For the flashback on this sequence, I wanted a different approach from the one in pages 51, 52. The reason is because I wanted the latter to be more of a memory, something more subjective (see blog post “The Memory Remains” for more). I wanted the new scene to be a pure flashback. I wanted to take the readers back to this moment, experience it, and draw their own conclusions from it rather than me guiding them. I knew I needed some consistency in style to avoid confusion, i.e. black and white as the main visual representation, but I was looking for a way to give it its own feel. While working on panel 1, page 65 I noticed a mistake on one of my layers. It was a black and white overexposed image that I didn’t know I created. After quickly realizing what had happened, I decided to use the style for this part of the story. I love “happy mistakes.”I also decided to play it clean, no textures. This gave the panels a very serious tone that the sequence requires. The flashback panels are done in a very different way than the rest of the book. I have to admit that after 68 pages it was refreshing to go into a different artistic approach. As an added challenge, I went and tried to use motion as a graphic element, which is a losing proposition in a static medium, but I couldn’t resist the idea of the foot shaking as a plot “accent.” This is another one of those out-on-a-limb experiments of mine that I hope actually works for the readers.
On the lettering front, I keep getting complaints about readability, and I keep trying to solve them without compromising the look of the book. I made the letters thicker on this page to see if it helps with the problem. I guess time (and the readers) will tell.
I’m glad I got to make another page in November. I have some traveling in my immediate future, but I’ll try to do as many pages as I can. I have to thank alejkhan for the nice Metasearch review at “By Nigh.” You can check it out at: http://www.bynightcomics.com/home/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=43&func=view&catid=4&id=967#967 I’ll see you in the page.
Oddman Out
