Electric Team

Page 261 is here! Read it, then check out these notes.

1. OMG, Brianna zapped Jason! We saw that coming, though, right? I assume everyone knew she was going to turn on him.

2. The easy way to do it would have been showing Jason becoming imperious and hateful before she zaps him. Instead, we had Jason apologizing for neglecting her, and professing his eternal love. That makes it more upsetting–and therefore more dramatic–when she zaps him.

3. In the script, I asked for Brianna zapping Jason, and Jason falling into the rip in space and time, and plummeting away. I wasn’t sure exactly how to fit that into the available space, but I wasn’t worried, because I knew Sam would figure it out. And look, she did! I like what she did with Jason falling out of the panel, and with the coloring on his arm showing that he’s entering the rip. And then the way he becomes less distinct, and breaks apart into shapes . . . . lovely stuff.

4. I originally planned on a page showing Brianna and Jaxula fleeing, but fortunately I figured out that I didn’t need to show that. It made sense just to end with the big zap, and then relate how they ran away in the captions. After all, Jaxula’s a main character, there will be plenty of time for him and Brianna, whereas this story is specifically focused on Brianna’s relationship with Jason.

5. Way back at the beginning of the story, we introduced Brianna’s grandmother on the first page of the flashback, and then killed her off (in a caption) on the next page. Some people said we should have kept the grandmother around longer. Looking back at it now, it should be clearer how everything was leading us to this moment, and we just didn’t have time or space for other elements.

6. For years I’ve struggled to give hints about Brianna’s backstory without giving it away–and I think I erred on the side of not enough hints–so it feels very strange to finally have this out there.

7. It also feels strange to see Plant Man and Verka again. How long has it been? Since . . . July 24, wow. Over six months. This was a lengthy digression. It won’t seem that bad once it’s all collected in a trade, though.

8. If I took out the numbers, these comments would flow just as well. I’m not really taking advantage of the numbered list format. Also, this page only has two and a half panels, and there’s only so many things I can say about it.

9. Oh, I didn’t mention how Jax is a fugitive from E.D.I.C.T. That’s been the plan all along and, again, it’s exciting to actually get here. As we know, Jax grew up with E.D.I.C.T., his dad’s a high-ranking officer there, he’s been a part of this organization his whole life–why would he turn his back on all that for Brianna? We’re not going to find that out here, since this is Brianna’s Story, but hopefully we’ll get his perspective sometime soon.

10. Tune in next week to see Plant Man and Verka’s reaction!T