The Right Number Part 2

Kris Lachowski · Post by **Kris Lachowski** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:43 pm

Great, Cool, Worth the Wait (although I hope I don't have to wait quite as long for the next one). I Really like the transitions of the last eight or so panels. They are much more interesting that the embedded panels found in most of The Right Number. I've always found them somewhat awkward. So anyway that is suppose to be a compliment.

Also there is a slight mistake, or at least what I think is a mistake on page 13 of Part 2. In the right panel on page 13 the guys pupils are missing, which does look demonic and therefore quite possibly could match his mood, but because when I click to advanve his pupils do show up I think that it must be an error. Basically the same thing happens a number of other times with character's pupils who are far away and then get closer as the page moves forward, but in the other cases it is not so noticable or dramatic. Then again maybe your intent was to just make him look demonic and that's cool. Anyway nice second chapter. i can't wait for the next.

Obalatan · Post by **Obalatan** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 2:11 pm

I'm trying to get at Part 2 but I seem to just get the page for Part 1. What am I doing wrong?

Dei

Post by **Scott McCloud** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 2:30 pm

Part Two start out looking similar to one, but you should be getting One. I just checked it and it does seem to be working.

Perhaps you could try pressing reload/refresh.

What exactly are you seeing?

Obalatan · Post by **Obalatan** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 3:05 pm

Sorry about that, that wasn't terribly helpful, was it?

When I click on the link to The Right Number Part 2 off your homepage, I go to http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/trn/intro.html which is the intro page for the comic. I can find the link for Part 1, no problem. I just don't know how to get to Part 2. I thought I might find it if I clicked through part one, but that didn't work.

I know it's out there and there's something really simple and obvious that I'm missing but for the life of me I can't figure it out.

Dei.

Obalatan · Post by **Obalatan** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 3:11 pm

I tried clicking on the link Greg Stephens had put up, which pointed to http://scottmccloud.com/comics/trn/intro.html and all is well.

(looks very similar to previous one, perhaps link should be updated?)

*rubs hands with glee*

Now to immerse myself it this...

Dei.

Iain · Post by **Iain** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 4:00 pm

Kris Lachowski wrote:Also there is a slight mistake, or at least what I think is a mistake on page 13 of Part 2. In the right panel on page 13 the guys pupils are missing, which does look demonic and therefore quite possibly could match his mood, but because when I click to advanve his pupils do show up I think that it must be an error.

I noticed this too. Odd.

Part One made me interested enough to read Part Two, but Part Two makes me want to go run and tell all my friends to check out this comic. Unique and entertaining through and through. *yAy*! I have so many math and science geeks for friends, you should be rolling in quarters in no time Scott lol.

- iain hamp

Post by **Scott McCloud** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:01 pm

That missing Eyeball should be back in now.

As for the ordering page, my guess, Obalatan, is that you were loading an older version of the page from your browser cache. Glad it seems to be working now.

Any other bugs? Please let me know!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:38 pm

Scott McCloud wrote:That missing Eyeball should be back in now.

I don't know maybe it's my browser or something, but the pupil still doesn't show up until I advance to the next page.

Kris Lachowski · Post by **Kris Lachowski** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:39 pm

Oops the above post was me.

Connor Moran · Post by **Connor Moran** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:45 pm

I just read the comic and I noticed that the pupils were missing, though I did not notice them re-appearing when the comic advanced, that was probably just my reading.

Also, I am having trouble downloading it as before. When I right clicked on the link and "saved link tarket as" and downloaded the page, didn't end up with the comic, just the stuff below it.

But very good work, super creepy.

Now that I look at it again, I notice that the pupil does reappear. Also, in the background I see a guy in a checkered shirt and glasses. A cameo?

Post by **Scott McCloud** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 6:29 pm

Naah, not a cameo. Just another guy with glasses and checked shirt. I gotta million of them.

Anyway, I've added an option to both Parts One or Two for downloading. It's a direct link to the Flash File itself (as opposed to the html formatting page). Right click (PC) or Control-Click (Mac) to download it, then open in any browser. It'll grow to fit the browser (Good thing? Bad thing?) and won't have the text at bottom, but otherwise, it should be fine.

Christopher Lundgren · Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:52 pm

I'm having trouble accessing Part One. I payed for it several months ago, and it's reading it as having until February before it expires, but it won't let me in.

It says "Redirection limit for this URL exceeded. Unable to load the requested page. This may be caused by cookies that are blocked."

I think my cookies are fine, and it's been doing this all day. I've been trying since this morning to get in.

Any suggestions?

Post by **Scott McCloud** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 2:55 am

Not sure what's up with that Christopher. I've copied your post and sent it along to BitPass to see if we can get to the bottom of it.

If you have more than one browser, might want to try that in the meantime.

Sorry about the inconvenience. We'll see if we can track that one down for you.

Christopher Lundgren · Fri Jan 16, 2004 3:20 am

Well I was using Mozilla Firebird when I got that message. I just tried it with IE and I still can't get in. When I log in to BitPass it recognizes that I've paid, but I just can't seem to get any further than that. With IE I get the old "Cannot Find Server" screen.

Incidentally, I had no trouble getting Part Two to come up.

Varius · Post by **Varius** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:01 am

After a very long time reading both Scott's site and this forum, this comic has finally given me my excuse to stop lurking.

I'm more of a writer than an artist, so I was particularly interested with the last few panels. The shift in colors seems to take us outside the narrative-thus-far, but I feel like I've missed something. Maybe I'm an idiot to ask, but are we looking at the past, the future, the subconscious... or is it supposed to be ambiguous? For that matter, is it supposed to be green, or has something happened to my browser?

Also, I find it curious that there's been such a reaction to the missing pupils on page 13 (I just figured his eyes were closed), but no mention of the missing letter "R" on page 14, giving us the nonsense phrase "unsu prised." Unless that's a problem with my browser, too.

Connor Moran · Post by **Connor Moran** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 5:17 am

No, I noticed the "unsu prised" as well, but forgot to mention it.

As for the green, there are subtle shifts of color throughout the narrative. For example, the very beginning of the story (a flash-forward to the end, I assume) is a darker blue than the following portion.. I suspect that they signal shifts in tone. It's a good use of color, and a good way for Scott to highlight the advantages of internet publishing technology on a much more subtle level than the more obvious animation. I am pretty sure that somewhere he has discussed how part of getting out of the habits of print involves not accepting black and white as the neccessary base colors for a two-color narrative. This comic is a particularly good example of how that can work.

Post by **Scott McCloud** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:16 am

I *think* I've finally fixed the "unsu prised" bug. Flash is weird that way. Sometimes it'll drop a small detail out in when importing art from Illustrator.

Tim Mallos · Post by **Tim Mallos** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 12:38 pm

Ah the joys and trials of having a big part of your audience as interested in the form of comics as you are.

I really like the piece so far Scott. I too really thought the zooming worked well for the panels near the end of part 2. It's a really great device when it supports the narrative like that. In other spots, I think it's a distraction.

Tim

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 12:43 am

I love this so far. I think anyone who liked the movie "Beautiful Mind" would enjoy reading "The Right Number"

the last several panel transitions were just brilliantly done, and really use animation to work well in a comic. sadly, I agree that in most of the comic, the frame-zooming thing just seems like an animation gimmick. but at least it led up to those really good parts, so it's worth it for me.

Christopher Lundgren · Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:42 pm

I'm not usually one to emphasize differences between men and women; I tend to think more in terms of how the sexes are alike than how they're not.

But that said, I couldn't help but think while reading Part Two, that no woman would ever come up with a crazy scheme like that. (Not the writing of the comic itself. I mean the actions of the character within the context of the story.) From the initial concept of finding a mathematical relationship between phone numbers, to the systematic, detatched, almost emotionless "data collection" process, it just has male brain written all over it.

Something else that strikes me, he's so obsessed about his theory, that his subjects' feelings or the morality of what he's doing has been pushed aside. I guess those things don't seem relevant to him. (Of course that's because he has a preconceived notion of what elements are relevant. I think he's missing an important piece of the puzzle, ignoring important information. Love is not an exact science. It can't be reduced to a simple formula.) It's all become a big game to him and, frankly, I find it a bit frightening.

Post by **Greg Stephens** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:06 pm

Christopher Lundgren wrote:But that said, I couldn't help but think while reading Part Two, that no woman would ever come up with a crazy scheme like that. (Not the writing of the comic itself. I mean the actions of the character within the context of the story.)

I'm not so sure. A female friend of mine has always said that she thought women were more dangerous, more conniving and more manipulative than men were. But I think we'd really need a woman (or, preferably, several) to tell us if that's so or not.

Christopher Lundgren wrote:It's all become a big game to him and, frankly, I find it a bit frightening.

Yes, I too find it becoming very creepy in part two.

Christopher Lundgren · Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:27 pm

Greg Stephens wrote:I'm not so sure. A female friend of mine has always said that she thought women were more dangerous, more conniving and more manipulative than men were.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that women aren't capable of many an underhanded deed. Surely many women are conniving and manipulative (I've known quite a few) --but it's the whole package that seems gender specific to me. It's the means and the ends. I guess what I'm saying is that if a woman devised a plan for finding the perfect man, it wouldn't be this.

kaos_de_moria · Post by **kaos_de_moria** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:47 pm

that guy is completely nuts. i'm sure he fails with the women he's stalking right now. but the police will catch him and he goes to prison. in prison he'll realise the perfect number is the number of the women prison besides

kaos

Connor Moran · Post by **Connor Moran** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 3:58 pm

kaos_de_moria wrote:that guy is completely nuts. i'm sure he fails with the women he's stalking right now. but the police will catch him and he goes to prison. in prison he'll realise the perfect number is the number of the women prison besides

kaos

Whether you are being serious or not, we pretty much know that this isn't going to happen because the story starts with him in bed with a mysterious blonde.

On another subject, I really love the way that Scott uses the visual aspect to reveal a lot about his character that we otherwise would have trouble divining from the first person account, simply because the character doesn't realize. Particularly in the two parallel scenes when his first two girlfriends accuse him of "emotional distance." HE rejects that concept as nonsense (although I suppose he does notice that they both accused him of the same thing), but just looking at the panels, with the woman clearly emotional and him looking away coldly, it seems really clear that they are right. Just one more great thing about comics that I had never thought about, the ability of the visual to provide an objective contrast to the thougths of a narrator.

Zwol.org

The Right Number Part 2

The Right Number Part 2

Problem Solved! :D

Re: The Right Number Part 2

nuts

Re: nuts