Once again this week we have lots of Final Fantasy VI submissions, and also a lot of TheApocrypha submissions, and one may be the cause of the other. Of course I need to apologize to TheApocrypha for not posting the comic last week and for butchering the name countless times since her first submission. For some reason I used to write it with a k. Now let's see what we have to feast our eyes on.

Under the spotlight this week is Dice's newest piece. It's easy to recognize her style in this fine submission - the painting looks so good! The face is very expressive and the movement in the character's pose and hair works well. The colorful but simple character helps bring the character forward.

Sazh looks like he's ready to take on anything in Sentou Ryoku's interpretation of the character from Final Fantasy XIII. I mentioned the simplicity of the background helping the visibility of the character. Here, we have the opposite situation. The background is so packed with detail that one could think the character would suffer from that. However, the colors are not so vibrant and the lines are not thick or defined. Meanwhile, the character is drawn with crisp lines and vivid colors. The absence of texture on the character also helps this. It's all a question of contrast.

In addition to Sentou Ryoku, we also have a return from Noreen Rana this week with a Rosa piece. I really like the lettering in this submission. Of course the character is also really interesting with lots of detail and terrific drawing. The blurred lines in the cape creates some depth in the character, which helps the comprehension of the volumes.

Next up is another Edgar and Terra piece from TheApocrypha. They look absolutely adorable in this piece. I like the sketchiness of the lines and the emotion conveyed by the characters' expressions. It works well and I don't think the emotion could be mistaken at all. The hands play is a good touch and is usually very expressive, such as in this picture. This is especially evocative in the way they hold each other's hands, but let's not forget Edgar's other hand holding Terra's face. It feels gentle and loving.

The last piece for the week was done by yours truly during the Earthbound Backtrack (#12) back in March. The coloring was done sometime last week. I quite like it, especially my coloring, but I can't stand the face. My favorite area is around the shirt and backpack. The background is quite simple - I didn't know what to do, so I just used a gradient using the game title's colors.

Lastly, make sure to read the comics. Locke and Terra decide to go shopping while Edgar prepares for their journey while overhearing a seemingly unimportant conversation, but everyone who played the game know what it entails. Meanwhile, in a bleaker parallel universe, Locke continues to be a dick and gets thrown down a building in what could possibly be this comic's most violent page to date! Don't miss the joke in the very last panel. The column usually ends at this point, but we do have a Theme submission. What better than a Final Fantasy VI menu from the very beginning on your desktop? Thanks for reading, everyone, and please send in more submissions!

Maxime Viventi