Misfire Reactional

Author notes

01-08

aquapermanence

on Feb. 2, 2009

Chapter 1, page 8.

She has a name! Okay, half a name.

Meg's line in the first panel might be a reference to Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, which had a very limited English-dubbed theatrical release in the U.S. with a PG-13 rating. While the rating was appropriate, it was unusual at the time and, I am told, some parents took their young children only to be understandably shocked by the violent content.

On a vaguely-related note, My Neighbor Totoro was screened as a double-feature in Japan with Grave of the Fireflies, a movie about two children trying to survive on their own during WWII. Apparently audiences stayed for both movies if Totoro was shown second, but only for Totoro if it was shown first.

There's probably a lesson I can take from these two stories. Instead I'll just take this opportunity to remind everyone that Misfire Reactional is rated M. If you've been following this for a month without knowing that… then thank you. Thank you all for your support and comments.

Panel six: the Filmation Sabrina poster again.


(responses to comments)
iagojester:
(01-07)
His monologue is intended to come across as distant, clinical, and impersonal. As if the narration were his own editorial comments as he makes observations in order to relate the story to us. I am told I talk like that. The way he talks is on purpose. The way I talk is just me. :)

That middle expression is a pause of confusion. Meg doesn't really know what to make of what she's seeing. Her pupils contract and her lower eyelids come up slightly. The upper eyelids are omitted from the drawing in order to emphasize this. It makes her eyes look as if they're being temporarily lifted on a swelling wave, and that support will give out beneath them at any moment. My intent was to make it a moment of tense anticipation.

(01-04)
I decided to shade that panel because I kept coming back to the line image dissatisfied but not enough to redraw it. It's a small panel for the amount of stuff I've got going on… I needed the effect of a close-up and a reveal on Meg's posture, but I also wanted to show what was on the desk. If I were to redraw this image, I'd change the perspective so the bed is out of the frame, and I'd show the window behind her.

For now we'll say that the consistent gray shading of the room and Meg alike are how this environment appear to our narrator: a collection of objects that are defined by boundaries but are essentially not much different from each other. The things that are worthy of particular attention are colorful or highly detailed, even if the information they convey is irrelevant.

thisberichard:
(01-03)
I like to think she's singing along. Like a jet engine.

(01-02)
It is indeed a small shed. Big enough for a lawnmower and some gardening tools. Possibly an aluminum bat. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.