End of Season Two Q&A

Thanks for all your great comments from the Season 2 Finale! We compiled the most hard-hitting questions and tried to answer as many as we could.

From everyone at Team Animal, thank you!

For this Q&A session, writer Justin Jordan (orange font) and illustrator John Amor (green font) are joined by Micah Myers, the comic's letterer (blue font).

## End of Season Two Q&A

**General Q&A:** Any plans for print versions of this comic?
**Justin:** You bet. This Fall, in theory, depending on the whole virus situation.

**General Q&A:** What creatures comprise Ralabast's trademark form?
**John:** Lion, octopus, eagle, a large theropod for the back legs, and a large thyreophoran for the spiked tail.
Sometimes human hands.

And the heart of a cinnamon roll.

**General Q&A:** How do you compile the UA soundtrack?
**John:** My wife is a musician with incredibly eclectic tastes. She often sends songs my way that she feels go with UA's overall vibe. All throughout a season I will take these suggested songs, add or subtract a couple of my own picks, and see which songs match which episodes.
Some times though, I will have very specific songs in mind long before an episode is even made --- Ep 27 (Imaginary Enemy) and 35 (Sword of Truth) are prime examples of these.

**William[Xana]:** If Ralabast was the first and is the oldest, who are second through to fifth?
**Justin:** They're mostly dead at this point, although some have reincarnated, but you'll meet one of them in the first episode of next season.
**William[Xana]:** I mean the top five gotta play some kinda role and have some kinda history right? Assuming Kagan is second then Corkindale duo are third.
**Justin:** Kagan isn't second. She is the first human born chimera and is one of the oldest that have as yet never died, but she's not second on the age list. Or the power list. Cork and N'Daigoshii aren't anywhere near as old, although they're way, way older than any regular human.
**William[Xana]:** What's with Nature? Not much was said about this. When squirrel girl was introduced she seemed to have a connection to it and would help Joe in that aspect. Maybe she did and I missed it? Is Nature (or maybe the planet itself) just one big chimera?
**Justin:** Next season. But a partial answer is that no one actually knows what's with Nature, and various theories among chimera have caused a lot of problems, and this question relates directly to why Ralabast allowed himself to die.

**Yggdrasil:** Will we ever see Joe or his family speak Tagalog?
**John:** As soon as it feels like a good organic moment, Joe or his dad will probably blurt out a Tagalog or Bisaya phrase. Let's hope it doesn't end up being an expletive.

**Sawyer Schmidt:** What are the cool fonts used on this comic?
**Micah:** CC Moritat is the main dialog font. I use a bunch for the different animal forms and SFX, but CC Dreamland Display is the definitive Ralabast font.

**Awkwardarmyy:** Q&A: What is the inking process?
**John:** All the art is done digitally, so after I pencil, I use the Manga Studio/Clip Studio Paint G pen to ink, in combination with a slightly modified hatch brush (native to Manga Studio Ex 4) 600 dpi.

**Suicide\_is\_my\_friend:** If chimeras existed for a long time, why is it always Ralabast? Are there really no chimeras that used to be stronger than Ralabast? How come when they say strongest it's just him? Does this mean Ralabast was a born prodigy wherein when he grew up suddenly he becomes strongest without the need to defeat other strong chimeras before, so when he died the Era of the Chimeras just suddenly ended?
**Justin:** He was the first chimera, yes. Whether he's actually the strongest is an open question, but he's killed everyone who thought they were stronger than him and wanted to make an issue out of it.
Why Nature created him and why he's that strong are mysteries, even to Ralabast. See the answer above.

**Malleymoon:** What kind of relationship do chimera have with regular animals? Corkindale once mentioned something about talking to other rats, would you say animals view them as equals? Are chimera a sort of magnet for their respective animal(s)? (Like Sienna with squirrels)
**Justin:** Very broadly, animals in general regard chimera as something akin to gods, or at least that's the way you'd explain it in human terms. They can be magnetic — there's a reason in Joe's youth there were always animals around him.
Except for cats. Cats have no gods, no masters. As far as their concerned chimera are just weird cats.

**Spectralartist:** Do scars transfer from human form to animal form?
**John:** It mainly depends on what left the scar. Chimera heal really quickly from normal wounds, but some sources of damage leave a deeper impression because of what causes them. We eill see an example of a perma-scarred chimera in Season 3.

Follow along with the Unofficial Original Soundtracks for Urban Animal:

Urban Animal S1 OST\*

Urban Animal S2 OST\*

(\*original tinyurl links had trackers attached)

**ScorpioM:** Are all witches evil? The witches we've seen thus far are specifically called devourers, and the use of a separate term makes me think that there are other types. Are there any witches who respect nature and aren't purely self serving?
**John:** A qualified yes. There are witches who respect nature, and may have some insight into Nature (the entity) but they don't have any powers as far as anyone knows.

**Pumpkin Soup:** Can only Ralabast "return" like that, or can all chimeras do that in their next life…?
**Justin:** Generally, the more powerful the chimera, the more likely they are to retain some memories. Kagan would likely be able to have most if not all of hers. Sienna would not. But it's not unique to Ralabast. At least one chimera he fought and killed has returned and is unhappy about the first death.

**Dareka Nemo:** Now, chimera are born as humans…
**Justin:** Let me stop you there. They aren't all born as humans. They mostly are, these days, but animal born ones happen. The lizard dude the devourers ate was one.
**Dareka Nemo:** What were they born like before the human species appeared?
**Justin:** Different. That Ralabast lived almost all his life before humans existed means he looks at the world in a very different way than even Kagan.
**Dareka Nemo:** Were they conscious then? Could they communicate? Do any of such chimera still exist?
**Justin:** Yes to all of these.
**Dareka Nemo:** Or is Ralabast the only one?
**Justin:** There are others. You've seen one, you'll meet another in the first episode of Season 3.
**Dareka Nemo:** So Ralabast used to extinguish species he deemed unworthy. What was his criteria for judging a species unworthy? Did they cause destruction to other species or Nature? Worked with the Ravel? Disgusted Ralabast somehow? Were just weak? Something else?
**Justin:** They*(sic)* way that works is that Nature provides visions about threats that chimera need to deal with, both large and small, but it doesn't provide any information on what to do. There's a lot of argument about how to interpret these visions and what Nature intends with them, which has caused a split (several actually) in what I guess you could call the chimera community.
This question is also related to how Corkindale and N'Daigoshii ended up as separate entities. But in general, there's more about this next season.

**HooplaGuy:** First off, this is my favorite comic here. This season just improved on everything and I'm excited for what's next! My question is do you have plans for any other comics? I'm just curious what you guys can come up with. Keep up the good work!
**Justin:** Thanks! I have bunches of comics. *Reaver* is coming out right now, but you can Google "Justin Jordan comics" and find out about them — they're all available on ComiXology and Amazon. I've written a couple dozen series.
**John:** Googling "John Amor comics" will likely yield similar results for me. I have a number of other projects in development, but if you'd like to see other Webtoon work by me, feel free to check out *Oscuro*.
That story is on hold right now, but do let me know in the comments if you guys wanna see it continue. (ed. note: as of 1.27.2023 *Oscuro* is still on hiatus.)

**Myra4:** Will the release of Urban Animal S3 in any way be affected by the Corona virus?
**John:** The team are all keeping safe and informed, so unless things get crazier in the next few months (God forbid), Season 3 will launch on time.
**Justin:** Barring something going wrong, we're still aiming for the same date as always.

**Cadmean:** Do Corkindale and N'Daigoshii turn into the same animal, or…? What /are/ the metaphysics of soul shearing?
**Justin:** Both rats.
Sadly, like N'Daigoshii, I do not quite have the time to discuss the metaphysics of chimeric soul shearing. But Season 3…

**Megamage2298:** I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say where the heck was Kagan during the raid? Even Corkindale made a side comment about her absence at the beginning of it.
**Justin:** Episode 57, the first episode of Season 3 is all about this.

**Webtoon4Life:** 1. How is your time during Cronaviris*(sic)*?
**John:** Not too bad. Catching up on my reading. And getting to play more videogames with the wife has been pretty fantastic.
**Justin:** I am a little stir crazy, which is odd, because I am not actually really living differently. But so far, so good!
**Webtoon4Life:** 2. When is your birthday?
**John:** September 9th
**Justin:** February 20th
**Webtoon4Life:** 3. Is there a way for Ralabast to become Joe again?
**John:** Nope. He's gone forever. (whistles)
**Justin:** RIP Joe.

**IM Kraezy:** What was your favorite part of the season?
**John:** It's a toss-up between Episode 35's stroll down Memory Lane with Kagan, and Episode 37's snacktime hangout with Joe and the boys.
**Justin:** I liked Sienna and Corkindale sharing some mixed nuts.

**Gaijingekiringod:** If Urban Animal was adapted what would be the best medium? Live-action? Animation? Or both? And who would be your ideal casts for the characters for each of the mentioned mediums?
**John:** I'd pick animation, simply because it would be easier to pull off a lot of the crazier visuals. I don't know a lot of voice actors but here's a few picks.
Joe — Jesse McCartney
Charlotte — Tara Strong
Kagan — Laura Bailey
Jaeger — Matthew Mercer

**Ricky Zimmerman:** Can N'Daigoshii only turn into rats like Corkindale, or does he have access to a different animal (or animals) because of the split?
**Justin:** Just rats.
**Ricky Zimmerman:** Also, how many devourer covens are there, and do devourers have to act as a coven?
**Justin:** They do have to work as a coven to do anything significant, and there are about a dozen covens.
**Ricky Zimmerman:** Lastly, theoretically, if a devourer coven caught Kagan, would she be strong enough for them to leech her power from her blood like Joe?
**Justin:** Yes.

**Xavier Mitchell:** What would Ralabast sound like if he had a voice actor in comparison to Joe.
**John:** If Joe was Jesse McCartney, Ralabast would be Liam Neeson.

**Bryan Templeton:** Can Joe turn into aliens from Ben 10 by mixing other animals?
**John:** Only if the components exist in nature.

**Taekwondo Fizz:** What is the artist's favorite character or chimera form to draw?
**John:** This season my personal favorite was Kagan as the black pegasus. It was only for a couple of panels, but I thought she looked awesome in that form.

**Blueboi—94:** Do all reincarnated chimera have memories of their past lives or is it just a Ralabast thing? Like if Joe or any other chimera died and got reincarnated, would their consciousness occasionally come out through their next lives like Ralabast does?
**Justin:** It varies, mostly dependent on power level. If Cork died and reincarnated he'd probably have some memories. Sienna wouldn't have any. Some of this depends on age, as well; if Joe died now and reincarnated, the next version would probably have all of Ralabast's memories and none of Joe's.
The consciousness question is trickier, because it's not true that Joe and Ralabast are separate minds. But that's going to be a big part of what Season 3 is about.

**Obara:** For John --- What's it like turning Justin's scripts into thumbnails and then full panels? Do you find it challenging? Do you have a process you find helps?
**John:** I co-plot the broad strokes of every season with Justin, so it's never too jarring when the scripts are ready. Justin does tight clean scripts but leaves me lots of room to play with the visuals. That said, it's a good idea to plan locales, character outfits, and even light situations beforehand, just so I don't get overwhelmed with detail work when I start coloring.

**Obara:** Q: If you had the option between an Urban Animal animated series done with the finesse and skill of Netflix's *Castlevania,* or a live action with perfectly cast actors and satisfactory CGI, which would you pick?
**Justin:** *Castlevania* all the the*(sic)* way. I'd love for there to be action figures, and having an animated series lends itself better to that.

**Damirwhite14:** What was the inspiration for the devourers? Also love their chanting.
**Justin:** Basically, they were mostly inspired by the Maiden, Mother, Crone archetypes, and things like *The Witch.*

**Barasa.The.King.The.:** Does Ralabast have any other followers like Kagan?
**Justin:** Not like Kagan, their relationship is unique. But he absolutely does have other followers.

**Noah Deshawn:** What might be the main theme for Urban Animal Season 3, if there were one?
**Justin:** A bigger world.

## Fan Art End of Season Two Q&A

Putting the fan art here would be disingenuous with the potential for copyright infringements, but you can go to the Season Two Q&A page to see them first hand.

For this season's End of Season Q&A, not only was art submitted by fans, but art from some of John's friends from the art community also made submissions. For the same reasons as above these submissions are not included here, but may be seen in high quality resolution on the Season Two Q&A page.

## End notes

Thank you everyone for an amazing second season! See you guys back here for Season 3!