Ten Notes on Page 263

by on March 2, 2019
Posted In: Uncategorized

Page 263 has come out, so go read or re-read it, okay? Then we’ll do notes.

1. It is with a heavy heart that I announce that this is Samantha Albert’s next-to-last page as our regular weekly artist. Sam remains enthusiastic about the comic but, unfortunately, the weekly grind is too much to fit in with her work schedule and personal obligations.

2. The original plan for this page was to wrap up Brianna’s conversation with Plant Man and Verka, and then cut to Catagonia and show the mind-controlled cat people. But Brianna’s conversation wrapped up nicely on the previous page, and I realized I had room to fit in some moments of closure.

3. I mean, when we started “Brianna’s Story,” we didn’t know that Sam was going to be leaving. I probably wouldn’t have chosen for her to end her tenure on the comic with a flashback story. Now that we’ve done it, I’m glad we did, because I’m really happy with it. Still, it was a shame that Sam didn’t get to draw the other members of the team one last time. Then I realized, hey, she could draw the other members of the team, we could cut away to them on the next-to-last page. So here’s Sam’s chance to say good-bye to Leeta, Zarko, and Mr. Amazing, characters who are what they are because Sam designed them and brought them to life.

4. The last time we saw Leeta, she was alone and crying in a dark room. Something in me tends toward the melancholy endings. But I don’t want to have all sadness all the time, so it occurred to me that it would be nice to check in on Leeta and show that, while she’s still sad, her friend is checking in on her and comforting her.

5. I also thought it would be good to sort of re-establish where everyone is, that while Brianna’s telling her story, and Leeta’s crying, Mr. Amazing is talking to Bart Hill at Perfect Pizza, as established in the story Time Trouble that Josh Burnett and I did. I liked the idea of seeing that drawn by Sam.

6. What is perfectly appropriate is that when Sam sent me the black-and-white art, my feedback was to point out that she had forgotten to include the lightning bolts on Mr. Amazing’s costume. This seemed appropriate, because it’s become a tradition. Even though Sam designed the costume, pretty much every page Mr. Amazing’s appeared on, I’ve emailed her to point out that she forgot the lightning bolts in at least one panel. Ah, memories!

7. While I was planning this page, and feeling sentimental, it occurred to me that we could see Irene the server, who’s based on Sam, in the background. That would be a fitting tribute to this being Sam’s last story. Then I thought, hey, why not include Elizabeth the Pizza Girl, who’s based on Abi? And Sir Jackson the Brave, who’s based on my son Jackson? Then, obviously, I thought about how Abi and I always intended Perfect Pizza to be run by a character based on me, who had never appeared in the comic, so wouldn’t this be a great opportunity for cameos from Sam, Abi, Jackson, and me?

But THEN I realized that we had told our high-level patrons that they would get cameos in the comic, and we kept forgetting to do that, and if we wanted Sam to draw them, this was our last chance. So I asked Sam to draw Rachel, Nat, and Taylor at a table, with her waiting on them, while I talked to Abi and Jackson, all in the background, while Mr. Amazing talked to Bart Hill in the foreground.

So that’s 9 characters. And then Sam added a random customer in the foreground! What an overachiever! I know the panel’s kind of crowded, but now you can see why.

8. Don’t the cat people in the last panel look good? I suggested they have swirly eyes, but then Sam added that cool glow. They totally look hypnotized. And Sam came up with the cool effect of breaking up their dialogue into the different word balloons.

9. We’ve seen the good people of Catagonia twice before–the last time was here.  I grew up reading comics in the 80s, so I love cutting away from the main story to develop subplots. If you look back over the course of this series, you’ll see I’ve been very restrained; that page I just linked to is one of the only subplot-heavy pages I’ve done. And look, as of next page, all three of those subplots will have been paid off.

10. Next week is the End of an Era. I have feelings about it. 

Ten Notes on Page 262

by on February 24, 2019
Posted In: Uncategorized

 Make sure you’ve read page 262, because here are some notes!  I usually write the notes earlier in the week, sorry about the delay.

1. We’ve closed the narrative frame from the beginning, Brianna has finished her story, we’re almost done. Only two pages left of “Brianna’s Story” after this!

2. “YOU WERE AN EVIL SPACE QUEEN?!?” kind of sums it all up, doesn’t it?

3. Plant Man is such a good friend that he takes this “Evil Space Queen” thing in stride. Verka, meanwhile, is freaking out about it. It’s easy to dismiss Verka as being a jerk here but, c’mon, she’s got some legit concerns. If someone you knew told you that they used to be a despot, wouldn’t you be concerned? I think you would be. You would not be as chill as Plant Man.

4. I should mention that Verka was created by Nat Kutcher. Nat wrote the story “Plant Man’s Family Reunion,” with art by Sam Albert. Verka was a character in that story, and Nat offered us the chance for her to come back with Plant Man and be a regular character in the book. Abi immediately liked this idea, so it came to pass. Verka kicked off this whole “Brianna telling her life story” thing by overhearing Brianna and Jax’s conversation back in issue #6.

5. Abi’s involvement in making the comic has grown over time. Yes, she created the characters and the concept, back when she was four, but she didn’t write the script for the first issue. Which seems obvious to me, but I’ve had people ask, “You mean your daughter wrote this?!” No, a small child is not going to sit down and type out a script. But while she’s always been involved in the plotting, she’s started to get involved in the scripting. For this page, Abi actually sat at the computer and typed some of the dialogue. I had to cut some of it for space purposes, but Verka’s “After all of that . . .” is Abi’s. I’m so proud!

6. From the beginning, I’ve said that, when Abi turns 13, she can take over writing the comic solo if she wants to. Right now she says she wouldn’t want that, but we’ll see. Sam has previously said she assumed that eventually Abi will be drawing as well as writing it, so her days were numbered.

7. Really, aren’t all our days numbered?

8. I wanted to end this scene with a hug. Plant Man and Brianna have been friends since issue 2, when they were goofing off while the team was traveling. Plant Man did a weird thing with his head that made Brianna laugh. The specifics of that scene were all Sam’s; she’s added so much to the comic over the years.

9. Hey, I finally updated the Products Page! Except it’s not called a products page anymore, it’s now called Order Our Comics! That seemed more direct. Order some comics, why don’t you?

10. Next week, we’ll check in with some other characters. Then, the week after that, we’ll have our thrilling conclusion. And after that, a surprise. Keep reading!

Ten Notes on Page 261

by on February 14, 2019
Posted In: Uncategorized

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