Tag: fanfiction

Sister Holmes: Dectective Nun

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Hi all, I’m mid-way through inking Odd Thomas 3 (while watching Colbert Nation and making squiggly lines from laughing while inking), and there’s an interview with me up on the Graphic Novel Reporter, by Danica Davidson. Thanks, Danica and GNR.

Today, good news if you’re attending Sakura Con 2011 in Seattle this weekend. The BentoComics people have a table there and at least two anthologies for sale, the first a collection of Sherlock Holmes related stories by many of BentoComics’ contributing artists, including myself.

Update: So popular was this anthology that it sold out completely at Sakura Con on Day 1!

I contributed a 16-page story in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes story, except that it’s about Sister Holmes, Detective Nun. Because I looked it up online, and the only badass nun we had in comics was Warrior Nun Areala, so obviously what we needed was a cool, logical nun who solves baffling mysteries with rational deduction. If you see this anthology at Sakura Con, may the Power of Christ compel you to buy it (and also the second anthology, which I outline below).

 

Anthology cover for Sherlocke Holmes

 

Above is the cover (drawn by Myung), and you can read the Sister Holmes story by clicking the cover page below.

 

Sister Holmes: Detective Nun
Click to read on Bentocomics.com!

 

I’m not sure what it was about the “Write a Sherlock Holmes Story” request, that made me want to re-write Sherlock Holmes as a nun. It may be because of all the “re-imaginings” of Sherlock Holmes lately. You have Movie Sherlock, which “re-imagines” Sherlock as a man of action. You have Young Sherlock Holmes, Modern-Day Sherlock Holmes, and Steampunk Sherlock Holmes… all of which amounts to something like a change of scenery. If they’re re-imagining Sherlock Holmes, they’re not re-imagining him enough.

Apart than that, there’s also the wonderful original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, who I recently re-read with fresh eyes and new appreciation. The first thing that struck me about the Holmes stories is how perfect they are. They are all fairly different, yet formulaic enough for people to be entertained, but not alienated. They are the reason why Sherlock Holmes is one of the most widely recognised literary archetypes in the world, and continues to be. What can I add to something so perfect, so archetypal?

So I subverted it. That’s the only way I felt I could put an interesting spin on it – the stories all have to be good mystery stories, but the bit players are up for some fun. So Sister Holmes is female and a nun, and Father Watson, while not in this story, is extremely impressed by her powers of observation and deduction. The two live in a small chapel in 221 Baker St, two doors down from the Ye Olde London Secret Sisterhood of Cake Decorators. She is no joke, folks.

 
 

Queenie Chan Anthology – 2000-2010: Then there’s also this anthology for sale at the Bento table, which is a 150-page book containing a collection of my 10 best short stories drawn over the past decade, 9 of which are available to read on my website. Readers and fans have asked me for a long time where they can buy a collection of my short stories, and now you can, in book form.

 

Queenie Chan Short Stories - 2000-2010
Click to Buy this on Lulu.com!

 

It’s a print-on-demand book, so you can go to this page at Lulu to order a copy, if you can’t make it to Sakura Con. I’ll do a more detailed post on this on a later date, but for now, I’ll just mention that it’s there and available.

 

BentoComics.com – Princess Zelda

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Ah, the last story in this series. It happens to be a short story I did for a video-game anthology, based on Princess Zelda from the “Legend of Zelda” Nintendo Gaming series. Now, as a fan tribute it’s good fun, but because I don’t own this property, I’m just going to put it up on Bento Comics and let people read it (but not print it).

Rundown: Bento Comics is a new website that permits users to read and compile their own short story anthologies. It then prints the book at a printing company called Lulu, and delivers the personalised book to your door. A new publishing model, if you will.

Short Story of the Week: A short story seen from the perspective of Princess Zelda, and the wishes she makes to the Goddesses of Hyrule.

E-book: None, I’m afraid. It’s not my own property, so no e-book.

 
 

Princess Zelda
Click here to read on Bentocomics.com!

 
 

Well, this concludes my pick of short stories from the “Queenie Chan Archive” back on my website. It’s good to be back on my LiveJournal again, so I hope to be able to continue my weekly streak of posting something up. I’ve been working on a bunch of interesting things since the second Odd Thomas book ended, so watch this space for interesting developments.

 

Zelda Manga Dump!!

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The Dreaming v3: I am making great headway. The whole book is inked, and Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 7 are completely toned and finished. Only 3 more chapters to tone!! Volume 2 is still here on Amazon.com.

 

Zelda Fan Manga: Massive Zelda fan manga dump. I haven’t been lazy with the drawing, but I’ve been lazy with posting ’em up here. The previous 4 pages is here, while the whole thing started here. Easier that way. About the previous poll (no poll for a long time), option (b) won out again, so here it is.

 

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The winner for the last poll was again (b). The options and votes for that last poll of “Right now, Link is thinking:” are as follows:

 

  • She asked for my arm, so I should give her my arm. (22 Votes – 33.8%)
  • I shall sweep her up in my arms and carry her up the stairs! After all, she IS injured (so I have a GOOD excuse). (28 Votes – 43.1%)
  • If she needs fresh air and sunshine, she probably needs exercise too. I shall escort her up the stairs, but she is to climb them alone. (9 Votes – 13.8%)
  • She should stay here, as Princess Ruto asked. This is Ruto’s domain, after all. (6 Votes – 9.2%)

 

Once again, the last voting round determined something of substance. It was to determine how Link felt towards Princess Zelda. For the curious, I have made a list of the voting options, including what would have happened if that option had won out.

 

Option A: She asked for my arm, so I should give her my arm. (22 Votes – 33.8%)
Result: Link gives Zelda his arm, and helps her up the stairs.
Attitude: This Link does what he’s asked to. He believes in a kind of civil formality between himself and the princess (and royalty in general), and if someone else tried to overstep that boundary, he would protest on Zelda’s behalf. This Link sees Zelda as his equal in every way, and trusts her sound judgement on everything she does. His slight deference to her means that he (a) still considers himself to be in her service, and (b) will put her judgement ahead of his own. He may or may not be romantically interested in Zelda, but at this point in time, he considers them good friends.

 

Option B: I shall sweep her up in my arms and carry her up the stairs! After all, she IS injured (so I have a GOOD excuse). (28 Votes – 43.1%)
Result: You’re looking at it.
Attitude: This Link will do what the princess asks him, but he’s constantly look for ways to do a bit more. His motivations are primarily romantic – he’s definately interested in Princess Zelda, but then he’s just as likely to be a flirt in the first place. He knows what the boundaries are, and knows how to break them, though he also knows that he can’t go too far without getting a backlash. Despite not always following the princess’ orders, this Link regards Zelda as his equal in every way, and respects her judgement. He also respects the fact that as the ruler of Hyrule, she has to stand alone on alot of issues, but at the same time, he can’t help but hope she will be willing to lean on him a bit more. He definately does not consider himself to still be in Zelda’s service. In fact, he doesn’t consider himself to be in any kind of service to anybody besides himself. He’s a free man!!

 

Option C: If she needs fresh air and sunshine, she probably needs exercise too. I shall escort her up the stairs, but she is to climb them alone. (9 Votes – 13.8%)
Result: Link explains why he believes Princess Zelda would benefit from walking up the stairs on her own, and so she has to struggle up the stairs by herself. Needless to say, she gets pretty pissed off at the end of the climb.
Attitude: This Link believes in tough love, and above all, believes that a strong leader makes a strong country. He considers Zelda a friend, and is protective of her, but thinks that the best thing to do is to toughen her up at any time she shows weakness. He does NOT consider Zelda an equal – he believes he’s better at some things, and she at others, but in some cases his judgement ought to override hers (like now). He knows he’s no longer in service to the Hyrulean royal family, but he thinks in this case, it’s completely irrelevant. If Zelda is naive about anything, then he should be there to make sure she knows that a ruler has no room to be naive.

 

Option D: She should stay here, as Princess Ruto asked. This is Ruto’s domain, after all. (6 Votes – 9.2%)
Result: Link can say this, but he just comes off as lazy. This is because while this IS Ruto’s domain, Zelda’s authority out-ranks Ruto, so if Ruto were here, she WILL have to let Zelda go whereever she wants. Link will still have to help an annoyed Zelda up the stairs.
Attitude: This Link feels Zelda is a friend, but not a close one, and in some ways, even thinks of her as somewhat childish and naive. He doesn’t quite know why he feels that way, but it could be because she’s a princess who spends the majority of her time in Hyrule Castle. He definately does NOT see Zelda as an equal, and believes not only himself to have better judgement on some things, but other people too. He still considers himself to be in Zelda’s service though, and because of that, ought to give what he believes to be the best possible advice to her. If this results in absolutely no risk-taking, then so be it.

 

Hard At Work…

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The Dreaming v3: Up to chapter 5 for the pencils, and almost finished inking chapter 3. Am pumping it out like there’s no tomorrow!! Meanwhile, Volume 2 is out, it’s on Amazon.com. Oh, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year, by the way. I don’t get a break, so no festivities for me. *sigh*

 

Zelda Fan Manga: Here’s the second part, while the previous 5 pages is here. As per the previous poll, option (b) won out, and you can see it in all it’s glory.

 

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Voting for this poll ended on the 25th December. The winner this time was again (b), though (a) got a fair number of votes and for a while, was neck to neck. The options and votes for “Right now, Link is thinking:” are as follows:

 

  • She asked for my arm, so I should give her my arm. (22 Votes – 33.8%)
  • I shall sweep her up in my arms and carry her up the stairs! After all, she IS injured (so I have a GOOD excuse). (28 Votes – 43.1%)
  • If she needs fresh air and sunshine, she probably needs exercise too. I shall escort her up the stairs, but she is to climb them alone. (9 Votes – 13.8%)
  • She should stay here, as Princess Ruto asked. This is Ruto’s domain, after all. (6 Votes – 9.2%)

 

You may not have realised when you voted, but the last poll served a real purpose. It was to determine Link’s base personality. For the curious, I have made a list of the voting options, including what would have happened if that option had won out, and what Link’s personality type would have been.

Option A: Get all teary-eyed and emotional (12 Votes – 14%)
Result: Link gets all teary-eyed and emotional. Zelda gets all teary-eyed and emotional. Ruto couldn’t flee the room fast enough, so she gets emotional too.
“Earnest Warrior” Link: The most idealistic of all the Links, this Link is very open with his emotions, and very serious about his pursuit of truth and justice. While he knows that he should probably exercise more emotional restraint, he knows and appreciates why he feels the way he does, and considers it a positive attribute. He gets on best with the ordinary folks, and always puts their welfare first. Unfortunately, there are people out there who tends to take advantage of his nice, giving side, and Link finds it hard to say “no” to their requests, even if he knows he’s being taken advantage of. He also has a tendency to take other people’s business on as his own, which, curiously enough, also makes him the best physical fighter out of all the Links. The fact that he cares so intensely also means that his endurance and stamina is higher than the other Links. This Link is also the least interested in adventuring, with the most appreciation for the simple life.

 

Option B: Bow his head, gallantly kiss Princess Zelda’s hand, and greet her with a gentle smile (53 Votes – 61.6%)
Result: You’re looking at it.
“Romantic Soldier” Link: This guy has emotions like everyone else, but trusts his head over his heart. He is the most strategic when it comes to fighting, and also the most emotionally-guarded of all the Links. As a result, he is always polite and affable, but there’s no telling what he actually thinks of something or someone. This is a great help when dealing with sectors of society he may not necessarily like – his understanding of protocols and good manners make him the Link that gets along best with nobles, aristocrats and the wealthy. Certainly, he gets along fine with the ordinary folks as well, but he’s holistic enough to see that the common folk tend to be at their happiest when the ruling classes are doing a good job. Not particularly idealistic, this Link has an appreciation of all the greys in the world, and deals with all of its complexities by following the knight’s code of honour as much as he can. At the same time, he’s also most likely to be a smooth talker, and to use his looks to his advantage. He’s a guy who’s constantly sizing people up before he even speaks to them.

 

Option C: Smile in relief, pull up a chair, and slap her on the back (14 Votes – 16.3%)
Result: After Link slaps Princess Zelda on the back, he’ll be immediately slapped by Ruto on the head. Didn’t he hear her say that Princess Zelda has been injured?! Don’t slap injured people on the back until you know what’s wrong with them.
“Laid-Back Adventurer” Link: This Link enjoys saving the world, but the travelling and adventuring parts are also highly enjoyable. This Link has wanderlust, is something of a risk-taker, and gets along well with just about anybody because, well, he’s just an affable guy in general. In terms of personal relationships, he’s probably the most shallow of all the Links, and the least-likely to become emotionally attached to something or someone. That’s not to say he has no beliefs or ideals. He does have the same set of core beliefs as the other Links, though what he really loves and appreciates is the diversity of the world he lives in. He just loves experiencing it. As a fighter, he is the most fearless of all the Links, but not necessarily the most courageous. He’s the guy that assasins can never track down because he speaks a dozen languages and knows all the local customs of whichever place he’s already been to. An experienced bargain hunter, this Link has loads of street-smarts, and deals best with tradespeople, wandering merchants, travellers, thieves, bards, and the like.

 

Option D: Forget Princess Zelda!! Let’s hit on Princess Ruto!! (7 Votes – 8.1%)
Result: Anyone who behaves like that in such a situation is bound to have a weird sense of humour. He’ll be rejected by Princess Ruto, and will annoy both princesses. He’ll then go on the charm offensive to win them back.
“Oddball Swordsman” Link: This Link has an appreciation for the weird little moments in life, and that’s just putting it nicely. Sure, he saves the world too, but don’t expect him to act like a hero or even a swordsman. The number one thing people will remember about him is his strange sense of humour, often on display when you least expect it, and tempered with a mild dose of charm afterwards (so people won’t blacklist him from their parties). People have no idea how to react to him, or whether to take him seriously, because he doesn’t SEEM to be the kind of person who would have such a personality. In fact, he is normally a quiet guy. Why he has such a prankish sense of humour is a mystery, even to himself. Out of all the Links, he has the greatest appreciation for the banalities of life, and hangs around some very strange people, mostly for the shock value. Oddly enough, when he is motivated to care, he can form very strong emotional attachments, the strongest of all the other Links. It’s possible that deep down, he’s the loneliest of all the Links, and feels that loneliness most acutely. As a fighter, however, he is unrelentingly creative and full of surprises. Very apt for a guy who’s life seems to revolve around doing the unexpected. This Link gets along best with circus performers, crazy inventors, fortune-tellers, and various other weirdos and outcasts. It’s his appreciation for the off-beat.