That’s right, you’re looking at a 12 panel page! That’s a record for our book! When we do a Page 16, Team 16 goes ALL OUT!
My original intention for this week’s page (and last weeks) was to run the pages “silent” (Brant was in total agreement!) as an ode to this comic:
…if you’re of a certain age, you surely remember this as being one of the coolest comic books of all time. Written with art breakdowns by the great Larry Hama, this issue was an amazing solo Snake Eyes tale, and featured the first appearance of everyone’s favorite ninja in white, Storm Shadow.
…and it was a totally silent issue.
No dialogue– just 2 silent, awesome, ninjas.
I don’t quite have the stones to try to pull off a Spy6teen issue totally silent, but I did think a little beat of it might be cool for Cally’s payback sequence…That said, last week’s page felt a little empty without dialogue– and with this week, I kinda felt we needed that “period” on the scene with Cally’s line…
So, although it didn’t end up being the Silent Ode I’d originally intended, at least you know that was its original intention.
PROCESS
*Man, did DJ go nuts on this page– I originally scripted it as 5 panels, but with a note that DJ could (and should) re-choreograph the scene to his liking. Actually, looking back at the script, I wrote in a fairly basic fight:
PANEL 1
Sears brings the hammer down, but Cally deftly dodges– landing a few tonfa blows along the way.
PANEL 2
Cally launches from the inertia of her attack on Sears and carries it over to grab Don and…
PANEL 3
FLIPS HIM OVER! Throwing him directly at Sears (who is totally caught off guard.
PANEL 4
THUD! Don smashes into Sears, knocking them both down in a KO!
DJ way expanded on this, over the last two pages, giving us a Cally-Hulk out sequence, that really showcased her inner Wolverine. It was something that I’m pretty sure we discussed at one point or another– and man, did he pull it off.
Like the “silent” origin of this page, it’s just funny to see the original script page and how far it developed from those simple lines.
* DJ’s been doing a lot of experimenting with action lines through this issue– and man, does it play well on this page. If ever there was a page MADE for action lines, this is it!
* With all that blood, did we move into PG-13 territory?
* Lisa’s colors REALLY pop on this page. The background gradiants in the first two tiers of panels really help the action rev up to another level.
It’s interesting to note how she varied the two tiers, giving a real sense of movement to the fight. Because the colors are different, it truly feels like Don is getting beaten DOWN.
* Brant made the most of his one lettering moment of the page. Giving Cally’s line a hard stoke to emphasize the finality of her words.
It’s an awesome little flourish– and one that might not have a direct “meaning” in terms of comic book lettering (she isn’t whispering it, or shouting it…etc) but she is saying something there– it’s just up to you, the reader, to decide what that is.
WRAP UP!
Another quick write up this week– sorry, gang, we’ve all been pretty much super swamped.
Speaking of which, due to a scheduling snafu (and the once-again-mentioned craziness), we’ll be taking next week off. On the plus side: It’s to give Lisa a much needed and well deserved Vacation!
She actually toyed with the idea of trying to color next week’s page on her laptop (while out of town), but we all nixed that idea really quickly. If there’s one thing I highly believe in, it’s that when you’re on vacation, you should BE ON VACATION!
If you find yourself really missing Lisa’s hues, don’t fret, you can just pick up the Adventure Time spin off series she’s working on, “Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens”.
Now, I haven’t quite gotten caught up in the mania of Adventure Time quite yet, but a great number of people have been telling me that it is the most awesome thing ever– In fact, a buddy of mine, who is a huge fan of AT, mentioned just last week that he thought Lisa’s colors would be great on the comic…lo and behold!
Ok, so radio silent next week– but we’ll be back in two for…
