Chapter 4, Page 5

Sorry! Page when up a bit later than I thought… got super distracted yesterday by seeing my first book for the first time :’] It’s an advance copy coming ahead of the shipment of the other thousands of books that will be going out to Kickstarter backers once they land in the US, it’s very surreal to see it. This book was a huge learning experience for me, and I’m looking forward to making MI a book one day too.

I’ll also have a limited number of copies of the book for sale at ECCC in early March, for those who missed the KS (KS backers can get a preview of what it looks like~), as well as the MI bookmarks, which turned out amazingly. The colors came out super vibrant, I couldn’t be more pleased with them.

Oh! and it looks like there’s a cute new fanart to share: everyone’s favorite LEVi by Adaser :]

The Patreon notes and comparison for this page will be up soon, I’ll update this link once it’s posted! But for now… time to pivot to the Meek update~~

 

49 Comments

  • Inwoods

    If there is a way in, there is a way out.

    Does he mean fell too far, and the climb is impossible? Stone slab covers entrance? I mean, given time and tools they can cut through.

    Or are we in the matrix somehow?

    • Hg

      Not if the way in collapsed behind them.

      I wonder if Fisher deliberately trapped Levi? He did say that no one was going to find Levi.

    • Ilmari

      If the way out required a vertical ascent without a climbable surface, as appears to be the case here, I think it would be fair to say there is no way out.

  • Mallow

    Levi’s so cheerful about their eternal prison!

    • grahamf

      He learned how to be happy. He also learned how to be sad but he doesn’t like to use that ability.

  • charlesw81
  • Toothy

    Bex has such beautiful features. I have such a massive crush on her. The way you drew her lips in the second to last panel is like… dang. She’s gorgeous!!

  • mmk

    Panels working from to left going to bottom right:
    Panels 1-2: love the suit detailing shading and “stressed-wtf-…-ok-what-?” posture
    Panel 3: neutral. Gotta love thrip/Levi’s antenna eyes, lol.
    Panel 4: textbook thinking pose
    Panel 5: love facial details; esp. love the detail on eyes
    Panel 6: lol’d hard and attempted to explain this scene to a friend with only slight context. Got a confused lol (?). Love thrip’s playful “nope!” pose. Adorable… Strangely….(why…?)

    • shingworks

      lol, I am glad you have discovered the limitless joy of floating eyeballs attached to an enthusiastic crab-insect-thing. He’s just very excited to be here.

      • foxorian

        So wait, can Thrip see 360 degrees around him in stereo?

        • nihilinterit

          Maybe Thrips are like Stomatopods, and have stereo vision in each eye! Maybe he can see radio waves…

  • Ellie

    I’m so excited that you are going to be at ECCC! I can’t wait to hover out of sight until I gather my courage to say hello! Will you be doing any kind of sketches or commissions?

    • shingworks

      I’ll probably have sketch paper on me, yes XD I… don’t know how it’s gonna work exactly tbh, depends on how busy it gets, but if it looks like I’m going to have downtime I will probably do some sketches.

  • I like how LEVi still thinks of himself as a mapping robot!

    • shingworks

      Intersectionality ~

      • Jay

        My mapping robot AI martian bug comics will be intersectional, or they will be bullshit!

  • AGV

    Uh oh, someone’s knocking the door, who could that be?

    *a couple of martian lifeforms shows up*
    “Hello, Alien Lady.
    We just noticed that you’re new in the system and we’d like to talk about or caretaker and protector, the Mare Internum.”

    • Zinc

      Hello! My name is Kallakore, and I would like to share with you the most amazing sea.
      Hello! I’m also Kallakore – it’s a sea buried in Mars a long, long time ago.
      It has so many awesome parts – you simply won’t believe how much this sea change your life.
      Hello! I’m likewise Kallakore. I would like to share with you this sea that’s under Mars.

      Hello! Again, I’m Kallakore. (Hello!) Did you know that life existed here, right on this “red planet”?
      You can hear all about it now, in this nifty sea – it’s free! No, you don’t have to pay!

      Hello! You know my name by now, but can I leave this plant on you, perhaps you two might fuse?
      I’ll just leave it here. It has a lot of healthy features you could really use!

      Hello, hello, hello! Me llamo Kallakore!
      This sea gives you the secret to eternal life! Sound good?
      Eternal life!
      Right under Mars!
      It’s super fun!
      And if you wear our plants, we’ll show you how it can be done!
      No thanks? You sure? Oh, well. That’s fine. Good luck getting out. (No way)

      You simply won’t believe how much this sea can change your life!
      This sea can change your life!
      This sea can change your life!
      The Mare Internum! (Internum…)

  • Looks like her batteries may finally be out of juice.

  • Van

    I think it is pertinent to relinquishing the information that the cave collapsed on several decks should be encouraged.

  • Fraaaaank...?

    Bex is questioning your writing. Bit rude, but hard to blame her given the situation.

    • CrazyLady

      “I cannot seem to map this out… because it seems like this place doesn’t even exist.”

      “What do you mean it doesn’t exist?”

      “You, me, Mike, no one here actually exists.”

      “Levi, what do you–”

      “Because we’re actually… all along it was so obvious.. there’s no way out because… we’re in a WEBCOMIC.”

      • Aristatide

        Later on, Levi got a lucrative second career as Deadpool’s new sidekick.

  • I just gotta say that I love how you draw Bex’s lips; the way you render the way they protrude is truly appealing. <3

  • Adeo

    HOLD ON A SECOND, if the theories floating around here about all characters here falling here to their deaths and being subsequently reanimated by who knows what are true… doesn’t that mean that Kallakore will get reanimated even though he got uhh killed by Bex?

  • Ren-der

    Is there a way we can get the bookmarks if we can’t go to ECCC???
    T.T

    • shingworks

      Yeah, I’m going to have them at future conventions I got to this year! Past that tho I’ll have to see, I’m probably releasing a limited edition MI thingy soon so these will probably be items I bundle with that.

  • Fawnet

    OK, so Fisher caught a crop of symbiotic native creatures and was changed by the environment. He could understand Kallakore, but he couldn’t understand Levi’s thripping language. Meanwhile, the uninfected Bex can understand Levi, even though he’s communicating by whacking tail plates together.

    • Felix Domestica

      Not visibly infected on the surfaces we’ve seen. She could still be carrying a load of symbionts and not be aware of them. Or there might be something else in the area acting as an intermediary.

      I still can’t figure out what LEVi is being kept under. Some folks may not want to know, admittedly.

  • Arianwen

    There’s a book? There is a book? BOOK?! THERE IS WHERE? Can I now? Now the book in where is me HAVE BOOK IN BOOK THERE IS BOOK OF A BOOK AND BOOK BOOK BOOKBOOKBOOKBOOKBOOK

    Ook?

    • shingworks

      Haha, you can click the link, it’s the first volume of The Meek XD MI will be published as one full book so, no book yet (or at least you will be made VERY aware of one if it is about to be made).

  • androshalforc

    at first when Bex said “Mapping robot” I thought she was swearing
    and the line was going a different path
    ; but levi you’re a mapping robot how can you be an organic lifeform now

    • Folarx

      Like in “Oh, go map yourself you mappin’ robot”?
      (Sounds best if you imagine Richard Ayoade saying it)

  • Jirenta

    Well, perhaps thereĀ“s just no EASY way out ^.^

    And if that alarm is for low oxygen… well, she did survive as long as her hair grew without a helmet on. Perhaps that alarm is important for the gear she wears, yet not important for herself at all. Could be a false alarm, also. Who knows?

    Could be her dinner timer or so. She WAS kind of preparing Kallakores remains for cooking…

  • Kat

    Dang Levi is just the epitome of cute. His uneven eyes, those little feets. I love that bug.

  • BGB

    Will we be able to buy the book as a PDF or some other digital format? I don’t have the space to store physical books, but I’d still love to support you financially while also getting a chance to read any bonus content in the book.

    • shingworks

      When the MI book comes out I’ll definitely have it available as a PDF at my Gumroad~

      • BGB

        Thanks! I’ll be ready to buy it:)

  • Cliffe

    I adore the style your bookmarks are in, It really makes them stand out!

  • Jac

    My headcanon Thrip!Levi voice is Cute Anime Mascot Character

  • Adriano

    OwO

    whats this

  • Alan

    Did I hear my name?

  • CosmicStresshead

    BEE BEE BEEP
    BEE BEE BEEP
    BEE BEE BEEP

    [A fist knocks an alarm clock across a darkened room]

    [Bex wakes up in her bed and goes to work in the comic store, doodles some of her wacky dream from last night, sells the rights to a movie company and makes millions]

    ~FIN~

  • Keith

    help me Shing!
    …slowly…dying….
    ..require life sustaining comic updates… :)

  • Flower

    Wow. This comic is wonderful. I love crustacean Levi. The last few pages have been wonderful, too, what with the conversations & emotions about pregnancy, etc… Just wanted to chime in that I’m enjoying it all. Very well written and beautiful art.

  • Sheridan

    Panel 2: for a pair of eyes on stalk, those are remarkably emotive.
    On the no way out: Mike won’t know how he got in. Al he remembers is coming to underwater, being pulled along by a strong current, and with a broken leg. He logically surmises that he fell down into the water.
    LEVi was ‘buried’ by Mike. The implies LEVi should know the ‘outmost’ portion of the cave network, even if it’s blocked by debris.
    Bex we don’t know, as we haven’t seend her arrival, apart from her also falling into the chasm (by rights she should have landed in the same water as Mike, but she also appears unharmed.

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