hello from “tsagas” scrivener Dustin Harbin

for Superbrothers A/V - Enthusiasts

SEPTEMBER 23 2022

Pencil version of one of the more complicated “tsagas” drawings.

hello

I’m Dustin Harbin (and thus, not Craig), a cartoonist from North Carolina, USA. I drew the astronauts above (twice, actually), and most or all of the other Tsosi/tsagas related images that are discovered within JETT: The Far Shore as 2D art. Often my drawings are presented in-game in very elevated, quasi-religious settings, which is a very odd way to see a drawing you made in your little studio be presented.

I’m better at drawing than I am talking, but unfortunately I talk a lot more than I draw: so I’m going to be helping out with occasional newslettering and other JETT-related comms work over the next little bit, as we prepare for the game to go live on Steam, for the new campaign to be revealed and launched, and also just to occasionally take some pressure off of Craig, in terms of doing all the talking.

Why me? Well, I bring a certain charisma that’s hard to reproduce, as seen here in my (arguably) starring role in the game as the voice actor and likeness of “Skeptic”, one of the several folk bidding a dour farewell to Mei on her way to the cosmodrome.

The artist, and the artist in repose.

I’m not really part of the gamedev community, other than having some friends there and occasionally playing games myself, but somehow I’ve been involved in various ways with JETT almost since the beginning.

Like most of us, I was a fan of #sworcery before it even came out, just from Craig’s oblique promotional videos, and participated in that Sworcery A/V Jam way back in 2012 I think.

Around the same-ish time I’d done a drawing of Carl Sagan (originally for friend and Firewatch art director Olly Moss) that I turned into a print that caught Craig’s eye (I think I have that story right).

One thing led to another, and suddenly I was spending a day in Toronto in 2013 with Craig and filmmaker (and voice of The Archetype from sworcery) Clive Holden, as Craig presented the bones of his new game and got our feedback and inputs and so forth.

I've got billions and billions of rhymes to flex
'Cause I've got more rhymes, than Carl Sagan's got turtlenecks
-The Beastie Boys

Since then (has it really been ten years??) I’ve been an occasional voice in the writer’s room, a sounding board, a quibbler, and most of all the drawer and developer of the visual style behind the “tsagas.”

What would drawings attached to the writings of a Ye Olde Science Saint look like? Science fiction before science fiction, a la Jules Verne — an imagining of space flight, but in a culture that has more to do with steppe nomads than it does the Europe of the Industrial Revolution?

Another drawing, this one featuring Young Tsosi - the author of the “tsagas” - and the balloonists that would presage the Jett scouts of the game.

Collaborating with Craig & Co. is a rewarding experience, because there isn’t a lot of this-is-mine-and-this-is-yours ego involved, and if you have a good idea he’s like “run with that and let’s see what happens.”

That’s how I ended up drawing 10 or so 2D pieces based on oblique superbrotherisms like “They skimmed over prisms that were scattered on the sea around,” often with very little oversight other than gentle nudges and suggestions from Craig and the great Sam Bradley.

A dream job, really–working with friends on a weird idea that possibly only you will enjoy doing, while being encouraged by those friends. One reporter’s opinion, anyway.

The second version of this drawing of telescopes built in response to Tsosi’s writing, searching for the hymnwave.

Now, with my part of the actual game work done, most of what I’ve been doing is drawing squad portraits for the several dozens of people who have worked on the game in all that time, and now I’m helping out with some squawking.

I'll be back over the next couple of months, talking about that original Jett squad, the new members that have climbed aboard for the new campaign, and probably a good bit more just because I talk a lot.

If you’re reading this, chances are high you’re already subscribed to this newsletter, but there’s also a new @hymnwave account on Instagram that we’re publishing little vibes onto, not to mention the existing @superbrothers Instagram account, plus @jettxyz and @superbrothersHQ on Twitter. Just trying to sling this good news!

See you there, or here, or both, in the coming weeks!

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for Superbrothers A/V - Enthusiasts

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