Author notes

Issue 9: Jump at Shadows

Allyndn

on Nov. 20, 2010

On our cover this month: Cindy Louis, the helmsperson of the Solar Federation battleship. The last person left on the bridge at this point, she has spent a lot of time staring at the monitor screen, wide-eyed like a deer in headlights, and making announcements to the remainder of the crew. I spent a great deal of time creating the various named members of the Solar Fed crew. Then, because I feel compelled to keep the plot moving along, I don't spend too much time sharing this knowledge with the readers. In writing dialog, I have come to greatly admire folks like Joss Wedon, who can tell us tons about a character in a turn of phrase.

Cindy, like most of the crew, has gotten very little character development. But, at least this month, she gets the cover. In my (previously secret) back story for the character, I had thought she had been an aspiring model. Maybe posed for the Solar Federation pinup calendar. Enlisted later, because she found men liked a woman in uniform. This picture might have come from her photo shoot. The cover was "shot" in the cockpit of a cavalier ship, an interior I designed which never wound up using before the cavaliers were blown up a few issues back. The set design reflected the more "steampunk" vibe I have wanted to bring to the comic.

The art goes through still another permutation this issue. A lot more post production and drawing over renderings. I'll keep up the work as long as it's satisfying to me.