[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

Once I settled on the “Quizard Duel” concept, it wouldn’t take long for that idea to be immediately followed by, “Hey, I could just straight-up put Seto Kaiba in.” I needed someone for Leon and Luca to duel, after all, and they’d need to be a real heel.
Enter, the Champion.

I love any chance I get to push my designs for minor NPCs, and I went nuts with this guy. Ultimately, his design was kind of an over-the-top mess, but frankly, I think that’s part of the charm.
Still, he’s only one character to duel Leon and Luca. He needs a partner, and I had just the idea…

[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

For the longest time, I struggled with what I wanted the “Media” section of the Fair visit to include. As the outline was getting further along, though, it made sense that this scene would be the part where Luca starts to finally embrace her time here. But how to make that happen?

Enter, the Quizard. I still remember the moment at work when that portmanteau got into my head. I developed more of the Quizard’s history by mashing together stuff like little kids’ educational programs, stuff like Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, and the vibes of Yugioh to craft his character. I even came up with a little line for his theme song, which Luca sings upon going up to meet him.

The Quizard was also developed to have some kind of apprentice/sidekick figure, a role that is taken up by one of the (non-vocal) Plakzaken. It does appear, though it ultimately just kind of disappears in the background. I wanted to have a joke about the Quizard being really hype and over-the-top, then turning to his sidekick to keep up the momentum… which of course it wouldn’t, because it’s a giant non-talking plant alien. The Quizard would heave a big sigh, lamenting when he had his old partner.
I couldn’t find a spot for the joke, but frankly, I feel like I made a much better one instead…

[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

Staging for the coaster section of the chapter. I had a time and a half trying to figure out what to make the actual carts look like. It’s just kind of a vaguely space-themed thing. The real point of this section, of course, was seeing the paradox bubbles completely envelope something and disappear. What does it mean…

[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

“Hey Timmy, what’s YOUR favorite piece of KttFF concept art?”
“I like the one where Gage sketched out a WHOLE PAGE of details for a bathroom!”

I honestly couldn’t help myself. It was genuinely such an interesting challenge to design a restroom that can accomidate so many different kinds of beings! Naturally, these are all gender neutral.
I did have a brief crisis where I asked myself if it’d be okay to include a pad dispenser in the background of this part, despite this being an all-ages comic – this was a pre-Turning Red world, after all. I did end up including it, though the baby-changing station ended up getting much more attention. Go figure.

[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

A bit more finalization, along with testing out some more alternative designs for the main Fair grounds platform. This would ultimately be the last of the sketches I did for the structure of the Fair grounds area, though there are still tons of little details and specific locations that I’d end up developing after this.

Still, it took a good 8 PAGES of sketches to reach a point where I was comfortable and satisfied with how it looks. I’m proud of that, actually, since I have a bad habit of just running with my first idea sometimes.

[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

I consider this to be the point when I truly had a strong foundation for what the Fair would look like. I realized by this point that I didn’t have to make it mono-colored; in fact, by using a bunch of different colors, it would help with navigation for those visiting! I also started to establish what the area around the Fair would be like. Ultimately, it didn’t play much of a role, but that’s the funny thing about comics; the difference between whether or not you have to design an entire area can come down to what camera angles you pick.

[This is being posted as part of the hiatus for KttFF’s second chapter. The comic will resume with CHAPTER 3 on August 24th, 2023]

By this point, I was being better about using reference to inspire parts of my setting. It’s fitting that much of the stuff here was inspired by Ratchet and Clank, since that was one of the major inspirations for KttFF!

Some of the structures I would end up making use of for the initial part in the city, though some others were repurposed for the Fair or are yet to be used… perhaps waiting for their chance to show up in a future chapter!

It took quite a while to figure out how I wanted the Titanwood trees to look. The base was inspired by rainbow eucalyptus trees, but none of the canopies I tried felt quite right. Eventually I settled on the wavy, blobby forms, which I’m pretty happy with.

I also tried a ton of different looks for the base platforms, though most just served to add unneeded detail clutter to the trees.

By this point, I was also getting a handle on the scale of everything here. The Spring Fair proper is only about half as tall as the Titanwoods; the pillar on the top floor only barely reaches into where the canopies start on them!