April 29th, 2009
Possession
I was going to post this as two separate strips, but couldn’t resist the storytelling impact. Enjoy!
-karl
I was going to post this as two separate strips, but couldn’t resist the storytelling impact. Enjoy!
-karl
April 29th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Oh, that’s lovely. I can never get over how lovely this comic is.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Wow, that was wonderfully epic.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Hang on to the feather Charles Christopher! Make him ask you nicely for the feather back. Say Please!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Ooooh! Excellent work, Karl! I’m very intrigued, and I’m very glad you didn’t post it as two separate strips. Hold onto that feather, Charles!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
this makes me think of Fantasia 2000 with the Firebird. hopefully he won’t set Charles on fire. :[ hold onto that feather! make him trade Townsen for it!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I just discovered ACC today and have read ALL of them already. I have to say, Karl, that this is some of the most amazing art and story-telling I have ever seen. I look forward to being one of your “regulars.” Please, keep up the great work!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Another triumph, well done.
Of course, now I have to get rid of all these feathers I carry around, just to be on the safe side.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Smashing !!!! Karl – you continue to out-do yourself . I’m reminded of the legends from the Western Canadian Indians who held the Raven in awe . Don’t know if there is any correlation here .
April 29th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Holy sh*t, that is badass!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Okay, wow. That’s pretty amazing.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Epic.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Awesome job as usual, Karl. Is it any wonder why I picked ACC as my example of great artwork (as opposed to what I do)?
April 29th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Woof. This is the most compelling comic I have ever read.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Yeah, he has something that belongs to the bird…and the bird has something that belongs with CC!
April 29th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
did not expect that. Cooool.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
My face as the wings unfolded from the tree: =0
Beautiful.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
stick it to the bird cc!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Genius! Bloody GENIUS!
New favorite page!
P. O. W. E. R. F. U. L!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I could clearly hear the orchestral music in the background during this entire comic. What an awesome animated feature this could become.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
amazing as always
April 29th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I love the gouache-like reflections of the canyon walls.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Awesome!!!
Nice work Karl.
Give the bird “THE BIRD” !!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
You draw the cutest birds!! Even when they’re supposed to be fearsome. :D
April 29th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
This is, perhaps, the most beautifully-drawn comic I’ve ever seen. Keep it up!
April 29th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
……. WUUUT?! what is this i dont even OW! my brain!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
w o w
that bird is scary. i’m going with others on this one – CC should trade the feather for Townsen.
…or the crab needs to come back and say something witty to get the raven to loosen up a bit! (might not be safe though…hm…)
April 29th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
like magic. panel five. the crow. his eyes. your pen. you. it’s all magic.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
amazing. i can’t even come up with words…just fantastic. the art…the story…the characters…the pacing…i’m addicted.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
wicked!
April 29th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
good call on making it one strip.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Uh oh. CC’s log is getting away. He’ll hafta find another mode of transport.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I am absolutely blown away by this strip. It is way intense and marvelously magnificent! It makes me very happy!
April 29th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
A few days ago I noticed that a tree I pass on my way to work looks a little like that one. From now on I think I will be pedaling like mad in that area!
Or I’ll just take the car.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
I love the fact that the bird is hardly distinguishable from the tree (look at where his feet should be). VERY nice artwork.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Love the pacing and the amazing payoff in the last panel!
April 30th, 2009 at 12:19 am
“Oh damn,” was my precise reaction. If find myself with many questions about this bird.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:44 am
“Oh sh*t!” was just said outloud by me.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:55 am
FRACK! did not see that coming!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:20 am
[Quote]I was going to post this as two separate strips, but couldn’t resist the storytelling impact. Enjoy!
-karl
[/Quote]
Certainly glad you didn’t post it as two. One for the impact and two because it means we get extra early. Yay. Another animal totem? I have to say though that CC is not getting very far in his quest it seems almost as if he has no free will at all. Ok, so some exceptions – his attempted attack on the Lion for example – but most of what happens to Chuck is by the action of these spirits, first Moon Bear, then the Lion and now this Hawk(? actually could you settle this the beak is not very Raven like being too hooked imho but the other birds have appear more like ravens). I’m holding out for some exposition. We’ll see. Great work as ususal
April 30th, 2009 at 4:45 am
WOW!!! Incredible!
What happens now! I can’t wait a week!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:57 am
The smaller birds were crows (perhaps ravens), but this guy? No. Perhaps he’s Thunderbird.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Awesome.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Good heavens. Powerful, powerful stuff. I can hear the roar of the wind and the crack of doom. I think you were right to post this as all one strip… to break it up would have dispersed its tremendousness. This piece is truly exceptional. I love it.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:23 am
ohgodohgodohgod
April 30th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Enter sunbird! (Dun-du-du-du-dun-du-dun-du-du-duh-du-duh-du-duh-dun-dun-dun-du-duh-du-duh-du-duh etc.)
April 30th, 2009 at 8:25 am
wow, powerful. bird vs. lion in the works? or are they on the same side, i wonder…
love the eye in the second to last panel: intelligent, as compared to smaller birds’ eyes
April 30th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I can’t help but be reminded of the equally great transformation sequence of the lion into the sky…brrr. Also, the reflections on the water make me ridiculously happy.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:33 am
lovelovelove!!!
always the best, Karl. Wednesday is my favourite day.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:45 am
I think the bird and the tree are one. Poor bird.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Always look forward to my fix of TACC every week Karl. More than any artist your work has inspired me to get off my butt and do my own strip, which I’ve been threatening to do for years.
You have a cinematic sense of drama, and your love for the natural world is evident in every panel. You’ve imbued the animal kingdom with intelligence without cutesy, Disney-style anthropomorphism, mixed the down to earth with the mystical in a way that actually works.
You have my admiration, man. Keep it up. If you get this made into book form on Amazon, I’d buy it.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Oh SNAP. I did -not- expect that!
April 30th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I love the transformation panel – tree becoming bird. It’s poetic when you think about something that is so deeply rooted growing wings…I wish you were close enough to hug right now.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I barely started reading the Abominable Charles Christopher, but I have loved every page of it. Keep up that great work! Very inspiring!
April 30th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Heavenly poop! That is bad pattooie.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
i love how the wind makes Charles look like he has a mustache…
April 30th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I wish I could do in words what you just did in pictures with that strip.
Holy Poo! That is beautiful, scary, and cool all at once.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I don’t think Charles is going to let go of that feather. Whatcha going to do, birdie?
April 30th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
p.s. what kind of bird is that? The face seems much friendlier than a crow. It’s like a oddly not-intimidating gigantic falcon face.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
It’s funny you should say that, as the title for this strip was almost ‘Oddly-Not-Intimidating-Giant-Falcon’! (or ‘ONIG the Falcon’, for short)
In answer to your question, though, the giant bird is based on a peregrine falcon, but to tell you the truth, I don’t think he subscribes to any one species.
April 30th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
nicely done, sir. And seriously, Onig is pretty tight name for a facon/blackbird of death thingy
April 30th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
HOLY CROW!
(nyuk-nyuk-nyuk)
April 30th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
While all this epicness is great, I could really use a bit of lightheartedness. When do we see hungover bird again?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Man, I just cannot win.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
that is /amazing/.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Stunning. Favourite comic page of the year so far.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Karl you win every time
April 30th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Karl, you win every time. You hit the duck, got the ring over the pop bottle, guessed the weight, how many marbles are in the jar, and you go home with all the purple fuzzy teddybears at the fair.
Incredible job, for me this strip was worth all the anxiety I had about the last few strips (“where is he going with this? has he written himself into a corner? What’s going on?!”) – cuz BLAMMO, you hit this one outta the park.
Grand Salami.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
King Crow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 30th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
… wow.
The buildup to this moment was just perfect, and the moment itself is awesome.
May 1st, 2009 at 2:59 am
Wow, this page is fantastic. The strip is getting better and better.
Keep up the good work
May 1st, 2009 at 8:43 am
Just stumbledupon thanks to a friend. This should be rendered cinematically. Eat your heart out Frank Miller. This story has more heart than I have ever seen. Go Chris!
May 1st, 2009 at 2:28 pm
At least it’s not a Deep Crow. That would suck.
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:33 pm
This is truly amazing. So much is going on with so little dialogue. One of the best on the web… and off.
Im new here so excuse my ignorance… how much of this is pen to paper vs. computer skill? It looks fantastic either way, just wondering how much I have to learn.
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Andrew: this is pretty much all pen-to-paper. If you follow his twitter, you might catch another ustream webcast of him drawing another one. He did a web cast of this one, but left out the last panel so he wouldn’t give it away – another good call. (Note, his ustream video is fairly low res, for now.)
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thank you Kaitou, I will get him on twitter then.
May 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I love your comic so much, as soon as I get some more money I am planning on getting a T-Shirt.
May 3rd, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Such a wonderfully distinct display of power. I love the twisted mysticisim in this story.
May 3rd, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Wow! I just got hooked on this comic today, and it is basically the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read. I cried for Townsen. Karl, do you have a printed collection of these? I for one would DEFINITELY buy it.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Man, that last scene, can you release it as a wallpaper? That is f**king awesome. o.o
May 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I just discovered this comic yesterday! Beautiful. If I were Oprah it would be one of my New Favorite Things! Heck, even if I weren’t, which I’m not.
May 4th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
guh. Wow. I bet poor Charles is losing his mind right now.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Karl, your comic sorta inspired me to come up with a blog of my own! Love this comic, man! Love it!
May 5th, 2009 at 10:24 am
God idea, Nevellin! I’ll whip up a wallpaper version of it soon.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Oh, wow.
May 5th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
great stuff, keep it coming
May 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
it’s wednesday right?? where is it?! O_O
May 6th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
You deserve an Eisner for this comic. It’s funny, poignant, heartbreaking, and thrilling to read. Thank you for writing it.
May 6th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Karl – don’t listen to the gripers…I’m still terrified that the Snow Fox might be dead, but you’re making a beautiful story arc here. Thank you very much!
-Dennis
May 9th, 2009 at 2:45 am
It’s difficult to tell which is more beautiful: the story, or the artwork… This is truly a masterpiece!
Good ol’ Onig (I suppose I’ll call him that until a name is announced) reminds me of a Roc from Arabic lore. Looks like CC will have to make the most of a situation that puts him between the Devil and the deep blue sea; I can’t wait to see what happens next!
May 30th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Now we discover that Charles’ moustache ends are not attached!
June 15th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Whoa!
July 16th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I…I adore you. *A* This one gave me goosegumps!
October 6th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Wow, one day off from my birthday.
December 29th, 2009 at 4:10 am
THE crow. :shock: