kenisu - #01
Well, this is it. This project has been literally years in the making, as it's been brewing in my mind since I first finished the game in 2000 (coherent scenes that I recall to this day didn't start forming until summer of 2002). At any rate, I had been putting it off and putting it off, until finally, just this last April, when I came back to this site after a long absence and discovered that Mother 3 was soon to be released. That brought back the fanboy in me, and I wasted no time in making plans for a comic series of my favorite game in the whole trilogy - Mother 1. The mysterious elements of this game, and the uncanny landscapes which remind me of my childhood, have long held me entranced. So, I present to you what has been on paper only since April, but what has been cooking up in my mind since six years earlier.
To comment on this specific page, I'd like to admit that the introductory narrative was a bad decision on my part. For future reference, the phrase "Little did they know" automatically cheese-ifies ANY piece of fiction. George and Maria needed no formal introduction - they introduce each other. I should have used a single subtitle saying "Outskirts of a rural American town, circa 1906", but I guess it's all water under the bridge now.

kenisu - #03
For those who haven't played the game, or have a very good memory of it, you'll find out, much MUCH later, exactly WHAT it is that is above George and Maria's house (or you can just play Mother and it'll tell you right there in the two paragraphs in the opening narration).
What I'm most proud of in this page is the fifth panel (the long one that dives under Maria's "What is THAT above our house?!" panel and juts out a bit under the third) - I absolutely nailed what I had in my head for that shot, and it also gives a glimpse at what I love so much about the landscapes of Mother. If you don't pay much attention to the detail anywhere else on this page, study this panel carefully. At the left end you can see George and Maria in the distance entering the forest, and at the right end is a pair of mysterious legs and a tail descending slowly in front of their home.
The dialogue of the panic-stricken couple was quite touch-and-go for me. I wasn't exactly sure what direction I wanted them to escape, but I wanted Mothersday Town to be mentioned, so I made that their planned route (BTW, I found out recently that the holiday Mother's Day didn't even exist in 1906, much less a town named after it...). Then I needed an outlet for the couple, someONE they could run to. So, using the concept of simple names like "George", I had him mention, in passing, some guy named "James". At first, James only existed for the sake of George mentioning someone they could run to, but as I was illustrating page 7, I found a way to use James further as not only as an outlet, but as THE outlet to represent a family friend's reaction to all that's about to happen. Yes, we'll get to see James in person later, and he'll come strongly into play.

whohat - #01
Last month, my church was doing a service project for the local crisis center, and they asked me to illustrate a coloring book for the kids. By this time, I was already deeply immersed in my "Mother" comic series for the site, and I knew from past experience that if I sidetracked myself, I might never get back around to the comic. I also knew that even if I illustrated this coloring book, my heart just wouldn't be in it unless it was something that I felt very close to. So, instead of throwing together some goofy little "See Spot Run" thing, I decided to take a tiny piece of the storyline from Mother 1 (that is, when Ninten and Lloyd bring Anna her hat) and kiddify it for all it's worth.
The irony of it all is, now there's probably a handful of kids in my hometown running around with their crayons scribbling in a coloring book based on a retro Nintendo game that never made it outside of Japan. And they don't even know it. I've brainwashed the children... :)