December 3rd, 2008
“How Mirka Got Her Sword,” page 55
I don’t remember why I decided to draw the witch’s hair that way, but I’m not ruling out masochism. Takes a loooong while to ink that stuff.
Also, sorry this posted late. I messed up when I coded the time for this entry to appear.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Now I understand why people would want to beat up the witch…
December 4th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Re: Hans
… cause she’s incredibly honest?
She does do it in a harsh way … but, I sympathize with the witch’s assesment here. Mirka is so happy about winning that she’s forgotten to reflect on the price (sneaking out, beating up her brother, risking her life, etc).
Sigh. Regardless, Mirka doesn’t seem to be getting it in panel 5. Its not until panel 8 that the words seem to reach her, and at that point I think she might be worried more about punishment from her parents than the moral price that she paid to win.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I agree with Fish on this one: Panel 5 looks like Mirka’s stubborn “I don’t care about your criticism, I won” face. Panel 8, though? Definitely an “oh crud” moment, but probably not because she got the point that we think the witch was trying to make. Then again, the prospect of being in deep trouble with her parents is probably a much more immediate concern than moral questions about her methods for someone Mirka’s age. Still, she’s a smart girl. If her stepmother doesn’t illuminate the situation for her in excruciating detail, Mirka will probably work things out for herself once she has time to think about it.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Hello, don’t any of you have little brothers? It’s OKAY to beat them up, that’s what big sisters are SUPPOSED to do. And to a preteen, concepts like ‘getting killed’ are only starting to vaguely make sense - at the moment, the most she can grasp about it is ‘Yeah, but I didn’t’. So that doesn’t bother her either.
What DOES strike home is no concrete evidence of the sword, and the reaction of her parents. Parental anger will ALWAYS get a face like that, no matter what.
Barry, I think your ordering of issues was perfect.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Also: she’s probably not thinking in terms of higher universal morals, she’s most likely operating under the third of Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development (interpersonal relationships). That means she makes decisions based on intention and social expectations. That in turn means that it’s all right to beat up her brother, since she’s doing it to get the sword. That’s good. But her parents are the ultimate social authority, and she’s let down their expectations to follow the rules. That’s bad.
See what I mean?
And I’m probably overanalyzing this again. Sorry.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Last also, I promise: The witch’s hair is almost as long as mine is! ^__^
December 8th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
There’s no concrete evidence of the sword, but she does have a new sweater to back her story. (How was she intending to explain the sweater back when she thought she was going to sneak back in unnoticed anyway?)
December 9th, 2008 at 4:40 am
She could say she knitted it - it would be about as believable to her parents as the actual story!
December 10th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I wonder what the witch wears around her neck.
December 11th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Her soouuuul…