Able Bodied

 Happy New Year! Hope you feel fresh having washed that 2020 off your skin!

In celebration of the new year, here is page 21!!

Page 21

Ok so here we begin the jumping around a bit.  In the board room, then on the ground meeting the bidders and seeing their jets. In this and the next few pages, you'll see the jumping, and please let me know if it doesn't work... if you can remember this page by the time I post the next one!

I like the pompous pose on Mr. Rideau in the 2nd panel and how he feels the need to reduce much of what he sees.  Also in the last panel, I think it is funny how he's questioning Fancy's injury suggesting she might not be fit or able to fly. Foreshadowing?!  Would I do that?!

I like the last panel's drawing, seeing the jets on the airfield and the people walking between them. It gives a sense of scale, but also it makes it feel more real. This isn't just an exercise on paper, these jets are real. I think it makes this comic, this story a bit more real too - it's actually going somewhere... I think... I hope... um... psst...Mr. Ghost?  Where's it going?! I'm doubting my ability to put in some interesting flight action.  Maybe I can call you and you can give me some help?  I'll post two pages in one week if you will!

Changing Order

 Happy Holidays, Everybody!

And today's gift... another (hopefully wonderful) page in the Flight of Fancy story!

Page 20

This page and the ones that follow are a juggling act. I needed to introduce the audience to the different companies who are bidding on the flight training contract, but I also wanted the audience to see who they are, to better distinguish one from the next. This section risked being really boring exposition but (as you will see in the next few pages), I think I executed it pretty well by jumping from this board room to the air fields. 

So, in the same way as I had to juggle the story telling, on this page I juggled panels. When I drew this what you see as the 3rd panel was drawn in the middle as the 2nd panel, but I quickly decided that we needed to see Fancy and her team before jumping into the discussion.

I like that first panel, probably because I can feel the humid warmth of spring in that one. It is a subtle change from the previous time we saw this building - the angle is different as is the time of year.

I do like that 2nd panel. We see everyone clearly, their designs are nice (and entirely not planned or considered before the moment I drew them!!), the people are well posed, the environment looks well proportioned to the people, the angle is pleasant.

I think the success in the last panel is the dialogue. I wanted to describe the contractors in a simple, punchy, memorable way and I think I did that. And who wouldn't love Dave, what with his chiselled features, barrel chest and growing gut below.  He's the hard military guy who talks tough and means it.  Stereotype? Probably.

(Unseen) Truths

 Hello Reader(s). Yep, trying to get back on schedule, which means it's time for...

Page 19

Well, this page went pretty well.  I was in a groove coming off the previous pages. Somehow (unlike the more recently completed ones), I had a clear idea of what I wanted to show and what needed to happen, so this page came together pretty quickly.

Perhaps in future posts I'll talk about running around - not knowing what to draw or how to proceed.

In the first panel you've got that really flat perspective of the neighbourhood. I think of Chris Ware's comics (Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth) when I draw small, highly detailed places with flat perspectives. Yes, IG, when I ink this I'll have to try to make it nearly as clean as Mr. Ware's work. Well, yes, cleaned up and "inked", but no, I think my lines would not be perfect and ruler line straight.

Those middle panels are good (the hands were pretty tough to draw - needed reference for them!). I like the notion that Fancy's own Mom might be voicing negative comments a reader might make about our protagonist's haircut.

And the last panel. I like how it is pulled out some to reveal the pretty empty place and the lie that is floated to Mom. Fancy's pose communicates her comfort in the environment, but perhaps some sadness and resignation too.  

Flat Perpective, Stable Content

Dang, last week totally got away from me.  Sorry for not posting, the puppy ate my time. But, here you go!

Page 18

I like comic book pages that have nice clean establishing shots, sort of like the top panel here.  It creates a distinct division from the previous page and also establishes time. Not a bad 1st panel. I can even imagine the final colours - that bright winter blue sky reflected in the windows, super white snow, browns, grey stick-trees, again, best not really considered till... no... when... no... if, IF I get the story roughed out. 

I did the 2nd panel on the fly - I hadn't thought ahead about names of companies who do pilot training, nor did I think about what their brochures might look like or even what sorts of planes should be on the front, I just whipped it off.  Looks ok. Might change it later.

Ah, and that bottom word bubble that goes between the 2nd and 3rd panels, great for suggesting off screen dialogue, then picking up who is saying it.

Now that I look at it and consider other pages, it is funny that at times I do dynamic panels with interesting perspective, and sometimes the perspective is so flat it is almost orthographic, like in the bottom panel. Don't ask me why, I'm just a crazy guy. But technically, I guess the really flat perspective makes the images look calmer, more solid, which works for the content.

Truth on Truth

 Ok, ok, I'm sorry!  Yes, one day late! I know, I know, I kinda promised. But enough already... here it is!

Page 17

This was a challenging page - maybe you can tell what with the smudginess of it due to erasing and redrawing. I think one major reason why it was tough was because while I've seen lots of American movies that show military funerals and grave yards, I don't really know what a Canadian (RCAF) funeral would look like. I fretted for a while, then thought, oh, just go for it and draw what you know there would be - flags at half mast, family members in folding chairs, graveyard. Check, check, check.

I like the spareness of the 1st and 3rd panels. Again, adding a bit of space and ambience where the reader can interpret and feel it out. I like the moodiness of the 3rd panel.

And I really like dialogue said by the Commander (Captain?  I dunno, I'll figure that out later).  She'd like to say the truth to the families, but no way would she be allowed to, but she does to her superior in the bottom panel, but more than that, she reveals more truth. I know I'm going to have to massage a lot of text when (I meant IF... Don't hold me to it, IG!!!) I go back and clean this up for publication by Drawn and Quarterly or, ooh, maybe some chic french comic book magazine! I bet they pay arachides but the fame, the adoration, the reputation the contributors receive is far... far ... oh no, head swelling... getting off track!.