10/27/20:
You all who stick with Planescape despite it being the slowest comic in the world (probably. I have not researched this) are the greatest of fans. The glorious end IS coming!

As to this episode, wow... this is where a scripting issue came to a head and I had to make a decision that I'd been waffling on for YEARS. Which also meant I wasn't sure what to draw for about half the episode, because one of the characters (and subsequent events) were going to be different. I am quite happy how it turned out... this episode has been one I've been looking forward to for awhile, but I wanted to get it right!

WARNING! DVD style commentary below! If you don't want to spoil the illusion, don't read. Highlight the text to see it.


    At risk of revealing my process, I guess I might as well share the conundrum rather than be puzzlingly vague. I had originally intended for Aoskar to confront the Lady of Pain at this point, and not Railah/Jergal/The Nothing. But when it came down to actually DOING that, I started to realize that might be the wrong way to go. And I went back and forth for, well... months, actually. (Not that I spent ALL my time on this, but you get the idea. It was percolating.)
    See, my process for Planescape for most of the run has been a somewhat vague plot outline in my head, with less vague sections for the "big scenes." (We did that for most of Harry Potter Comics, too.) That plot outline has changed over the years quite a bit. Like, for example, at this point in the story, the heroes were originally going to gather at the base of the Spire and use some kind of science guy character (I ended up tossing that thread and character completely) to invent a means of harnessing belief to catapult them to Sigil. I assure you that would have been cooler than it just sounded, but I still ended up scrapping it. For more ideas I scrapped, you can reference the cover pages for Chapters 2 and 3, which is partly why I started doing splash panels instead for the chapters after that.
    Anyway... I think I'm going to script the end of the story before I start drawing it. We've been doing that for Federation Star Defense, and I think it makes for a tighter, less plot-holey story. I can't think of many plot issues in Planescape, but I do wish I'd spent more time on a few characters and individual arcs. Some of that had to be sacrificed mostly because of me, and my terrible updating. The last thing one wants, when updating only occasionally, is a plot whose pacing has ground to a halt. I remain ever grateful for those of you who have stuck with me regardless!