Hello Readers!
Summer is winding down a bit and the sun has started to take on the tired cast of Autumn, but fear not, our story is still going! No closing down yet. I've got two pages for you and a bit of extra stuff too!
Page 65
Page 66
Another pair of pretty good pages. The characters are drawn well and the dialogue and action is good too.
I really like that first panel on page 66 where you see the flight simulator that is has small seats close together and is perhaps low tech, but then again, maybe it breaks the mold and is higher tech in ways other than just using AR goggles. I made a mistake in that there are four seats and we have four pilots (including Dave), but Dave declines to participate. I don't know how I figured there weren't enough seats for all participants, but, well... I needed Dave to see what is "actually" happening, not participating in the simulation so you, the audience, have a better idea of what's going on and what these jets are capable of.
The middle panel on page 66 is also pretty sweet in that it helps show how big the simulator really is. Yes, I didn't draw the other pilots beside Fancy, but... well yes. I didn't!
I thought you might like to see this stuff that got nixed and changed.
At the top left was my first stab at drawing the simulator. I was imagining four large rooms or bays, each with it's own screens and then the person who is operating the sim sits in the middle of the cross.
I rejected this idea because, as you know, I don't like those big wide shots where you can see a whole room. I've seen it done in older comic books like seeing the inside of the Bat Cave with a HUUUGE screen and cars etc. and all the wasted space. When I looked at those drawings I always felt they were done that way because it was easier for the artist, but I thought they looked cheap.
Also, I knew I needed to use AR goggles, so with that in mind, why bother with the big screens, and then I figured, why bother with big cockpits for each pilot. Plus, I love small tight spaces like this, so I drew what I'd like to visit.
Below that are some other designs for Red's jets. I like the one on the right. I might still change them, but I figured not to just yet.
On the right side of the image you can see I had to swap the position of the top panel with the ones below it. I drew it as is shown and I confused myself with the order of events and tried to fix it with the dialogue.
Also you'll see there is another drawing of Dave looking out the window that is absent from the "final" page above. I thought we needed to see Dave's reaction more clearly and in a more interesting way, so I just tried it below the first and liked it well enough to put it in.