SPEAK YOUR MIND
For the Goku 2 Hyperbolic Late Chamber
Featuring opponents Kiwi and Vlad by writer-artist duo Sal and Myeth, and Narrator and Lerche by writer-artist Mr.Fifi.
Behind the PSD
The inception of the character was more of a joke than anything, stemming from an idea brought up in the fandom. The giant mouth head was a no-brainer at first: looking at references of other devils from the series, most exhibit inhuman, body horror-heavy designs that capitalize on the inherent traits of the fear they were named after. I took an especially close look at the more goofy-looking, silly devils with more irrational fears like the chicken devil and tomato devil, while also taking into account the design characteristics that the more dangerous devils share.
The chicken devil and bomb devil, taken from Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man.
The final Public Speaking Devil design combines the silly, upright aesthetics of a more benign devils while subtly keeping the iconic “object head” of the more ruthless, known devils such as the bomb and gun devil, a nod to the Public Speaking Devil’s true nature explored below.
The Public Speaking Devil (lovingly shortened to PSD by the community) is an enigmatic being, deceptive and elusive in its goals and motivations. LIke any other devil from Chainsaw Man, it feeds off of the fear it generates from its namesake, in this case, Public Speaking. Throughout my run in this tournament, I wanted to break down the specifics of the fear to target the more primal instincts of what makes the act so nerve wracking for people.
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On the surface, public speaking may show as a trivial fear, but at its core, it can be broken down into more simplified, stronger fears such as fear of rejection, fear of shame, and most importantly for this comic, fear of failure.
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With this character specifically, I wanted to play into the idea of having it interact much more with the paneling, breaking the metaphorical “fourth wall” of comics. My round 3, Thanks for Watching, entirely separates from the comic format and forces the opponent into a behind-the-scenes video reel. But for round 2, the focus was all on dialogue.
The Public Speaking Devil's final design.
ROUND 2: FAILED
My opponents this time around were Kiwi and Vlad, a pair of bounty hunters with a particularly tense dynamic. I wanted to play off of the clear fear that Kiwi feels around Vlad, despite working together. As this tournament was a death tournament, I had to kill off both characters in my comic. At first, I was unsure on how to kill off both characters in a meaningful manner in the 3 pages allotted, but ultimately resigned to kill off Kiwi first, and focus on the effects such would have on Vlad as a result.
The first few moments of the comic work to establish a clear mood and atmosphere; the cluttered and overlapping panels serve to heighten the tension, suffocating the scene in Vlad's rush to find Kiwi. There are multiple instances of foreshadowing Kiwi's ultimate fate, both subtle and loud.
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1. The missing poster on the wall, as well as Vlad's first words of "Kiwi?" act as the first hints that something is very, very wrong.
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2. The big one. The text box holding the PSD's words mentioning "fearing failure", being posed right above Kiwi's seemingly limp body, dragged around by the PSD. Kiwi's body also seems to be missing... a head?
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3. The following words, "consequences of an attempt" hold a double meaning as Vlad comes, just too late. They both hint towards Kiwi's fatal consequences of trying to take on the PSD, but also Vlad's consequences for not making it in time for his apprentice.
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4. Finally, what ties it all together is one of the most important concepts in comic composition; eyeline. Eyeline is the way the reader's eye travels throughout a comic, directed by either paneling or text bubbles to tell a specific story. In this case, the use of the eyeline sets up Kiwi's fate, starting from her disappearance in 1 to the cruel reveal of 2, and finally the end realization for both the reader and Vlad in 3, that if only he had arrive just a few moments sooner, he probably could've saved her.
It's obvious that Vlad isn't all that friendly to devil types, but the PSD entertains him anyways. After all, that's what it was made to do: entertain.
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Time for another breakdown!
1. This is the second time Vlad asks this question, but this time, he's much more imposing. It's now understandable why Kiwi would be afraid of someone who's supposed to be her mentor this way.
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2. One good rule of thumb to follow when planning panels is that when dialogue is paired with a character's face in the same panel, it feels more personable and real. In short, if you can see the character saying the line, it feels more genuine. The lack of anything in this short non-panel mirrors the PSD's intent in its words: empty.
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3. When the reader does see the PSD say a line, it actually means what it says. It's willing to tell Vlad Kiwi's final words because that would bring the most entertainment for it; it finds pleasure in Vlad's reaction from it insinuating that it killed Kiwi, and thus, its offer is genuine.
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4. Vlad, rightfully so, is absolutely furious, physically cutting off the PSD with a slice across the hand, which travels beyond just what's within the panel to slice through the panel itself.
There isn't as much trickery with the paneling this time around, but Kiwi's head makes its surprise reappearance. The comic finishes its full cycle, from Kiwi's headless body to her missing part finally showing back up, a metaphorical and literal stab in the gun for Vlad.
ROUND 4: The. End.
Again, I was placed against a duo of opponents this time, although a more interesting twist on the challenge, with Narrator literally just being a narrator commenting on the happenings of the comic. Lerche, therefore, becomes the de facto protagonist figure, whom the comic follows. The relationship between the two is just as complicated as the one between Kiwi and Vlad, with the narrator being the surprisingly more human of the two, become far more affected by emotions and trauma than Lerche. Their previous comic had them both losing a friend, an event that the Narrator is still reeling from. This was the weakness that I tried to have the PSD capitalize on, focusing on that loss and the Narrator's almost "broken" will to continue with Lerche.
The first page opens with the narrator's comments. One issue that I encountered with this round was with differentiating all the different voices throughout. Lerche follows the traditional black on white text, but both the PSD and the Narrator utilize a black on white text format. Taking note of this, I decided to use this similarity to my advantage, as the PSD slowly reveals its influence on the Narrator.
1. The first panel is the obvious exposition, setting the stage and mood for the rest of the comic. It also sets up the Narrator's mood, and his lingering regrets and growing reluctance to continue on this journey with Lerche.
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2. When the Narrator tries to tell Lerche his feelings and his desire to quit, he is dragged off by the PSD. Remember that bit about the PSD interacting with panels and gutters? In this case, the glitchy text box and typewriter font associated with the PSD's voice leeches out through the cracks in between panels, and grabs onto the Narrator. It comments, "this won't do..." and of course it's unhappy. The PSD finds a sort of kinship with the Narrator, both beings that exist beyond the fourth wall of this comic reality, and its not willing to let the other go ahead and quit so easily.
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3. This is actually one of the areas where I feel like I could've done a better job in pacing out the panels. This panel was meant to be a sort of break, and big pause as the Narrator falls silent for a moment, in the clutches of the PSD. If I were to try this again, I'd perhaps expand this panel and the emptiness of the atmosphere that Lerche feels without the Narrator there, to further exaggerate the shock at his "reappearance".
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4. Now this is where to fun begins. The Narrator seemingly returns, with a strange sudden shift in both font and talking style. The font used for the first word, Slave only dreams to be king, is one used for instances of the PSD's power in past comics, so the reader is immediately clued in that something is wrong. The text box itself is also off-kilter, a characteristic that the Narrator himself has never shown before that moment.
This is just a little more of the Narrator (PSD) interacting with Lerche, who can also tell that something is off with her companion. A horde of enemies appear out of nowhere, but instead of trying to help Lerche, the "Narrator" instead watches on in amusement.
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The original idea for this scene was something a little more complex. Instead of having the "Narrator"'s inaction be the telling sign to Lerche that this isn't her friend, I was originally planning on the Narrator warning Lerche about something that didn't even show up in the comic yet, a horde that only appears after the Narrator comments on it. Almost like the Narrator had predicted the attack before it even happened, this was going to be what set Lerche off since, in all their previous comics, an established fact about the Narrator's commentary was that he could only comment on what was already in the comic, like how the reader can only tell what's currently happening as well. He could warn Lerche about enemies showing up say, in the background of a previous panel, since those were already physically drawn in. But something that was to come from nothing? That was something he had no vision of.
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In the end, I decided that this concept was too complicated for the restriction I was under (3 pages) and ultimately decided to go with the simpler, easier to thumbnail idea.
And boom, there goes the big reveal! After Lerche figures out that something has taken control of her friend behind the scenes, the PSD reveals itself in all its lip-smacking glory.
1. Up until now, the environments have all been these dark and gloomy sights so the PSD's almost stark-white appearance is literally a shocker onto the scene. Glitching through the bridge Lerche stands on, its presence almost clips through the physical structures, like some sort of god coming down to mock its followers.
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2. And of course, theres the PSD's crude imitation of the Narrator, its strings wrapping around his text as he boldly proclaims, lying through its teeth, that it is the Narrator, that it is what determines the plot of the comic. Of course, Lerche doesn't believe it, like the good friend she is, which still ultimately leads to her death as she tries to get her friend back from the PSD's clutches.
Only after Lerche falls to her death, does the PSD relinquish control over the Narrator. It returns to its own font and speech bubble style, and same goes for the Narrator. The PSD's fickle nature is shown in clear view, it immediately turning on the Narrator the moment he expresses sadness over Lerche's death, it crushes the Narrator's text box completely. After all, what the PSD wants most is entertainment, and what better way than to force someone to watch as you lead their precious friend to her death, all the while using their own voice to do so. But now that Lerche is dead, the Narrator's usefulness also dies with her, and they are both thrown away, like broken toys no longer with playing with.
Post-Tournament
So, I ended up losing that last round. My opponent, the original artist behind Lerche and Narrator, won, and since I was already on my last stock after losing to another opponent earlier on, I was officially knocked out of the tournament. Looking back on all the comics I made during that time, I'm still really happy with the way things turned out. The host of the tournament liked the Public Speaking Devil so much, he officially made it a canon NPC in the tournament staff, and it went on to make plenty of cameos in future comics from other artists, including playing a major role in the ultimate winner's semifinal comic which you can read here.
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The PSD is probably my favorite OCT character I've ever made, from design to execution, I'm happy with the legacy it left behind as a grinning little bastard. Its comics were some of the most fun that I've had in these tournaments, even with the short week-long deadlines each comic was made under.
