Page 1 – On That Fearful Day…
And we’re off.
Chapter two is now officially underway. There was originally voice-over dialogue that went with this page, but I felt in the end that it was too much of a cliché so I let it stand without words. I think it’ll frame the next page better, anyway. The title, by the way, is an excerpt from the Libera Me, a Catholic funerary absolution, which was originally the text for this page:
It translates as “Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that fearful day, when the heavens and earth shall tremble, and Thou shalt come to judge all Creation by fire.” It’s one of a few particularly grim pieces of Roman Catholic imagery that has survived from the middle ages, and it happened to pass through my mind as I was drawing this page. It would, of course, have a very particular significance here, but actually quoting it on the page, while dramatic, made the wrong implications, so I took a different direction and let the moment stand on its own.
You may notice that the linework is a lot softer here than in previous pages. I have officially made the move to pure pencil for this chapter, and its speed and ease of transfer is allowing me to make the drawing rather more sophisticated, and give it a bit of character I feel was lacking in the pen-and-ink drawings. It’s a continual process of improvement and refinement for me, and I’m learning a lot about my own style and technique as I go. For those who are interested, I’m using a combination of three pencils here: a 2B technical lead, a B graphite sketch pencil, and a 0.3mm HB mechanical pencil. The lines are a little looser and greyer than previously but I think they have a softness to them that really helps the scene. I’ve considered doing a video or behind the scenes thing about how I draw the comic but it always ends up making me feel really presumptuous, given that I really only barely know what I’m doing myself – my expertise is really in mechanical drawing, not comic art. But maybe I will do something. Sometime. Maybe.
At any rate, we’re off to a good start I hope. Once again, I have to thank everyone for all the votes of confidence and all the comments – I know I missed responding to one or two this week, but I had to work really late on Friday and it was just kind of crazy all around. All the best to everyone, and I’ll see you next week!
OOOOH…. suspensful. I do like it, and excellent work on the red shading by the way.
Thanks! The red-orange layers washed out a lot of the other color but made the whole thing feel really hot and oppressive, which was what I was going for.
And I think that in the end it WAS more suspenseful to have the panels read without dialogue. Last night I couldn’t tell, but this morning I’m more confident in the decision.
–M
Is it just me, or Major’s hair are getting longer from panel to panel? At least some hair (that goes right below and abowe the face) look a lot longer on hte third panel than on the second one…
And the res of the page is great! ((Though I am still curious what happened to the Fed who was stang nex to major right before the boom.))
No, it isn’t just you. It makes sense on the next page. At least, I hope it does. But I don’t want to give anything away.
I will say though, that our Federate friends are not forgotten – you’ll find out where he went shortly.
–M
how can one survive the near vicinity of a nuclear explosion?
Actually it’s a common misconception that atomic weapons will instantly vaporize everything – that only occurs very close to the hypocenter of the detonation, where the heat and blast are most intense. The chance of injury or death is highly variable, depending on such factors as how high the bomb was off the ground when it exploded, how dense the atmosphere in the area is, what kind of discontinuities in the ground surface might disrupt the shockwave. In actuality, as I’m depicting, an atomic explosion itself is survivable. That, in my opinion, is the most horrible thing about nuclear weapons, in fact: that they leave so many people alive to suffer through their terrible after-effects.
–M
True, it’s been “proven” that it is not the blast that kills the majority, but the after effects. Being american we and the Japanese are the only countries with first hand knowledge of these effects.
On another note surviving the blast is theorectically possible, if you have ever watched video of “The Human Bomb” (check you tube, he appears at a lot of monster truck shows) he “blows” himself up in a crate useing dynamite, in theory if you are the very center of an explosion you can survive. The bigger the boom the bigger the “null zone” at the center…of course I’m not willing to test it first, are you?
Americans… Monster Trucks, Nuclear weapons and xanex, do you REALLY want to mess with them?!
Now that…that’s attention to detail. Back on page 31, the right side of Sarah’s head was facing the blast. On this page, the right side if her face is the one that is covered in blood. Conceivably, she was knocked unconscious by a piece of flying debris. (which is, by the way, the only was I could imagine damage like that happening to the truck. Still not buying it, sorry.)
Also, it seems like the truck has no suspension, and it doesn’t look like the axles and wheels are attached to the rest of the vehicle at all. That’s be one hell of a bumpy ride.
Also, I think I know why Sarah’s hair is acting like that. You won’t let her get any breaks, will you?
Two other things to point out: where’d her pistol go, and where’s Milo?
Interesting to note the “Chapter Two” in the corner there. I don’t recall a similar announcement for Chapter one.
In other words…yep a good first start. It did have the drama and suspense that you were looking for. I feel confident saying this: Draw Faster! I can’t wait!
Wow, was that, almost, a nitpick I got right on the first try? A genuine milestone!
Actually, the red marks are burns, not directly the result of the debris. Though I’d imagined that it was a combination of flying junk and the jolt from the shockwave that knocked her out. A high pressure blast can put you flat on your rear end – it’s how flashbang grenades work.
As to the truck, you’re probably right on all counts, but I’m confident it conveys enough “truckness” to make the scene work. I was more interested in the whole composition than in the shock absorbers, struts, etc, I admit, but it would have given it that extra little “oomph.” Oh, the compromises we must make. But by the way, if you know a place where I can get photo reference of 6-wheel torsion bar military truck suspensions, PLEASE let me know – this was my best approximation based on the crap photos I was able to find.
Her pistol (technically, the SMERSH-agent’s pistol, which she stole) is around somewhere, dropped in the excitement. And Milo… well, he’ll be there in a second.
And yes, there was no announcement for Chapter 1 because at the time I had not really thought about it in those terms. Now that I’ve compartmentalized the story better I can begin making these breaks more effectively.
Thanks again for the read, and the support!
–M
Seems like the Alvis Stalwart will do for a 6×6. I can’t find any pictures of the bottom, but this one offers a god glimpse at its suspension.
http://www.tankmuseum.com/single/stalwart.jpg
Its not torsion bar, but I was under the impression that most military trucks used independent suspension anyway.
Also, I was under the impression that flashbangs were used to disorient. The bang part disorients your ear, inner ear and all, and the flash temporarily blinds you, so you may fall over out of sensory deprivation. (btw, did you know that cranial fluid is also used for hearing? I guess you *really* feel flashbangs). A grenade that could put you on your ass at a small distance could easily kill you up close or cause structural damage, and would therefore not be nonlethal. At the very least, it’d burst your eardrums, which I don’t think flashbangs do. They just flash…and bang.
Many thanks for the link.
And flashbangs by the way, do work as you describe – it’s essentially a very mild flash-and-concussion effect caused by burning a bit of combustible powder (I think it’s magnesium or manganese?). Multiply that effect by about a million or so and you still have the same effect, just writ large – like the blast and shock from an atomic bomb, which would have more than enough concussive effect to knock a person unconscious, even at distances that wouldn’t pulverize them.
See? I can pick nits with the best of them! 😀
–M
Great start off chapter two! Love the reddish tone, that in combination with the absent voice over really sets the mood.
I like your improved technic by the way, pencils seem to give you a lot more freedom and control over your lines and shapes.
Keep ‘m coming!
The pencil is kind of a mixed blessing. It is a lot smoother, and works much more subtly than the ink did. And so it’s easier to add in all the little hatches and details that have that added gritty effect I like. But the reproduction isn’t really quite as clean – pencil is always semi-transparent, and I’m still playing with getting just the right way to make it scan.
But yes, overall, I’m really happy with the direction this is going. Thanks again for all the support!
–M