CHECKSUM ERROR. CONTINUE? (Y/N)
September 26, 2013 5:00 PM   Subscribe

Decrypting Rita is a sci-fi comic with robots. It's pretty cool. Decrypting Rita is a slice-of-life comic with regular people. You might like it. Decrypting Rita is a fantasy comic with dragons and hat ladies. It's a little experimental. Decrypting Rita is set 120 minutes into the future, in the here and now, in your teenage brother's D&D campaign, in a place called the Skylands. It's also scrolly. Decrypting Rita is a comic by mefi's own egypturnash. It's worth reading. [via mefi projects]
posted by ocherdraco (16 comments total) 41 users marked this as a favorite
 
I do love color coded panels.
posted by Artw at 5:41 PM on September 26, 2013


I really like what I saw of it, but I can't read it with that banner stuck over the corner... it's too jarring, and runs roughshod all over the comic. I had to stop a few panels in.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:46 PM on September 26, 2013 [3 favorites]


I should mention that, if you do like the comic, she's running a Kickstarter for printing the second collected volume, and one of the backer rewards is a copy of the first.
posted by wanderingmind at 5:53 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]


I had to get my cheaters out to read the text and even then I kept bumping my nose on the screen. Is there a larger font version?
posted by vozworth at 6:34 PM on September 26, 2013


I endorsed this webcomic in the original Projects post in March 2012(!) with a little attempted humor, acquired the first collected volume through the first Kickstarter and have pledged to the second volume Kickstarter five minutes after I learned of it.

One bit of advice: you HAVE to start reading from the beginning. It begins on one level then reveals its other layers like a sweet onion. I've found at a few points more recently the intersecting and overlapping multiple realities got confusing enough that I had to back up a bit and reread a few pages (a naturally occurring risk of long-form-story webcomics, but even more so here). Doesn't take the joy out of it for me, although egypturmash DID assure me in the Projects thread that the "pretty tough encryption... should be cracked before the end of the year (2012)".

There are very few long-form-story webcomics I enjoy more. In fact, I've been planning on FPPing one of them (which is close to concluding a 550-page story), but was waiting until its indiegogo 'print drive' ends in a few days. I may just do it tomorrow after all.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:36 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]


There are so few comics out there that take advantage of the architecture of a computer screen the way that Scott McCloud described. The scrolling of the comic is beautiful in a way that physical comics are hard pressed to duplicate. I can recall only one comic has ever managed it, with a long fold out section in the middle.
posted by happyroach at 11:02 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]


Decrypting Rita currently has a Kickstarter running, and thus this post may be deleted soon? You're not linking directly to the KS, so it may be okay by the letter of the rules. Not sure.

Sorry, Vozworth, no larger font. Though you're like the fourth person today to say "this text is tiny" after a couple years of no comments on that front, maybe I need to do something about it.

(I also recently added in some javascript to scale the page down for certain screen sizes, maybe that's part of it. I just tried disabling it; see if that helps?)

And thanks for the praise, oneswellfoop! Right now I'm projecting that it'll finish up around this time next year. Some encryption takes longer to crack than you expect.
posted by egypturnash at 12:28 AM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


The prohibition, to my knowledge, is against linking directly to Kickstarter campaigns, or posts where a Kickstarter is the sole attraction. This is a substantive post all by itself that just happens to have a Kickstarter going for a sequel, so I believe it is okay.
posted by JHarris at 3:05 AM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


The banner makes it illegible for me. The constant need to scroll, zoom to read anything, zoom out, scroll, is rather more work than I'm prepared to put into reading.
posted by scruss at 3:24 AM on September 27, 2013


So after a bit of thought I've decided I adore the art in this. Would be interested to know if the dragon chassis in chapter 10 was inspired by anything in particular.
posted by solarion at 3:36 AM on September 27, 2013


Very nice.
posted by tdismukes at 8:00 AM on September 27, 2013


I've just clicked and scrolled through all of Book I, and I think this is brilliantly done. The way that the parallel worlds sort of twist and jostle for space in the frame, and one world sort of bleeds out and another takes its place is just beautiful.

At the risk of sounding cliched, I would say that the strip is so visually dynamic that it sort of sweeps you along with the narrative.
posted by Alonzo T. Calm at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2013


Solarion, the dragon chassis is mostly inspired by me liking to draw dragons! Plus synchronicity with the dragon version of Rita, and wanting to make the world building point that "not all people look human any more".
posted by egypturnash at 11:02 AM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


I just met egypturnash last night! She is awesome, and I'm glad to see her comic getting love here on the Blue!
posted by hippybear at 3:56 PM on September 27, 2013


egyupturnash -- I need to know: Is the slashed underlined YES on this page meant to be a Pokey the Penguin in-joke? because that would add to the awesome.
posted by ardgedee at 5:40 AM on September 28, 2013


POKEY IS THE NE PLUS ULTRA OF WEB COMICS, ALL THAT IS LEFT FOR INFERIOR CREATORS IS THE CRUMBS OF SNOW LEFT IN HIS WAKE!!!!!!
posted by egypturnash at 9:45 PM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


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