9:46 am
Hey!I’m so glad some of you made it back here today! Again, sorry it was late, but better late than never! ^_^
Looks like the beard is a winner. I thought so. And it adds a bit of family resemblence too…
A scruffy beard may not suit the fellow’s personality, but I can promise you Meg Tao that it will never get too wild!
Chaeryna- I’m glad you liked the twist where the orphan is no longer an orphan. Of course,now that he has the love of family, you have vulnerablity of potential loss too… Yes, Josh, Claudius is a big brother. And Kath is the baby, but you probably could figure that out.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:11 am
First of all, yay, comic! ^^
Now, I’m definitely pro-stubble. I love facial hair and I think it suits Claude quite well, makes him more manly. (But then again, I’m swooning over Ambrosius more than over Claude because of his gorgeous white beard, so maybe I’m not the best person to judge…)
August 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
I adore this page. Especially the first panel where you see them all around the table, even Livy and Gly. It really adheres to the whole family reunion thing. After all the hints you dropped (esp w/ Katharos looking like Claude, and Gly talking about seeing him when he was tiny), I’m glad for this page!
Claude should keep the beard, he looks sexy when he’s rugged!
August 1st, 2008 at 12:57 pm
From an artist’s point of view, I say scrap the beard unless it’s something neat and trim. I dunno about you, but I’m ALWAYS forgetting the little details that have to be drawn in after coloring.
From a reader’s view, I love the 5 o’clock shadow. It’s smexy.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
What is going on with WOWIO? No more Talisman? They also seemed to have dropped all of my other favorite comics from WOWIO also? It is apparent they’ve lost theire corporate sponsers which is a shame.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I dunno, I prefer him sans scruff, but I guess I’m just one in a million.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I’m with you, Janai…but I luff him no matter what. =)
August 1st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Well, I am going to answer for my wife, since I already know what her response will be based on my being outlawed from shaving. So keep the beard is how I have to cast my vote. Seems to be a popular look. Great page Barb, as always
August 1st, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Now we know where Charlie gets that NOSE from!
August 1st, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Totally lose the beard
August 1st, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I kinda like the beard better, but I’m ambivalent.
In other news, Ambrosia is SOOO unoriginal with his introductions. They should totally do a routine from “Shrek” or something.
“Claudius?”
“Katharos!”
“Adora?”
“Claudius!”
“Phanessa!”
“Katharos?”
“Adora!”
“Ambrosia!”
“Claudius!”
“Donkey!”
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:07 am
I really hate to say it, but is copying someone elses intro orginal? I like the intro it seemed heartfelt, which I believe beats orginal any day.
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 am
Yeah, and it wasn’t so much an intro as the wives yelling at their husbands.
On the comic…..can’t say I was expecting Ambrosia to be the father, but it doesn’t surprise me greatly either. Not sure what that means…..
On the beard….Welll, part of me wants to see him like he’s been in the ads and wallpapers, but a larger part is thinking that he’ll keep shaving just for normalcy, so I’ll go with no beard.
Tally on the beard-no beard-undecided board: 10-3-1
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 am
I actually like him better without the beard.
Great comic by the way!
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:35 am
well, the beard is sort of winning…but there are those not convinced, apparently. ^_^
I wonder how XYlia feels about it….
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am
I was kidding, guys. The introduction’s fine.
The mental image just popped into my head, and it made me smirk, so I shared. Especially since, yes, the characters of Shrek WERE actually all yelling at each other, not introducing each other.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
TOTALLY keep the beard. We *like* boys with facial hair. But how does this work with Phanessa being Claudius’ mother and Ambrosia his father? I thought he was only half Fae?
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Well… You’ll notice that Ambrosia introduced Phanessa as.. “of Azloe”… but not himself… maybe that has something to with it. Or maybe not. Or maybe. Or maybe not. Can never really tell with Barb….
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Cut of from the internet! Much summerstuff happening! Missed about three pages, read them now and am loving it like crazy! Think Claudie should keep the beard coz it’s smexy! Got to run!
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Canterrain:
True…but wouldn’t that make the two girls half-Fae, too?
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Barb wondered about Xylia’s point of view about the beard. Well, from my own experience: beard is a good thing in a guy, but it can’t be prickly. The 5 o’clock thing is nice but oh-so-scratchy! So I’m more for a bit of a beard- but a permanent one! I think that Xylia would think the same. Though, she will, of course, love him even if he would grow onion on his face and not hair. Love is funky that way…
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
shave the beard
and wow… I didn’t expect Dr. Ambrosia was his dad… interesting twist… why do his sisters have wings but no one else does?
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 pm
My guy has scruff half the time, and is clean-shaven the other half, and it all just kind of depends on how busy he is and whether or not he has time or reason to shave. Then, he’ll usually keep a little hair on his chin, which I think is super-cute, but every once in a while, he’ll shave it off and that is super-cute too!
I really like Claudius clean-shaven, but I think it is appropriate for him to have scruff and/or a full beard at certain points… e.g. the desktop background where he is featured in front of the moon (my laptop’s permanent background by the way ^_^), his facial hair is appropriate because it gives the effect –as does his gear — that he has been travelling for a while and been unable to shave.
But when he is in more of a home-setting, it seems more appropriate for him to be clean-shaven; he just seems like that kind of guy to me.
But I don’t know what the customs are in Azloe. It seems that most men — like Ambrosia — have facial hair, so perhaps it is considered taboo for a man to shave there? Maybe it is a sign of wealth or power? I dunno…
But you do, Barb! or at least, you’ll be able to decide.
Anyway, if he keeps the scruff, it would be super-symbolic of his transformation from earthling chap to fairy-realm hero because he goes from being super tidy to being concerned with more important things, like say… saving Xylia?
Or it would be kind of cool for him to be clean-shaven when he is on Earth and scruffy in Azloe if he is going to move back and forth (or just to help distinguish between flashbacks to earth?), for any of the above reasons.
I like him both ways, and think it would be a bit of a shame for one of them to disappear completely — or almost completely. Besides, if the scruff comes and goes, it gives him a more real aspect that I kind of like. But you would have to put careful thought into when he had scruff and when he didn’t.
Also, I can’t wait for the Xylia store!!!!!!!!!! I have been absolutely dying for a Xylia t-shirt! well, actually, I’ll prob’ly try to buy one of everything depending on how much money I have.
And I think once you have a store up and running, Nigel’s Opus is easier to access, and there are more activities and contests inspired by Xylia’s story, some of the pressure put on you right now to update will be eased because we your fans will have other ways to support and enjoy this wonderful creation of yours.
You rock, barbidoll.
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Personally, I think I like him better without the beard, because with it, he’d most likely look older. But that’s just me since I’m very much a girl that would go for a guy with no body hair xD;;
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Stubble ftw! Please keep it, it’s sexy
No full beards though, just the unshaven look 
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:03 am
Oh please keep the scruff! He was handsome to begin with, but the scruff makes him ruggedly handsome…like Aragorn…or some other wonderful hero. I have to agrre with Ms. Sarah Arts Angel…STUBBLE FTW. It IS sexy.
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:18 am
Ick! No beard! … stubble is ok.
I also think beards conceal a lot of a drawn character’s expression.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:27 am
Ah! How could I have missed the fact that Ambrosia is his father? X} *DUH!* See Claude? You DO have a family…NOW you truly belong. ^-^
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 am
Too me.
This last panel is really moving. One of the best parts of the page. You can tell there is a deep love between Phanessa and Ambrosia. And a deep love from them for Claude. That one moment. Where they are shown holding hands. It’s really touching, and just… this detail that is perfect. One of my favorite parts about Barb’s art.. the details that really add something significant. Say something significant.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:22 am
I prefer guys without beards, so Id say no, just my point of view though most people seem to like it.
I like the name Phanessa, it suits her. This seems like a happy, loving family though from the last panel it seems that Claudius still needs some adjustment.
Ooooh, Xylia goodies! *is excited* A calendar sounds really nice! So does the contest!
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Yes. It speaks volumes. And are those tears welling up in our hero’s eyes?
Okay. So Claudius is the halfling of Azloe. But that could mean that he’s only half Azloean, I guess. Not necessarily that he’s only half faerie or something other than human. Ambrosia is obviously not an ordinary human–after all he’s about a thousand years old!
August 4th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
IT’S ALIVE!
August 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
There is a new page, everyone, and it will be posted soon. First I must scream in a pillow for a while. I hate being dumb.